"Werner von Basil, a Austrian intellectual, was captured by the Nazis in 1938. They want to break him to confess smuggling. Without any mental sustenance, the only thing left to keep his mind busy is an old tactics book for chess."
Curd Jürgens
as Werner von Basil
Claire Bloom
as Irene Andreny
Hansjörg Felmy
as Hans Berger
Mario Adorf
as Mirko Centowic
Hans Söhnker
as Bishop Ambrosse
Rudolf Forster
as Hotelmanager
Jan Hendriks
as First Officer
Albert Lieven
as Hartmann
Dietmar Schönherr
as Rabbi
Wolfgang Wahl
as Mondgesicht
Albert Bessler
as Scientist
Alan Gifford
as Mac Iver
Harald Maresch
as Ballet Master
Karl Stepanek
as Baranow
Dorothea Wieck
as Countess (uncredited)
Rijk de Gooyer
as Secretary (uncredited)
Susanne Körber-Harlan
as Young Woman (uncredited)
Gerd Oswald
Director
Luggi Waldleitner
Producer
Writer
Hans-Martin Majewski
Original Music Composer
Harold Medford
K.M. Eckstein
Editor
Günther Senftleben
Director of Photography
Stefan Zweig
Novel
Herbert Reinecker
Gerda Scholz-Grosse
Makeup Artist
Franz Mayrhofer
Wolf Englert
Production Design
Willy Schöne
Unit Manager
Barbara Riedel
Assistant Editor
Franz Hofer
Camera Operator
Ursula Stutz
Costume Designer
Johannes J. Frank
Production Manager
Fritz Anton
Ernst Richter
Rudolf Teschner
Technical Advisor
Bernhard Reicherts
Sound
Wolfgang Bellenbaum
Assistant Director