English-language international herald for the film “The Last Chance” (1945)

British-Indian herald for the film, “The Last Chance,” originally released in March 1945 in Switzerland as, “Die Letzte Chance.” Heralds were small, inexpensive flyers usually included as part of a film’s press kit. The film won the Grand Prize and the International Peace Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, the first after the end of the war. Great Britain ruled three-fifths of the Indian subcontinent from 1858 to 1947, and during World War II, received monetary and military support from their allies in the region. The film is set in German-occupied Italy in 1943, and focuses on three Allied soldiers who escape a prisoner-of-war camp and join a group of 14 refugees making a perilous journey to the Swiss border. In reality, the refugees would probably not have been allowed to stay in Switzerland as the government had instituted very strict refugee laws. The lead actors playing the American and British soldiers were actual members of their respective militaries who escaped to Switzerland after being captured. Ray Reagan was in the U.S. Air Force, when his plane was shot down over enemy territory. John Hoy was a British Lieutenant who escaped from an Italian prison camp. E.G. Morrison was also a British soldier, who had been captured by the Germans in North Africa and sent to a camp in Italy, from which he escaped. In addition to the stars, the majority of the cast were also amateur actors. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.