In 1828, the bankrupt Pyncheon family fight over Seven Gables, the ancestral mansion. To obtain the house, Jaffrey Pyncheon obtains his brother Clifford's false conviction for murder. Hepzibah, Clifford's sweet fiancée, patiently waits twenty years for his release, whereupon Clifford and his former cellmate, abolitionist Matthew, have a certain scheme in mind.
由尼尔逊．吉亭编剧的本片描述法国人在奠边府大败后撤出越南，再在阿尔及利亚镇压反殖民地哥命，又是泥足深陷，阿尔及利亚最终宣布独立。本片是一部政冶色彩浓厚的战争冒险片，以强硬的职业军人和温情的法国清年为两股相对抗的势力贯穿全片，不过导演马克．罗布森在表现政冶立场时仍不忘娱乐性镜头在影片中的穿插，故看来不会太沉闷枯燥，再者有大牌明星阿兰．德龙的加盟演出，使得本片具有很大的吸引力。
