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The Great Escape (1963)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
4 July 1963 (USA) moreTagline:
put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it... morePlot:
Several hundred Allied POWs plan a mass escape from a German POW camp. full summary | full synopsisAwards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(30 articles)
“Nazis. I hate these guys.”: 15 WWII Movies Worth Watching Before You See Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. (From FilmJunk. 26 May 2009, 4:10 PM, PDT)
Steve McQueen Tribute At Lincoln Center- Family And Colleagues Host Screenings
(From CinemaRetro. 16 May 2009, 2:58 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
GREAT MOVIE: MORE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE THAN SOME REALIZE... moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) more
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
172 minCountry:
USAColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)Certification:
Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #20399) | USA:Unrated (video release) | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PGFun Stuff
Trivia:
James Garner developed his "Scrounger" character from his own personal experiences in the military during the Korean War. moreGoofs:
Continuity: On their first day in camp, Hilts throws his baseball to the wire to check the Germans' lines of sight. When he is finally stopped and the commandant comes over and Hilts is explaining what he was doing, the position of his hands change in differently angled shots. moreQuotes:
Ramsey: Did the Gestapo give you a rough time?Bartlett: Not nearly as rough as I now intend to give them.
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How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?Is this movie based on a novel?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
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This is a great movie which much more historically accurate than it is often given credit for. So many who say otherwise are ill-informed and obviously don't know much about the actual history of that actual escape. The depiction of what happened to the recaptured prisoners in the movie of THE GREAT ESCAPE is reasonably accurate as detailed on the historyinfilm site...specifically on the "Reprisal" page; along with being detailed in the various published accounts.
Hitler ultimately calmed down after being reasoned with by Goering, Feldmarschall Keitel, Maj-Gen Graevenitz and Maj-Gen Westhoff, and dictated that more than half the prisoners be shot and cremated. So, as depicted in the film, several of those recaptured were not executed and were indeed returned to confinement. In fact, even those executed were not "shot on the spot" for the most part, but were actually executed later after being turned over to the Gestapo; most being shot while being allowed to relieve themselves, under the guise of "trying to escape".
Furthermore, there are many accounts as to how much more humane the environment was within the camp (which even had a popular and very successful theatre, featuring prisoners who would later be name performers) than many other POW camps...and certainly nothing like the harsh conditions associated with the Concentration or Extermination camps.
To quote one source:
"It must be made clear that the German Luftwaffe [the German Air Force], who were responsible for Air Force prisoners of war, maintained a degree of professional respect for fellow flyers, and the general attitude of the camp security officers and guards should not be confused with the SS or Gestapo. The Luftwaffe treated the POWs well, despite an erratic and inconsistent supply of food.
Prisoners were handled quite fairly within the Geneva Convention, and the Kommandant, Oberst (Colonel) Friedrich-Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau, was a professional and honourable soldier who won the respect of the senior prisoners."
Finally, virtually all the major engineering aspects in regards to the tunnels and the initial escape in the film are as they were actually acheived in the real escape.
It would behoove some to learn a little more actual history or do a little simple research before shooting from the hip with supposed "knowledge" of reality. THE GREAT ESCAPE certainly takes liberties in tone and character portrayal, but not in the key elements that are disparaged out of sneering ignorance.
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is also a great film, but took even greater liberties with the technical details of the events described than THE GREAT ESCAPE did....and offering up VON RYAN'S EXPRESS as a more realistic alternative is simply delusional and ridiculous.