The Great Escape (1963)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Paul Brickhill (book)
James Clavell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 July 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Thriller | War

Tagline:

put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it...

Plot:

Allied POWs plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Prisoner | Tunnel | Plan | Escape Attempt

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Capt. Hilts "The Cooler King"
James Garner	...	Flight Lt. Hendley "The Scrounger"
Richard Attenborough	...	Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett "Big X"
James Donald	...	Group Capt. Ramsey "The SBO"
Charles Bronson	...	Flight Lt. Danny Velinski "The Tunnel King"
Donald Pleasence	...	Flight Lt. Colin Blythe "The Forger"
James Coburn	...	Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick "The Manufacturer"
Hannes Messemer	...	Kommandant von Luger
David McCallum	...	Lt. Cmdr. Eric Ashley-Pitt "Dispersal"
Gordon Jackson	...	Flight Lt. Sandy MacDonald "Intelligence"
John Leyton	...	Flight Lt. William Dickes "The Tunneler"
Angus Lennie	...	Flying Officer Archibald Ives "The Mole"
Nigel Stock	...	Flight Lt. Denys Cavendish "The Surveyor"
Robert Graf	...	Werner 'The Ferret'
Jud Taylor	...	Goff

Runtime:

172 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound 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:PG

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

Paul Brickhill, who wrote the book from which the film is based, was piloting a Spitfire aircraft that was shot down over Tunisia in March 1943. He was taken to Stalag Luft III in Germany, where he assisted in the escape preparations.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Hendley's stolen plane crashes the wings are clearly ripped completely off the fuselage. When the plane is next seen on fire the wings are still attached.

Quotes:

[gathering wood to shore up the tunnels, Hilts removes the wooden slats from bunk beds in the sleeping area of the prisoner barracks, holding a stack of them, and walks carefully out into the hallway]
Flight Lt. Denys Cavendish "The Surveyor": [passes Hilts in the hallway on his way to his bunk bed] Five gold rings. Four calling birds - bloody singing, I've never worked so hard in all my life. Hi, Hilts!
Hilts: [turns and tries to warn him] Say, Cavendish...
Flight Lt. Denys Cavendish "The Surveyor": Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear - Alley-oop!
[Cavendish climbs to the top bunk, and vaults onto the unsupported mattress, which collapses under his weight through the bed frame, as well as the two beneath it. Hilts approaches the doorway and sees Cavendish on the floor]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chicken Run (2000)

A genuine timeless classic.

During World War Two the Germans build a new prison camp, Stalag Luft III, for the express purpose of housing many of their most troublesome captured Allied airmen. However, all this serves to do is to pool the resources of some of the most ingenious escape artists in captivity and fill them with a resolve to engineer a mass breakout from the camp.

Based largely on real events, this film has assumed classic status over the years and its easy to understand why. Quite simply, it excells in many departments. Director John Sturges was at the height of his creative powers and he keeps a firm grip on the proceedings. Although the film runs close to three hours it never feels sluggish, while at the same time winding up the tension gradually and developing the characters. The production design is first rate, to the point where Donald Pleasance (who had been a P.O.W.) felt quite intimidated by the vast set on his arrival. Daniel Fapp's beautiful photography shows this and the picturesque German locations off to full effect. Put these virtues together with a good script, inspired casting and a classic score by Elmer Bernstein, and you have an object lesson in how to create an intelligent and exciting big budget adventure film.

On the subject of the cast; Much is made of Steve McQueen's role. While I am a huge McQueen fan, I feel that some of the other performances are equal to, if not better than his. Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Donald Pleasance, Charles Bronson and Gordon Jackson are all excellent. Good too are James Coburn, James Donald, David McCallum and Hannes Messemer as the sympathetic Commandant.

This is one of those films that I can happily watch time and time again. In September of this year a new print was screened at the NFT in London as part of an 'Attenborough at 80' season. It was a pleasure to see this on the big screen at last. For the most part the print was in very good condition. The DVD was one of the first that I ever bought some three and a half years ago, and I watched its inevitable Christmas screening on BBC2 last night. I just never tire of it. In these days of brainless, poorly executed action fodder, its a joy to behold something that hits its targets so precisely.