The Great Escape (film)
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| The Great Escape | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) original movie poster by Frank McCarthy | |
| Directed by | John Sturges |
| Written by | Book: Paul Brickhill Screenplay: James Clavell W.R. Burnett Walter Newman (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by | James Clavell |
| Produced by | John Sturges |
| Starring | Steve McQueen James Garner Richard Attenborough James Donald Charles Bronson Donald Pleasence James Coburn |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Ferris Webster |
| Music by | Elmer Bernstein |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date | 4 July Template:Fy |
Running time | 172 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{langx|en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead. |
| Budget | $4,000,000 |
| Box office | $5,500,000 (US) |
The Great Escape is a Template:Fy film made by the Mirisch Corporation, released by United Artists, and produced and directed by John Sturges. Based on a non-fiction book by Paul Brickhill, it tells the story of a mass escape attempt by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp (Stalag Luft III) during World War II. Brickhill had been a prisoner of the camp with his friend George Harsh and would later base the book on their memories of the experience. The film stars Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. James Donald appears in a supporting role as the head of the British POW's, and Gordon Jackson is Attenborough's second-in-command.
Plot
Upset by the soldiers and resources wasted in recapturing escaped Allied prisoners of war (POWs) (who are mostly captured Allied Air Force pilots), the German High Command removes the most-determined and successful of these prisoners to a new, high-security prisoner of war camp that the commandant, Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger (Hannes Messemer), proclaims escape-proof.
On the day of arrival, some of the prisoners make on-the-spur escape attempts which are all foiled by the sharp-eyed German "ferrets" or guards. As the POWs settle into their new camp, the Gestapo and the SS deliver the one they consider to be the most dangerous POW of all: "Big X", Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), who is the prime organizer of most of the escape attempts by Allied prisoners in Germany. Gestapo agent Kuhn (Hans Reiser) warns the Englishman that he will be shot should he ever escape again. Locked up with "every escape artist in Germany", Bartlett immediately plans the greatest escape attempted — a tunnel system for exfiltrating 250 prisoners of war, the idea being to "confuse and harass the enemy" to the point that more troops and resources will be wasted on finding and detaining POWs rather than being used on the front line.
Teams of men are organized to survey, dig, hide soil, manufacture civilian clothing, forge documents, provide security and distractions, and procure contraband materials. The prisoners work on three escape tunnels ("Tom", "Dick", and "Harry") simultaneously. The worst of the work noise is covered by the (men's) choir singing, while dirt from the tunnels is concealed in the men's trousers and emptied in the gardens. Flight Lieutenant Hendley (James Garner), an American in the RAF, is "the scrounger" who finds ingeniously devious ways to get whatever the others need, from a camera to identity cards. Australian Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn), "the manufacturer", makes many of the tools they need, such as picks for digging and bellows for pumping breathable air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenant Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson), a former Polish Air Force officer who fled to the RAF, is "the tunnel king", in charge of digging, despite being claustrophobic. Forgery is handled by Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe (Donald Pleasence), who becomes nearly blind from the highly intricate work by candlelight (progressive myopia); Hendley takes it upon himself to be Blythe's guide in the escape.
Meanwhile, USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen), "The Cooler King", irritates the guards with frequent escapes and irreverent behaviour. His first escape attempt, conceived whilst in the cooler, is a short tunnel with RAF Flying Officer Archibald Ives (Angus Lennie); they are caught and returned to the cooler.
While the three Americans in camp (Hendley, Hilts, and Goff) are celebrating American Independence Day with the other (mainly British) POWs, the guards discover tunnel "Tom". The depressed Ives snaps, and in a futile attempt to escape, climbs the barbed wire fence in full view of the tower guards. Hilts notices and runs to stop him, but is too late as Ives is machine-gunned dead on the wire. The prisoners abandon the second tunnel and put all their efforts into completing the third.
Bartlett persuades Hilts to reconnoiter the immediate vicinity of the POW camp during one of his escapes, then allow his recapture, allowing the cartographers to create guide maps of the local area, including the nearest town and railway station.
The last part of the tunnel is completed on the night of the escape, but is found to be twenty feet short of the woods that would provide cover. Nevertheless, 76 men escape before one is finally spotted coming out of the tunnel.
After various attempts to reach neutral Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain, almost all of the escaped POWs are recaptured or killed: Hendley and Blythe steal a Luftwaffe trainer aeroplane, intending to fly over the Swiss border; the engine fails and they are forced to crash-land en route. Soldiers arrive at the crash site, shooting Blythe dead while Hendley surrenders. Flight Lieutenant Cavendish (Nigel Stock), having hitched a lift in a truck, is captured at a checkpoint, discovering another fellow POW, Haynes, captured in his German soldier disguise.
Bartlett and MacDonald (Gordon Jackson), are recognised at a railroad station by Gestapo agent Kuhn, but manage to slip away after fellow POW, Fleet Air Arm Lieutenant Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum), sacrifices himself by killing Kuhn and letting himself be chased and killed by soldiers, while running away from Bartlett and MacDonald. Bartlett and MacDonald attempt to board a bus in the town, but MacDonald is tricked into revealing his nationality with the same trick he had warned Haynes about before the escape—a German speaks to him in English and he responds in his native tongue. They both flee, but MacDonald is caught shortly afterwards; Bartlett escapes over rooftops. However, after Bartlett fools some pursuing Gestapo, he is recognised by his previous captors. Lastly, Hilts attempts to jump the barbed wire Swiss-German border fence with a stolen Wehrmacht motorcycle, but his petrol tank is hit and he becomes entangled in the wire.
Only three POWs evade capture and make it to safety. Valinski and Flight Lieutenant Willy Dickes (the tunnel kings) steal a rowboat and proceed downriver to the Baltic coast, where they successfully board a Swedish merchant ship. Sedgewick hides in a boxcar and makes it all the way to France, and while resting in a café the local Resistance stages a drive-by shooting of some German officers. After realising he is an Allied POW, the Resistance enlist the help of a guide to get Sedgewick into Spain.
As for the others, 48 of the re-captured POWs, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Cavendish, and Haynes, are executed by the Gestapo and SS after they are told to get out of the truck transporting them and "stretch their legs" in a field - this brings the total of those shot dead to 50 (including Ashley-Pitt and Blythe). Meanwhile, Hendley and Sorren and a small group of others are returned to the oflag. The Senior British Officer, Group Captain Ramsey (James Donald) hears of the massacre of the 50 dead from von Luger, who has been relieved of command and is swiftly driven away by the SS to face the consequences of failing to stop the breakout.
Hilts is brought back alone to the camp, and subsequently to the cooler. His fellow American officer, USAAF 1st Lt Goff, throws him his baseball and glove as he walks into solitary confinement. As the Luftwaffe guard locks him in his cell and walks away, he hears the familiar sound of Hilts bouncing his baseball against the cell walls. The film ends with this scene under the caption "This picture is dedicated to the 50."
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Steve McQueen | Capt Virgil Hilts "The Cooler King", USAAF |
| James Garner | Flt Lt Anthony Hendley "The Scrounger", RAF |
| Richard Attenborough | Sqn Ldr Roger Bartlett "Big X", RAF |
| James Donald | Gp Capt Ramsey "The SBO", RAF |
| Charles Bronson | Flt Lt Danny Velinski "Tunnel King", RAF |
| Donald Pleasence | Flt Lt Colin Blythe "The Forger", RAF |
| James Coburn | Fg Off Louis Sedgwick "The Manufacturer", RAAF |
| Hannes Messemer | Oberst von Luger "The Kommandant", Luftwaffe |
| David McCallum | Lt Cmdr Eric Ashley-Pitt "Dispersal", RN FAA |
| Gordon Jackson | Flt Lt Sandy MacDonald "Intelligence", RAF |
| John Leyton | Flt Lt William Dickes "The Tunneler", RAF |
| Angus Lennie | Fg Off Archibald Ives "The Mole", RAF |
| Nigel Stock | Fl Lt Denys Cavendish "The Surveyor", RAF |
| Robert Graf | Werner "The Ferret", Luftwaffe |
| Jud Taylor | 1st Lt Goff, USAAF |
| Hans Reiser | Herr Kuhn, Gestapo |
Production
Casting
Donald Pleasence had served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He was shot down and spent a year in a German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft 1. James Garner was a soldier and wounded twice during the Korean War and was a scrounger during that time.[1]
Steve McQueen's Virgil Hilts, "remains one of the film's most enduring characters, his cooler king having become an icon of cool who continues to inform popular culture."[2] McQueen agreed to join the cast if a motorbike sequence was added to the film so he could show off his riding skills (there was no such occurrence during the actual escape).[2]
Location and set design
As noted by David McCallum in the DVD extra, the "barbed wire" that Hilts (Steve McQueen) crashed into in the scene above was actually made of little strips of rubber tied around normal wire, and was made by the cast and crew during their free time.[citation needed]
Fact and fiction
For more on how the film compared to the real-life Great Escape, see the real-life great escape and Factual accuracy of The Great Escape.
Reception
Upon its theatrical release in 1963, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther was disdainful of it: "But for much longer than is artful or essential, "The Great Escape" grinds out its tormenting story without a peek beneath the surface of any man, without a real sense of human involvement. It's a strictly mechanical adventure with make-believe men."[3] British film critic Leslie Halliwell described it as "pretty good but overlong POW adventure with a tragic ending".[4]
TV sequel and video games
A highly fictionalized, made-for-television sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story, appeared many years later. It starred Christopher Reeve with Donald Pleasence as an SS villain.[citation needed]
Several video games were based on the movie, including one in 1986, and one in 2003.[citation needed]
The Great Escape in popular culture
Elmer Bernstein's iconic musical theme, as well as references to scenes and motifs from the film, continues to turn up in other films, television series, advertisements, and even as a mobile phone ringtone. These include television shows Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Simpsons, Hogan's Heroes, Nash Bridges, Seinfeld, Get Smart, Red Dwarf, as well as the films Chicken Run, Reservoir Dogs, The Parent Trap, and Charlie's Angels.[5]
See also
References
- ^ DVD extra
- ^ a b Carnevale, Rob (2008-04-24). "The Great Escape". Orange Personal Communications Services Limited. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ Bosley Crowther (1963-08-08). "P.O.W.'s in 'Great Escape':Inmates of Nazi Camp Are Stereotypical – Steve McQueen Leads Snarling Tunnelers". The New York Times.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Walker, John (1997). Halliwell's film and Video Guide. London: HarperCollins. p. 311. ISBN 006387799.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: length (help) - ^ Nixon, Rob (2008). "Pop Culture 101: The Great Escape". Turner Classic Movies, A Time Warner Company.
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Bibliography
- The Great Escape, Paul Brickhill.
- The Tunnel King, The True Story of Wally Floody & the Great Escape, Barbara Hehner. Publ.: Harper Trophy Canada 2004.
- The Longest Tunnel, Alan Burgess.
- "Tre kom tilbake" (Three returned)", the Norwegian book by surviving escapee Jens Müller. Publ.: Gyldendal 1946.
- Exemplary Justice, Allen Andrews. Details the manhunt by the Royal Air Force's special investigations unit after the war to find and bring to trial the perpetrators of the "Sagan murders".
- Project Lessons from the Great Escape (Stalag Luft III), Mark Kozak-Holland. The prisoners formally structured their work as a project. This book analyzes their efforts using modern project management methods.
- 'Wings' Day, Sydney Smith, story of Wing Commander Harry "Wings" Day Pan Books 1968 ISBN 0330024949
External links
- The Great Escape at IMDb
- The Great Escape at the TCM Movie Database
- The Great Escape at AllMovie
- The Real Great Escape
- Great Escape (PBS Nova)
- Detailed information about the real event
- Exhibition about this and other escapes at the Imperial War Museum, London (until 31 July 2006)
- First hand account of Stalag Luft III by Wing Commander Ken Rees
- Pivotal Games site for the computer game version of The Great Escape
- World of Spectrum entry for the 1986 video game
- Project Management lessons from the Great Escape
- Interactive map of Tunnel Harry
- James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show
- James Garner interview at Archive of American Television
- Death of Eric Dowling, one of the escape planners
- Death of Alex Lees, who helped with construction of tunnel 'Harry'