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The Great Escape (1963)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
4 July 1963 (USA)
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Tagline:
put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it... more
Plot:
Allied POWs plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 3 wins
&
4 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(45 articles)
Machan is streets ahead of any Hollywood product
(From The Guardian - Film News. 19 November 2009, 9:23 AM, PST)
Poor start for Pamela Anderson series
(From digitalspy. 3 November 2009, 2:41 AM, PST)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 19 November 2009, 9:23 AM, PST)
Poor start for Pamela Anderson series
(From digitalspy. 3 November 2009, 2:41 AM, PST)
User Comments:
If you're going to critique the history, then know the history.
more (244 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) more
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
172 min
Country:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
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:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
MacDonald (Intelligence) is based on George Harsh, a very good friend of Wally Floody (the real Tunnel King). They were both transferred to Belaria before the escape. Harsh was a very interesting character who was from the American south and had joined the RCAF as a tail-gunner. In the 1920s Harsh had committed murder and was sent to jail for life. A medical student, Harsh performed an appendectomy on a dying prisoner and saved his life. The governor of Georgia granted him a pardon and he was set free. After the war, he had personal problems as he was plagued by guilt over the crime he committed as a youth; on top of adjusting to life after fifteen years in captivity (12 years on the Georgia chain gang, followed by three years as POW). On Christmas Eve 1974, he did shoot himself but survived. A stroke soon after left him partially paralyzed. When that happened, Wally Floody and his wife brought him up to their Toronto home and looked after him. He eventually went to live -at his own urging- at the Veteran's Wing at the Sunnybrook Medical Centre. He died in January of 1980.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: Sedgwick is shown reading "Liberation", a newspaper not published during the German occupation of France.
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Quotes:
Lt. Cmdr. Eric 'Dispersal' Ashley-Pitt:
[watching Hilts be brought back into camp] I didn't think he'd get caught so soon.
Bartlett: He wasn't caught.
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Bartlett: He wasn't caught.
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Movie Connections:
Spoofed in Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004)
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FAQ
Is this movie based on a book?What is a "mole" escape?
Are any of these guys still alive?
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more (244 total)
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I find it difficult to believe that some reviewers' negative reactions to this film are based on their (misguided) beliefs that none of this could possibly have happened. Comments like these make it crystal clear that what some people don't know about history is appalling. If you are going to judge a film based on historical fact, it helps if you know what it is.
It is well-documented what amazing technical feats the POW's were able to accomplish in the stalags. There was even an entire section of the British Secret Service dedicated to coming up with all sorts of clever ways to send these captured men the tools they needed to facilitate their escape attempts, i.e., sandwiching maps between the split sides of a record album (yes, the Germans allowed the prisoners to have records in the camps) or compasses in pens. At Colditz Castle, one of the more forbidding stalags, (actually an offlag since is was for officers only), many, many tunnels were dug and disguises created. One man actually created a German sergeant's uniform totally from scratch, donned a moustache and created an overall impersonation so realistic, it fooled two out of three sets of sentries. Some of the POW's built and concealed an entire glider that would have carried two men off the roof and over the wall! The only reason it didn't fly was because the prison was liberated before they got the chance! The Colditz experience is well documented. There are many books written about that particular prison complete with photographs, including one by a German officer confirming these amazing escapes and attempts. The reviewers who doubt what can be done when necessity is truly the mother of invention should look for them and learn something.
As for the prisoners not being in jumpsuits, as suggested by one reviewer as one reason to question the authenticity of the film? Ludicrous, POW's wore what they were captured in. The German military (different from the Gestapo and the SS) considered them soldiers and allowed them to keep their badges of rank.
As for the film itself, it is long, but absorbing. There are historical flaws (as there are in all movies), but several of the former POW's participated in the filming process, keeping it, for the most part, very authentic. As for the emphasis on Americans, it's true they were not among the escapees per se, but several did assist in the effort before they were transferred out, as mentioned by a previous reviewer. However, you must remember that the movie was made for an American audience in 1963, long before international distribution revenue became so important to a studio's bottom line. They needed American stars who would appeal to an American audience. Who knows, perhaps if they were to remake it today, the cast would be all British and German, but I doubt it (see "Hart's War" where not only the plot, but all the British and Canadian characters that were in the book, disappeared).
All in all, "The Great Escape" is an entertaining movie telling a fascinating story of what ordinary men can achieve in adverse circumstances. It's well worth the time.