The Great Escape (1963)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

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

Release Date:

4 July 1963 (USA)

Genre:

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 | Plan | Escape Attempt | Prisoner | Tunnel

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Hilts 'The Cooler King'
James Garner	...	Hendley 'The Scrounger'
Richard Attenborough	...	Bartlett 'Big X'
James Donald	...	Ramsey 'The SBO'
Charles Bronson	...	Danny 'Tunnel King'
Donald Pleasence	...	Blythe 'The Forger'
James Coburn	...	Sedgwick 'The Manufacturer'
Hannes Messemer	...	Von Luger 'The Kommandant'
David McCallum	...	Ashley-Pitt 'Dispersal'
Gordon Jackson	...	MacDonald 'Intelligence'
John Leyton	...	Willie 'Tunnel King'
Angus Lennie	...	Ives 'The Mole'
Nigel Stock	...	Cavendish 'The Surveyor'
Robert Graf	...	Werner 'The Ferret'
Jud Taylor	...	Goff
Hans Reiser	...	Herr Kuhn
Harry Riebauer	...	Stratwitch
William Russell	...	Sorren
Robert Freitag	...	Capt. Posen
Ulrich Beiger	...	Preissen
George Mikell	...	Lt. Dietrich
Lawrence Montaigne	...	Haynes ('Diversions')
Robert Desmond	...	Griffith 'Tailor'
Til Kiwe	...	Frick
Heinz Weiss	...	Kramer
Tom Adams	...	Dai Nimmo ('Diversions')
Karl-Otto Alberty	...	S.S. Officer Steinach

Directed by
John Sturges

Writing credits
Paul Brickhill		(book)
James Clavell		(screenplay) and
W.R. Burnett		(screenplay)

Produced by
John Sturges	....	producer
James Clavell	....	producer (uncredited)
Walter Mirisch	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Daniel L. Fapp		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Art Direction by
Fernando Carrere

Set Decoration by
Kurt Ripberger

Makeup Department
Emile LaVigne	....	makeup artist
Jay Sebring	....	hair designer: Steve McQueen, James Garner (uncredited)

Production Management
Allen K. Wood	....	production supervisor
Hubert Fröhlich	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack N. Reddish	....	assistant director
John Flynn	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Robert E. Relyea	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Frank Agnone	....	property

Sound Department
Wayne Fury	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
A. Paul Pollard	....	special effects (as Paul Pollard)

Stunts
Bud Ekins	....	stunt double: Steve McQueen, motorcycle jump (uncredited)
Tim Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roy Jenson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert E. Relyea	....	stunt pilot (uncredited)
Roy N. Sickner	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bert Henrikson	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Don Tomlinson	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Richard Carruth	....	music editor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
John Franco	....	script supervisor
Robert E. Relyea	....	assistant to producer
Wally Floody	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Mirisch Corporation, The (as The Mirisch Company)

Distributors

• United Artists (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (released thru)
• United Artists (1963) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1963) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Nova Film (1963) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print re-issue)
• Cine Qua Non Films (Japan) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2000) (Japan) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2000-2007) (Japan) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (VHS)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1985) (Greece) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1967) (USA) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (France) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1990) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1997) (Japan) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Japan) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vidéo (1996) (France) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS) (short version)

Other Companies

• Samuel Goldwyn Studios  scoring (Samuel Goldwyn Studios, Scoring Stage Seven) (uncredited)
• Stalmaster-Lister Co.  casting

Also Known As:

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) | Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #20399) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Japan:G (2009) | Brazil:12 | UK:U (passed with cuts) | Netherlands:14 (orginal rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

The medal that Colonel von Luger wears around his neck is the Pour le Merite, also known as the Blue Max. Originally a Prussian military honor, in the First World War it was automatically given to fighter pilots who shot down eight planes (later raised to sixteen). The Nazis replaced it with the Knight's Cross but it could still be worn by officers who'd won it before the Third Reich.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Ashley Pitt is in the tunnel, the topsoil is a sandy color and the tunnel soil is dark. In reality it was the other way around with the topsoil being gray and tunnel soil being yellow.

Quotes:

Danny:Oh, Hendley. I need a pick. Big, heavy one.
Hendley:Only one?
Danny:Two would be better.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 100 Greatest Cartoons (2005) (TV)

GREAT MOVIE: MORE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE THAN SOME REALIZE...

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.