Papillon (1973)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (screenplay) and
Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 December 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The greatest adventure of escape ever filmed!

Plot:

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Plot Keywords:

French | Escape | Island | Tattoo | South America

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Henri 'Papillon' Charriere
Dustin Hoffman	...	Louis Dega
Victor Jory	...	Indian Chief
Don Gordon	...	Julot
Anthony Zerbe	...	Toussaint
Robert Deman	...	Maturette
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Clusiot
Bill Mumy	...	Lariot
George Coulouris	...	Dr. Chatal
Ratna Assan	...	Zoraima
William Smithers	...	Warden Barrot
Val Avery	...	Pascal
Gregory Sierra	...	Antonio
Vic Tayback	...	Sergeant (as Victor Tayback)
Mills Watson	...	Guard

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Australia:M | South Korea:18 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-18 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1974) | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:AA (original rating) (cut) | West Germany:16 | UK:15 (video rating) (2000) | USA:PG (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Although billed as a true story, the French in French Guiana claim that much of the story of Henri Charrière (Papillon) is fabricated. Papillon was documented to have been incarcerated in Saint Laurent and may have escaped from there, but he never served any time on the Devil's Islands (now known as Iles du Salut or Salvation Islands). The book and movie both present Devil's Island as having rocky cliffs, when in fact, though the entire island is rocky, it gently slopes into the surrounding sea.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Papillon is in the natives' village he goes swimming with one of the girls who has tan lines from a bra/bikini top.

Quotes:

Papillon: [to Dega] Me they can kill... You they own!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (#6.18)" (1993)

Hollywood's first non-stereotypical gay character?

Does anyone remember the name of the medic who escapes over the wall with Papillon and Dega - is it Maturette? In any case, he may mark the first time Hollywood created a gay character - at least in a big-budget film - who is sympathetic, not stereotypical or ridiculous or treacherous, and is given his fair share of personal dignity. First, Papillon wants to prostitute him to distract a guard so that he can escape: He lets Papillon know in no uncertain terms that he's "not a whore" and that "Between the two of us, I'm the one who's killed a man." Later, he shows bravery, solidarity, and resourcefulness equal to the two leads'.

It's a fairly large role, the actor makes a strong impression, yet (almost as important) the filmmakers don't showcase him in a self-congratulatory way ("Look how progressive we are!"). He's not offset by any more "typical" gay characters to lessen his impact, nor, thankfully, by one of those ritual gang-rape-of-the-male-lead scenes that seem to be obligatory in prison pictures (e.g., "The Shawshank Redemption"). This is all especially remarkable in that Hollywood movies at the time were still rife with abysmal gay stereotypes (see "Play Misty for Me," "The Eiger Sanction," "The Producers," any number of others in all kinds of genres.) I'd love to know if this was a conscious decision by Schaffner or the screenwriters (Trumbo and Semple both had good progressive credentials, after all).

By the way, if you're going to see this film, see it letterboxed - it loses much of its visual impact in a standard TV pan-and-scan format.