Papillon (1973)

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.

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

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

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory

Top 250 #241 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Henri "Papillon" Charierre is sentenced to life in prison and transported to the penal in French Guyana. Aboard ship on the voyage over, he meets Louis Degas, a forger. They form a bond that will last them a great many years. The conditions at the penal colony are horrific and Papillon desperately wants to escape. He first attempt ends quickly in failure and as a result he spends 2 years in solitary confinement. His next attempts is somewhat more successful and he actually spends a idyllic time with a tribe of Central America Indians. Once caught however, he does 5 years in solitary confinement. Once released, he decides to make one final attempt at freedom.

---

Plot Keywords:

escape | solitary confinement | butterfly | prison | island | 

---

Taglines:

Two men with nothing in common but a will to live and a place to die

---

Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

16 December 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ba Bi Long

Filming Locations:

Higuerote, Estado Miranda, Venezuela

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$53,267,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Artists Pictures, Corona-General, Solar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) Mono (optical prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Third music score composed by Jerry Goldsmith for director Franklin J. Schaffner after Goldsmith's two previous scores for both Patton and Planet of the Apes both got Oscar nominated. Goldsmith's score for this film was also Academy Award nominated - for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, the movie's only Oscar nomination.

---

Goofs

A harness is visible on Papillon's midsection as he helps Dega over the wall.

---

Quotes

Toussaint: How did you know I have dry leprosy, that it isn't contagious?
Papillon: I didn't.

---

Connections

References The Great Escape (1963)

---

Soundtracks

"Ballet Music from Faust"
(uncredited)
Music by Charles Gounod

User Reviews

Terrific! Most underrated film ever.

I felt so moved after watching this film. Steve McQueen did a terrific job acting as Henry. Although at times, he just acted as McQueen, he did a wonderful job expressing suffering in the solitary confinement scene, and great towards the end of the movie. Hoffman is always an exceptional actor and in this movie he is no different. Unfortunately it neither won for, nor got nominated for an Oscar, and it deserved to win 3 (supporting actor, actor, picture). As much as I loved the Sting, this movie was better for that year.Some critics gave it a bad review, even a 1973 Roger Ebert article criticized this film. I guess you cant blame them too much, movies were better those days. Note that 1973 was sandwiched between 2 Godfather years.Maybe some people figured that McQueen was just redoing his Great Escape role. Either way, nowadays films are so bad I am just thirsting for a movie this deep. But if the best Hollywood can do nowadays is a glittzy trashpiece like Chicago, we cant expect too much from our times.