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The Great Escape

  • 1963
  • Approved
  • 2h 52m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
269K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,467
780
Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, and James Garner in The Great Escape (1963)
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Play trailer3:09
9 Videos
99+ Photos
Period DramaPrison DramaWar EpicAdventureDramaThrillerWar

Allied officers in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II making a daring plan for a mass escape by hundreds of their men, hoping to draw German personnel and resources away from ... Read allAllied officers in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II making a daring plan for a mass escape by hundreds of their men, hoping to draw German personnel and resources away from combat operations.Allied officers in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II making a daring plan for a mass escape by hundreds of their men, hoping to draw German personnel and resources away from combat operations.

  • Director
    • John Sturges
  • Writers
    • Paul Brickhill
    • James Clavell
    • W.R. Burnett
  • Stars
    • Steve McQueen
    • James Garner
    • Richard Attenborough
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.2/10
    269K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,467
    780
    • Director
      • John Sturges
    • Writers
      • Paul Brickhill
      • James Clavell
      • W.R. Burnett
    • Stars
      • Steve McQueen
      • James Garner
      • Richard Attenborough
    • 469User reviews
    • 99Critic reviews
    • 86Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #158
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 3 wins & 12 nominations total

    Videos9

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:09
    Official Trailer
    The Great Escape
    Trailer 2:42
    The Great Escape
    The Great Escape
    Trailer 2:42
    The Great Escape
    The Great Escape: Ives' Escape Attempt
    Clip 1:59
    The Great Escape: Ives' Escape Attempt
    The Great Escape: Twenty Feet Short
    Clip 1:25
    The Great Escape: Twenty Feet Short
    The Great Escape: Baseball
    Clip 1:56
    The Great Escape: Baseball
    The Great Escape: Cooler
    Clip 1:36
    The Great Escape: Cooler

    Photos1205

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    Top cast28

    Edit
    Steve McQueen
    Steve McQueen
    • Hilts 'The Cooler King'
    James Garner
    James Garner
    • Hendley 'The Scrounger'
    Richard Attenborough
    Richard Attenborough
    • Bartlett 'Big X'
    Charles Bronson
    Charles Bronson
    • Danny 'Tunnel King'
    James Donald
    James Donald
    • Ramsey 'The SBO'
    Donald Pleasence
    Donald Pleasence
    • Blythe 'The Forger'
    James Coburn
    James Coburn
    • Sedgwick 'Manufacturer'
    Hannes Messemer
    Hannes Messemer
    • Von Luger 'The Kommandant'
    David McCallum
    David McCallum
    • Ashley-Pitt 'Dispersal'
    Gordon Jackson
    Gordon Jackson
    • MacDonald 'Intelligence'
    John Leyton
    John Leyton
    • Willie 'Tunnel King'
    Angus Lennie
    Angus Lennie
    • Ives 'The Mole'
    Nigel Stock
    Nigel Stock
    • Cavendish 'The Surveyor'
    Robert Graf
    Robert Graf
    • Werner 'The Ferret'
    Jud Taylor
    Jud Taylor
    • Goff
    Hans Reiser
    Hans Reiser
    • Herr Kuhn
    Harry Riebauer
    • Strachwitz
    William Russell
    William Russell
    • Sorren
    • Director
      • John Sturges
    • Writers
      • Paul Brickhill
      • James Clavell
      • W.R. Burnett
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The real camp can be visited today in Sagan, Poland. It's a ruin now, that's mostly used for archaeological purpose. A replica of the camp is located forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) south, where you can enter a model of tunnel "Harry" yourself. In the movie, they confused the actual names of the tunnels.
    • Goofs
      Strong timbers are needed to support thousands of pounds of dirt above a tunnel. The three foot long, 1/2 inch thick boards taken from the bed frames shown used in the tunnel seemingly could not support the weight. However, documentary interviews and excavation of the actual Stalag Luft 3 site, reveal that the film's depiction of the tunnel's construction was accurate. While the materials used may not have been adequate for a professional tunnel or mine, they were apparently adequate to the task and some are still holding up the tunnel even now.
    • Quotes

      Ramsey: Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.

    • Alternate versions
      Some TV versions edit the scene in which Ives is shot and killed for trying to escape over the fence.
    • Connections
      Edited into Return to 'the Great Escape' (1993)

    User reviews469

    Featured review

    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.
    • warrior_sarah
    • Jan 10, 2004
    • Permalink

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 4, 1963 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • French
      • Russian
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • El gran escape
    • Filming locations
      • Füssen, Bavaria, Germany(motorcycle scenes; Gestapo agents chase Bartlett and MacDonald)
    • Production companies
      • The Mirisch Company
      • Alpha Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $4,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $230,637
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 52 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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