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What were the names given to the three tunnels in the movie "The Great Escape?"

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1963 American war film

The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film) poster.jpg

Theatrical release poster by Frank McCarthy
Directed past John Sturges
Screenplay by
  • James Clavell
  • Due west. R. Burnett
Based on The book by Paul Brickhill
Produced by John Sturges
Starring
  • Steve McQueen
  • James Garner
  • Richard Attenborough
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp, A.Southward.C.
Edited by Ferris Webster
Music by Elmer Bernstein

Product
company

The Mirisch Company
Distributed by United Artists

Release dates
  • June twenty, 1963 (1963-06-20) (premiere, London)
  • July iv, 1963 (1963-07-04) (US)

Running time

 172 minutes
Country U.s.
Languages
  • English language
  • German
  • French
Upkeep $3.8 million[1]
Box office $eleven.7 1000000

The Keen Escape is a 1963 American ballsy adventure suspense war moving picture starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough and featuring James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Karl-Otto Alberty, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton and Angus Lennie. Information technology was filmed in Panavision.

The film is based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 non-fiction volume of the same proper name, a firsthand account of the mass escape by British Commonwealth prisoners of war from German Pw camp Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now Żagań, Poland), in the Nazi Germany province of Lower Silesia. The picture depicts a heavily fictionalized version of the escape, with numerous compromises for its commercial appeal, such as focusing more on American interest in the escape.

The Great Escape was made by The Mirisch Company, released past United Artists, and produced and directed by John Sturges. The moving-picture show had its Regal World Premiere at the Odeon Leicester Foursquare in London'due south West End on twenty June 1963.[2] The Great Escape emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of the year, winning McQueen the award for Best Actor at the Moscow International Moving picture Festival,[3] and is now considered a archetype.[4] The Peachy Escape is also noted for its motorcycle chase and jump scene, which is considered one of the best stunts always performed.[five] [6] [7]

Plot [edit]

In late 1942, having expended enormous resources on recapturing escaped Allied POWs, the Nazi German armed forces move the almost determined to Stalag Luft Three, a new, max-security prisoner-of-war army camp supervised past Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger. The prisoners' escape commission, the "X" Organization, led by "Big X", RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, a former prisoner of the Gestapo, and with the back up of senior British officeholder Group Captain Ramsey, mountain an audacious plan to tunnel out of the camp and break out 250 men – not just to escape, but then that German manpower will exist wasted on finding POWs. The men organize into teams, simultaneously working on three tunnels, "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry". American Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley finds anything from a photographic camera to identity cards. Australian Flight Officer Sedgwick makes tools like picks and bellows for pumping air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenants Danny Velinski and Willie Dickes are in charge of digging the tunnels. Flying Lieutenant Andy MacDonald, Bartlett's second-in-control, gathers and provides intelligence. Lieutenant Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt of the Imperial Navy devises a method of hiding dirt from the tunnels under the guards' noses. Flight Lieutenant Griffith creates noncombatant outfits from scavenged fabric for the POWs to wear later on the escape. Dai Nimmo and Haynes are in charge of diverting the guards' attending to other things in the camp in social club to pull off the more risky parts of the functioning unnoticed. Sorren is in accuse of security. Forging papers to get to liberty is handled by Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe. The work noise is covered past the prisoner choir led past Flight Lieutenant Dennis Cavendish, who as well does surveys to measure the tunnel.

On June 20 1943, Bartlett asks USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, who is attempting escapes with Scottish RAF Flight Officer Archie Ives, merely being constantly imprisoned in alone confinement in the "cooler",[8] to help in the escape past getting out through the barbed wire, scouting out the area, and then allowing himself to be recaptured; Hilts refuses. Bartlett orders "Dick" and "Harry" sealed off, as "Tom" is closest to completion. Later on hoarding potatoes, Hilts, Hendley and American Second Lieutenant Goff concoct moonshine from a homemade still and celebrate the Fourth of July with the entire camp. In the midst of the commemoration, the guards discover "Tom". Equally the POWs react with dismay, a despondent Ives frantically climbs the barbed wire debate, and is shot dead. Hilts volunteers to provide reconnaissance from outside the camp and Bartlett switches the prisoners' efforts to "Harry", after the information Hilts brings back is used to create maps to guide the escapers. After experiencing a tunnel plummet, a claustrophobic Danny tries to break out through the fence only agrees to try the tunnel when Willie promises his support. Blythe discovers that he is going blind due to progressive myopia;[annotation 1] Hendley takes information technology upon himself to be Blythe's guide in the escape. The last office of the tunnel is completed on the scheduled night, March 24, 1944, and despite some mishaps, such equally the tunnel being 20 anxiety (6 one thousand) shorter than information technology should have been, 76 prisoners, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Hendley, Blythe, Hilts, Ashley-Pitt, Danny, Willie, Sedgwick, Cavendish, Nimmo and Haynes, escape out the tunnel, aided past Hilts using a 30 feet of rope as a signal, and an air-raid blackout. Cavendish slips and falls after exiting the tunnel, which leads to him drawing a guard's attention and virtually being caught. Still, the escape attempts ultimately end when an impatient Griffith exits the tunnel in view of a guard, and is captured immediately.

The 76 POWs flee through the Third Reich. Cavendish hitchhikes in a truck but is delivered to the authorities where he finds Haynes, disguised as a German soldier, captured. Hendley and Blythe steal a aeroplane to fly over the Swiss edge, merely the engine fails, and they crash-land; Blythe is shot and dies, while Hendley is recaptured. Hilts steals a motorcycle at a crossroads, heading for the German language-Swiss edge to escape pursuing German soldiers. He begins jumping a serial of spinous-wire fences but soldiers shoot out the bike's tire, and he is recaptured. Ashley-Pitt is shot and killed at a railway station when he causes a distraction to save MacDonald and Bartlett but they are recaptured after a Gestapo officer tricks them into speaking English. On the orders of Adolf Hitler, the Gestapo murder 48 of the prisoners, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Cavendish and Haynes, on the pretense that they were trying to escape, bringing the total dead to 50. Only 3 POWs successfully escape to freedom; Danny and Willie steal a rowboat and proceed downstream to a port, where they board a merchant ship jump for Sweden. Sedgwick steals a bicycle, so rides on a train to France, where the French Resistance help him in reaching Spain.

Hendley, Nimmo and nine others are returned to the camp. When informed of the expressionless, Hendley wonders if the cost was worth information technology, and Ramsey tells him it depends on his betoken of view. Von Luger is relieved of control as Hilts returns and is sent to the cooler, where he plans another escape.

Cast [edit]

  • Steve McQueen as Captain Virgil Hilts 'The Cooler King': one of three Americans in the camp, Hilts irritates guards with frequent escape attempts and an irreverent attitude, to the point that he is regularly bars in isolation in the cooler. He has a habit of billowy a baseball against the libation cell wall to entertain himself, as he plans an escape effort. Hilts was based on at least three pilots, David 1000. Jones, John Dortch Lewis,[nine] and Bill Ash.[x] [eleven] [12]
  • James Garner every bit Flying Lieutenant Bob Hendley 'The Scrounger': an American serving in an RAF Eagle Squadron. He is responsible for finding materials that will be necessary for the POWs during the escape endeavor and on the exterior.
  • Richard Attenborough every bit Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett 'Big X': an aggressive RAF officer, who has adult an intense hatred for the Nazis following his stay with the Gestapo. Bartlett, himself a veteran escaper, is the ringleader, 'Big 10', of the camp escape committee, the "10" Organization, and declares his intention to organize a massive breakout of 250 men is their duty is to harass, confound and misfile the enemy.
  • James Donald as Group Captain Ramsey 'The SBO': the Senior British Officer and de facto commanding officer of the prisoners. He serves as an intermediary betwixt the POWs and the Germans. Ramsey is taken aback at Bartlett's plan, but supports it.
  • Charles Bronson as Flying Lieutenant Danny Welinski 'Tunnel Male monarch': a Smooth refugee who escaped Nazi-held Poland and went to England to bring together upward in the fight confronting the Nazis. He suffers from claustrophobia and is fearful of tunnel collapses, primarily coming from his previous feel of having dug 17 escape tunnels.
  • Donald Pleasence equally Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe 'The Forger': a mild-mannered and good-natured master forger with a love of bird-watching who requires paper, inks, a camera and electric current travel documents.
  • James Coburn as Flight Officer Louis Sedgwick 'The Manufacturer': an Australian officer who constructs objects necessary to implement the escape.[note 2]
  • Hannes Messemer as Oberst von Luger 'The Kommandant': the Commandant of the camp and a senior Luftwaffe officer, von Luger is very civil with the POWs, and is openly anti-Nazi, especially embittered with the SS and Gestapo. When the Gestapo orders that Bartlett receive strict confinement, von Luger only makes a passing note of it, and instead shows sympathy for Bartlett.
  • David McCallum as Lieutenant-Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt 'Dispersal': a Fleet Air Arm officer who finds an ingenious manner to go rid of the dirt being brought up from the tunnels.
  • Gordon Jackson as Flight Lieutenant Andy MacDonald 'Intelligence': Bartlett'southward 2d-in-command in planning the escape.
  • John Leyton every bit Flying Lieutenant Willie Dickes 'Tunnel King': Danny'south best friend, who seeks to encourage Danny during his struggles with claustrophobia.
  • Angus Lennie as Flying Officeholder Archie Ives 'The Mole : a Scottish airman who has an intense desire to escape, leading him to the precipice of paranoia.
  • Nigel Stock as Flight Lieutenant Dennis Cavendish 'The Surveyor': a Flying Lieutenant who has an of import duty for the building of the tunnel.
  • Robert Graf as Werner 'The Ferret': a young, naive guard, with whom Hendley forms a friendship, which he exploits every bit a ways of obtaining travel documents and other needed items.
  • Jud Taylor as Second Lieutenant Goff: the third American in the camp.
  • Hans Reiser as Kuhn: a Gestapo officer who had Bartlett as a prisoner. An ardent Nazi, he orders von Luger that Bartlett exist kept under the most restrictive permanent security confinement, which von Luger but makes a note of. He is critical of the Luftwaffe's fair treatment of the prisoners, and believes the military camp should exist brought nether the jurisdiction of the Gestapo and SS. Kuhn warns Bartlett that if he escapes over again, he will be shot on his next capture.
  • Harry Riebauer equally Stabsfeldwebel Strachwitz, the senior NCO amongst the German guards.
  • William Russell as Sorren 'Security', a British officer.
  • Robert Freitag equally Hauptmann Posen, von Luger's aide.
  • Ulrich Beiger as Preissen: a high-ranking Gestapo official, and an ardent Nazi. He has a cavalier attitude and had Bartlett as a prisoner.
  • George Mikell as SD Hauptsturmführer Dietrich: 1 of the SS officers who had Bartlett as a prisoner.
  • Lawrence Montaigne as Haynes 'Diversions', a Canadian officer.
  • Robert Desmond as Griffith 'Tailor', a British officer responsible for supplying apparel for the POWs for the escape.
  • Til Kiwe as Frick
  • Heinz Weiss as Kramer
  • Tom Adams every bit Dai Nimmo 'Diversions', a Welsh officer.
  • Karl-Otto Alberty equally SD Untersturmführer Steinach: one of the SS officers who had Bartlett as a prisoner.

Product [edit]

Writing [edit]

In 1963, the Mirisch brothers worked with United Artists to adapt Paul Brickhill'due south 1950 book The Nifty Escape. Brickhill had been a very pocket-size member of the X System at Stalag Luft Iii, who acted as one of the "stooges" who monitored German language movements in the army camp. The story had been adapted as a live Television receiver product, screened by NBC every bit an episode of The Philco Television Playhouse on Jan 27, 1951.[13] The alive broadcast was praised for engineering an ingenious set design for the live broadcast, including creating the illusion of tunnels.[14] The film'due south screenplay was adapted by James Clavell, W. R. Burnett, and Walter Newman.

Casting [edit]

Steve McQueen (left) with Wally Floody, a one-time Canadian Prisoner of war who was part of the real Great Escape and acted as a technical advisor in production of the film

Steve McQueen has been credited with the nearly meaning operation. Critic Leonard Maltin wrote that "the large, international cast is superb, merely the standout is McQueen; information technology'due south easy to encounter why this cemented his status every bit a superstar".[15] This film established his box-office clout.

Richard Attenborough's Sqn Ldr Roger Bartlett RAF, "Large X", was based on Roger Bushell, the S African-born British POW who was the mastermind of the real Groovy Escape.[16] This was the picture that kickoff brought Attenborough to mutual notice in the United States. During the 2d World War, Attenborough served in the Majestic Air Force. He volunteered to fly with the Motion-picture show Unit of measurement and afterward further preparation (where he sustained permanent ear harm) he qualified as a sergeant. He flew on several missions over Europe, filming from the rear gunner's position to record the outcome of Bomber Command sorties. (Richard Harris was originally appear for the role.)[17]

Group Helm Ramsey RAF, "the SBO", was based on Group Captain Herbert Massey, a WWI veteran who had volunteered in WWII. He is played past James Donald. Massey walked with a limp, and in the picture Ramsey walks with a cane. Massey had suffered severe wounds to the same leg in both wars. There would be no escape for him, but every bit Senior British Officeholder he had to know what was going on. Group Captain Massey was a veteran escaper himself and had been in trouble with the Gestapo. His experience allowed him to offer audio advice to the X-System.[18] Another officer who is likely to have inspired the character of Ramsey was Fly Commander Harry 24-hour interval.

Flt Lt Colin Blythe RAF, "The Forger", was based on Tim Walenn and played past Donald Pleasence.[xix] Pleasence himself had served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He was shot down and spent a year in German language prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft I.

Charles Bronson had been a gunner in the USAAF and had been wounded, only he had non been shot downward. Similar his grapheme, Danny Valinski, he suffered from claustrophobia because of his childhood work in a mine.

James Garner had been a soldier in the Korean State of war and was twice wounded. He was a scrounger during that time, every bit is his character Flt Lt Hendley.[20]

Hannes Messemer's Commandant, "Colonel von Luger", was based on Oberst Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau.[21] He had been a Pow in Russia during Globe State of war Ii and had escaped by walking hundreds of miles to the German language border.[22] He was wounded by Russian burn, but was not captured past the Russians. He surrendered to British forces and so spent two years in a POW facility in London known every bit the London Cage.

Angus Lennie's Flight Officeholder Archibald Ives, "The Mole", was based on Jimmy Kiddel, who was shot dead while trying to scale the fence.[23]

The film is accurate in showing that only three escapees made dwelling house runs, although the people who made them differed from those in the film. The escape of Danny and Willie in the flick is based on ii Norwegians who escaped by gunkhole to Sweden, Per Bergsland and Jens Müller. The successful escape of James Coburn's Australian character, Sedgwick (the manufacturer), via Spain was based on Dutchman Bram van der Stok. Coburn, an American, was cast in the office of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick who was an affiliation of Flt Lt Albert Hake, an Australian serving in the RAF, the camp'due south compass maker, and Johnny Travis, the real manufacturer.

Tilman 'Til Kiwe' Kiver played the German language guard "Frick", who discovers the escape. Kiwe had been a German language paratrooper officer who was captured and held prisoner at a POW military camp in Colorado. He made several escape attempts, dyeing his uniform and carrying forged papers. He was captured in the St. Louis railroad train station during one escape attempt. He won the Knight's Cross earlier his capture and was the cast fellow member who had actually performed many of the exploits shown in the motion-picture show.

Filming [edit]

The moving-picture show was made on location in Germany at the Bavaria Moving-picture show Studio in the Munich suburb of Geiselgasteig in rural Bavaria, where sets for the barrack interiors and tunnels were constructed. The military camp was congenital in a clearing of the Perlacher Forst (Perlacher Wood) near the studio.[24] [25] The High german boondocks near the real camp was Sagan (now Żagań, Poland); it was renamed Neustadt in the moving picture.[25] Many scenes were filmed in and around the town of Füssen in Bavaria, including its railway station. The nearby district of Pfronten,[26] with its distinctive St. Nikolaus Church and scenic background, as well appears often in the film.[25] The commencement scenes involving the railway were filmed on the Munich–Holzkirchen line at Großhesselohe station ("Neustadt" station in the picture show) and near Deisenhofen. Hendley and Blythe's escape from the train was shot on the Munich–Mühldorf railway east of Markt Schwaben. The station where Bartlett, MacDonald and Ashley-Pitt go far is Füssen station, whereas the scene of Sedgwick (whose theft of a bicycle was shot in Markt Schwaben) boarding a railroad train was created in Pfronten-Ried station on the Ausserfern Railway.[27] [28] The castle Hendley and Blythe fly by while attempting to escape is Neuschwanstein Castle.[29]

Replica of the motorbike used by McQueen and Ekins.

The motorcycle chase scenes with the spinous wire fences were shot on meadows exterior Füssen, and the "barbed wire" that Hilts crashes into before existence recaptured was faux by strips of prophylactic tied around barbless wire, constructed by the cast and crew in their spare time.[xxx] Insurance concerns prevented McQueen from performing the film'south notable motorbike leap, which was done past his friend and boyfriend cycle enthusiast Bud Ekins, who resembled McQueen from a distance.[31] When Johnny Carson after tried to congratulate McQueen for the jump during a broadcast of The This night Prove, McQueen said, "It wasn't me. That was Bud Ekins." However, McQueen and Australian Motocross champion Tim Gibbes both performed the stunt on camera for fun, and according to 2nd unit managing director Robert Relyea, the stunt in the final cut of the movie could have been performed by whatsoever of the three men.[32] Other parts of the chase were done by McQueen, playing both Hilts and the soldiers chasing him, because of his skill on a motorcycle.[33] The motorbike was a Triumph TR6 Trophy which was painted to look similar a High german machine. The restored motorcar is currently on display at Triumph's factory at Hinckley, England.[34]

Soundtrack [edit]

The film's iconic music was composed by Elmer Bernstein, who gave each major graphic symbol their own musical motif based on the Great Escape's main theme.[35] Its enduring popularity helped Bernstein alive off the score's royalties for the residual of his life.[36] Critics take said the pic score succeeds because it uses rousing militaristic motifs with interludes of warmer softer themes that humanizes the prisoners and endears them to audiences; the music besides captures the bravery and disobedience of the POWs.[37] The main championship's patriotic march has since go popular in Britain, particularly with sports such as fans of the England national football team.[38] Nevertheless, in 2016, the sons of Elmer Bernstein openly criticized the use of the Keen Escape theme by the Vote Leave campaign in the Great britain Brexit referendum, saying "Our male parent would never accept allowed UKIP to utilize his music" because he would have strongly opposed the party.[39]

Intrada Records (release)

In 2011 Intrada, a company specializing in moving-picture show soundtracks, released a digitized re-mastered version of the total film score based on the original 1/four" ii-track stereo sessions and original 1/2" 3-channel stereo masters.[twoscore]

Disc i [edit]

Original Movement Picture Soundtrack
No. Championship Length
1. "Principal Title" 2:30
2. "At First Glance" 3:07
three. "Premature Plans" ii:28
4. "If At One time" 2:31
v. "Forked" 1:28
6. "Cooler" ane:59
7. "Mole" 1:28
eight. ""Ten"/This night We Dig" 1:xxx
nine. "The Scrounger/Blythe" 3:50
10. "Water Faucet" 1:23
xi. "Interruptus" i:33
12. "The Program/The Sad Ives" 1:43
13. "Green Thumbs" 2:28
14. "Hilts And Ives" 0:38
15. "Cave In" 2:01
xvi. "Restless Men" 1:56
17. "Booze" 1:47
xviii. ""Yankee Doodle"" 0:55
19. "Discovery" three:40
Full length: 57:35

Disc two [edit]

Original Motion Motion picture Soundtrack (Continued)
No. Title Length
1. "Various Troubles" 3:52
2. "Panic" 2:05
3. "Pivot Flim-flam" 0:59
4. "Hendley'due south Risk" 1:43
5. "Released Again/Escape Time" five:25
6. "20 Feet Short" 3:06
7. "Foul Up" two:37
viii. "At The Station" 1:33
9. "On The Road" 3:27
10. "The Chase/Kickoff Casualty" 6:49
11. "Flight Plan" 2:09
12. "More Action/Hilts Captured" 6:07
13. "Road's Stop" ii:06
14. "Betrayal" 2:20
xv. "Three Gone/Dwelling house Again" 3:13
16. "Finale/The Cast" 2:47
Total length: ane:18:58

Disc 3 [edit]

Original 1963 United Artists Score Anthology
No. Title Length
1. "Chief Title" ii:07
2. "Premature Plans" 2:08
iii. "Cooler And Mole" 2:26
four. "Blythe" 2:13
5. "Discovery" two:54
6. "Diverse Troubles" two:40
7. "On The Route" ii:54
eight. "Betrayal" 2:05
ix. "Hendley's Risk" 2:24
x. "Route'due south End" 2:00
11. "More Action" 1:57
12. "The Chase" ii:49
13. "Finale" 3:14
Total length: 49:xi

Historical accuracy [edit]

Model of the set up used to film The Great Escape. It depicts a smaller version of a unmarried chemical compound in Stalag Luft III. The model is now at the museum near where the prison army camp was located.

Stop of the real "Harry" tunnel (on the other side of the road) showing how information technology does not reach the cover of the trees

The film was largely fictional, with changes made to increase its drama and appeal to an American audience, and to serve as vehicle for its box-office stars. Many details of the actual escape attempt were changed for the film, including the roles of American personnel in both the planning and the escape. While the characters are fictitious, they are based on real men, in nearly cases being composites of several people. The screenwriters significantly increased the interest of American POWs; a few American officers in the army camp initially helped dig the tunnels and worked on the early on plans. However, they were moved away vii months before the escape, which ended their involvement.[41] [42] The real escape was by largely British and other Allied personnel, with the exception of American Johnnie Dodge, who was a British officer.[29]

The film omits the crucial office that Canadians played in building the tunnels and in the escape itself. Of the 1,800 or then POWs, 600 were involved in preparations: 150 of those were Canadian. Wally Floody, an RCAF pilot and quondam miner who was the real-life "tunnel king", was engaged as a technical advisor for the film.[43]

When Ramsey start meets Von Luger, Luger warns him that although the newly arriving prisoners are well-known for wreaking havoc throughout the Reich with their constant camp breakouts, they volition have no success at the new military camp. Undaunted, Ramsey tells Von Luger that it is the sworn duty of every officer to endeavour escape. In reality, there was no requirement in the King'southward Regulations, or in any form of international convention.[44]

The moving picture shows the tunnel codenamed Tom with its entrance under a stove and Harry's in a drain sump in a washroom. In reality, Dick'southward entrance was the drain sump, Harry's was under the stove, and Tom's was in a darkened corner next to a stove chimney.[45]

Ex-POWs asked film-makers to exclude details about the help they received from their domicile countries, such as maps, papers, and tools subconscious in gift packages, lest it jeopardise future Pow escapes. The motion-picture show-makers complied.[46]

The film omits any mention that many Germans willingly helped in the escape itself. The moving picture suggests that the forgers were able to make near-verbal replicas of just about any pass that was used in Nazi Frg. In reality, the forgers received a dandy deal of assistance from Germans who lived many hundreds of miles away on the other side of the country. Several German guards, who were openly anti-Nazi, likewise willingly gave the prisoners items and aid of any kind to aid their escape.[44]

The need for such accuracy produced much eyestrain, only unlike in the movie, there were no cases of incomprehension. Some, such as Frank Knight, gave upwards forging because of the strain, but he certainly did not suffer the same ocular fate as the graphic symbol of Colin Blythe in the film.[44] In fact, no one in the motion picture says that Colin Blythe's blindness is the result of eyestrain. He identifies his trouble as "progressive myopia", suggesting that he has not just heard of the condition but has too been diagnosed.

The film depicts the escape taking place in ideal weather condition conditions, whereas at the time much was done in freezing temperatures, and snow lay thick on the ground.[44] In reality there were no escapes by aircraft or motorbike: McQueen requested the motorcycle sequence, which shows off his skills every bit a keen motorcyclist. He did the stunt riding himself (except for the terminal jump, done by Bud Ekins).[47]

In the motion-picture show, Hilts incapacitates, or otherwise kills, a German soldier for his motorcycle, Ashley-Pitt kills Kuhn, a Gestapo officer, when he recognizes Bartlett waiting to pass through a Gestapo checkpoint at a railway station and Hendley knocks out a High german guard at the airfield. No High german personnel were killed or injured by the escapees.

The moving picture shows 3 truckloads of recaptured POWs splitting off in 3 directions. I truck contains 20 of the prisoners who are invited to stretch their legs in a field, whereupon they are all machine gunned in a single massacre, with the implication that the other ii have the same way; in reality, the POWs were shot individually or in pairs. The bulk of the POWs were killed by pistol shots taken past Gestapo officers; however, at to the lowest degree ten of them were killed in a manner like that portrayed in the pic: Dutchy Swain, Chaz Hall, Brian Evans, Wally Valenta, George McGill, Pat Langford, Edgar Humphreys, Adam Kolanowski, Bob Stewart and Henry "Hank" Birkland.[48] [49] [fifty] [51] [52] [53] [44]

In addition, the film depicts the three prisoners who escape to freedom as British, Polish, and Australian; in reality, they were Norwegian (Jens Müller and Per Bergsland) and Dutch (Bram van der Stok).[54]

In 2009, seven POWs returned to Stalag Luft Iii for the 65th ceremony of the escape[55] and watched the film. Co-ordinate to the veterans, many details of the starting time half depicting life in the military camp were accurate, eastward.g. the expiry of Ives, who tries to scale the fence, and the bodily digging of the tunnels.

The picture has kept the memory of the 50 executed airmen alive for decades and has made their story known worldwide, if in a distorted course.[29] British writer Guy Walters notes that a pivotal scene in the film where MacDonald blunders by replying in English to a suspicious Gestapo officeholder maxim, "Practiced luck", is now so strongly imprinted that historians take accepted it as a real event, and that it was Bushell'southward partner Bernard Scheidhauer who made the error. However, Walters points out that an historical account says that i of the two men said "yep" in English in response to a Kripo man's questions without any mention of "proficient luck" and notes that as Scheidhauser was French, and Bushell's starting time linguistic communication was English, it seems likely that if a slip did take identify, information technology was made past Bushell himself, and says the "proficient luck" scene should be regarded as fiction, and furthermore, a slur upon the Frenchman.[44]

Release [edit]

The Cracking Escape grossed $11.7 million at the box function,[56] later a budget of $iv million.[57] Information technology became i of the highest-grossing films of 1963, despite heavy competition. In the years since its release, its audience has broadened, cementing its status as a picture palace archetype.[four] It was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Moving-picture show Festival, where McQueen won the Silver Prize for Best Actor.[58]

Reception [edit]

Critics [edit]

Critical and public response has mostly been enthusiastic, with a "Certified Fresh" 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[59] In 1963, The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "Only for much longer than is aesthetic or essential, The Not bad Escape grinds out its tormenting story without a peek beneath the surface of whatever man, without a real sense of human involvement. It'southward a strictly mechanical adventure with make-believe men."[60] British motion picture critic Leslie Halliwell described information technology as "pretty good but overlong Prisoner of war adventure with a tragic ending".[61] The Time magazine reviewer wrote in 1963: "The use of colour photography is unnecessary and jarring, but little else is wrong with this film. With accurate casting, a swift screenplay, and authentic German settings, Producer-Director John Sturges has created classic movie theatre of action. There is no sermonizing, no soul probing, no sex. The Smashing Escape is but great escapism".[62]

Modern appraisals [edit]

In a 2006 poll in the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, regarding the family unit picture that television viewers would nigh desire to run across on Christmas Day, The Bully Escape came in third, and was start among the choices of male viewers.[63]

In an article for the British Motion picture Institute, "ten great pow films," updated in August 2018, Samuel Wigley wrote that watching films similar The Great Escapdue east and the 1955 British film The Colditz Story, "for all their moments of terror and tragedy, is to delight in captivity in times of war as a wonderful game for boys, an countless Houdini claiming to slip through the enemy'due south fingers. Oftentimes based on true stories of escape, they take the viewer marvelling at the ingenuity and seemingly unbreakable spirit of imprisoned soldiers." He described The Corking Escape equally "the epitome of the war-is-fun action picture show," which became "a fixture of family TV viewing...".[64]

Awards and nominations [edit]

  • Nominated Academy Award for Film Editing (Ferris Webster)
  • Nominated Golden Earth Laurels for Best Movie
  • Winner Moscow International Moving-picture show Festival Best Actor (Steve McQueen)
  • Nominated Moscow International Pic Festival Grand Prix (John Sturges)
  • Selected National Board of Review Height Ten Films of Year
  • Nominated Writers Guild of America Best Written American Drama (James Clavell, Due west. R. Burnett) (Screenplay Adaptation)
  • 19th place in AFI'south 100 Years...100 Thrills

Legacy [edit]

On 24 March 2014, the 70th anniversary of the escape, the RAF staged a commemoration of the escape effort, with 50 serving personnel each carrying a photograph of one of the shot men.[65]

On 24 March 2019, the RAF held some other result for the 75th anniversary of the escape. There was a screening of the film at London's Eventim Hammersmith Apollo, hosted past Dan Snow. The movie was simulcast with other cinemas throughout the Great britain.[66]

Sequel [edit]

A fictional, made-for-tv sequel, The Great Escape Two: The Untold Story, was released in 1988, with different actors, directed by Jud Taylor (who played 2nd Lt. Goff in the 1963 film).[67] The film is not a true sequel, as it dramatizes the escape itself just as the original film does, although more often than not using the real names of the individuals involved (whereas the original film fictionalized them and used composite characters). It depicts the search for the culprits responsible for the murder of the 50 Allied officers. Donald Pleasence appears in a supporting role equally a member of the SS.[68]

In popular culture [edit]

  • The films Chicken Run, Reservoir Dogs, the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, Superlative Secret!, Charlie's Angels, The Tao of Steve, and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult all contain references or homages to the motion-picture show.[68]
  • In the motion-picture show Escape from Alcatraz, the warden'due south line, "Alcatraz was built to go on all the rotten eggs in one basket" appears to resemble Von Luger'south line, "We have, in effect, put all our rotten eggs in one basket."
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Simpsons, Hogan's Heroes, Nash Bridges, Seinfeld, Go Smart, Fugget About It, Archer, Goodness Gracious Me, Shaun the Sheep, and Scarlet Dwarf have all parodied or paid homage to the movie.[68]
  • In "Escape From Stalag Luft 112B", an episode of Ripping Yarns, Maj. Errol Phipps (played by Michael Palin) is depicted as being the only prisoner of state of war never to escape from the camp.[68]
  • In the British television one-act series Mitchell & Webb, a sketch chosen "Cheesoid" features a scene where a character who has lost their sense of smell locates a clove of garlic deliberately placed beforehand on the floor, in the same way that Blythe places the pin on the flooring in the moving picture.[69] Some other sketch involving a German-language version of the gameshow Numberwang sees an English contestant tricked into revealing her nationality in the same style that MacDonald is tricked by the Gestapo agent.[lxx]
  • The 1986 video game The Great Escape for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and DOS platforms, shares a title and like plot to the picture. The game follows an unnamed prisoner of war who has been interned in a POW camp somewhere in northern Germany in 1942.
  • In the start of 2 Ford commercials in which Steve McQueen's likeness from the pic Bullitt was used, McQueen parks his car in a studio flat garage beside the Mustang from Bullitt and the motorbike from The Great Escape.[71]
  • The 2003 video game The Keen Escape for Xbox and PlayStation ii, is based on the film. The plotline follows that of the movie of the same proper name, except there are also levels featuring some of the characters' offset captures and early on escape attempts, besides every bit a changed catastrophe.
  • Japanese video game designer, Hideo Kojima, stated that The Cracking Escape was the main inspiration for the stealth gameplay of Metal Gear and the 2004 video game Metal Gear Solid three: Snake Eater, which takes place a year later the movie was released, references the movie in a Codec transmission early in the game. Major Zilch, who at the time was using the code name Major Tom, discloses in a conversation to Naked Serpent that he chose the name based on what he thought was the tunnel the prisoners used to escape. He later learned that he chose the wrong 1; the tunnel was Harry, not Tom.
  • Bernstein'due south Bang-up Escape theme tune has been taken up by the Pukka Pies England Ring, a minor contumely band who have played in the crowd at England football team matches since 1996.[72] They released an arrangement of the theme equally a single for the 1998 FIFA Globe Loving cup and a newer version for UEFA Euro 2000.[73]
  • Quentin Tarantino'south 2019 film One time Upon a Fourth dimension in Hollywood features Leonardo DiCaprio, equally lead character Rick Dalton, in a scene where Dalton is imagined in the role of Steve McQueen'southward graphic symbol, Hilts.
  • Animated segments of the tunnel escape scene and Hilts' attempt to cantankerous the High german-Swiss border are used in the anime Girls und Panzer das Finale: Part 3 every bit learning material for Ōarai Girls' Academy's Rabbit Team.

See likewise [edit]

  • List of American films of 1963
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ "Progressive (Loftier) Myopia". American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020. "Progressive myopia," also known every bit degenerative myopia, is a specific condition that often begins in babyhood.
  2. ^ In the moving-picture show, while asking for an air pump, Bartlett refers to Sedgewick as "Bluey". "Bluey" is an affectionate term for a person with red hair, found in Australian slang in the first half of the twentieth century. The event of Bartlett's use of the term, though made in support of the character, was too subtle for wider audiences, and the credit of "Louis" is translated in the subtitles for DVD and appears for Sedgewick on many lists.

References [edit]

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Bibliography [edit]

  • Andrews, Allen (1976). Exemplary Justice. London: Harrap. ISBN978-0-245-52775-3. Details the manhunt by the Royal Air Force's special investigations unit later the war to detect and bring to trial the perpetrators of the "Sagan murders".
  • Barris, Ted (2013). The Bully Escape: A Canadian Story. Toronto: Thomas Allen. ISBN978-1-77102-272-9.
  • Brickhill, Paul (1950). The Slap-up Escape . New York: Norton.
  • Burgess, Alan (1990). The Longest Tunnel. New York: Grove Press. ISBN978-1-55584-033-4.
  • Hehner, Barbara (2004). The Tunnel King: The Truthful Story of Wally Floody and the Bang-up Escape. Toronto: Harper Trophy Canada.
  • Hevesi, Dennis (April 22, 2012). "Alex Cassie of 'Groovy Escape' Dies at 95". The New York Times. p. xx.
  • Müller, Jens (1946). Tre kom tilbake [Three returned]. Norway: Gyldendal. Memoir by the surviving Norwegian escapee.
  • Smith, Sydney (1968). 'Wings' 24-hour interval. London: Pan Books. ISBN978-0-330-02494-5. Story of Wing Commander Harry "Wings" Twenty-four hour period.
  • Vance, Jonathan F. (2000). A Gallant Company: The True Story of the Man of "The Great Escape". New York: I Books. ISBN978-0-7394-4242-5.

External links [edit]

  • The Groovy Escape at IMDb
  • The Peachy Escape at the TCM Pic Database
  • The Great Escape at AllMovie
  • The Great Escape at the American Film Plant Itemize
  • The Great Escape at Box Office Mojo
  • James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show Archived Jan 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (See thirty:23–34:47 of video.)
  • New publication with private photos of the shooting & documents of 2nd unit cameraman Walter Riml
  • Photos of the filming
  • The Corking Escape locations
  • Rob Davis web site on the Great Escape
  • The Slap-up Escape at Rotten Tomatoes

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Escape_(film)

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