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The Great Escape
The Great Escape is a 1963 American epic war adventure film starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough and featuring James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton and Angus Lennie. It was filmed in Panavision, and its musical score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. Adapted from Paul Brickhill's 1950 non-fiction book of the same name, the film depicts a heavily fictionalized version of the mass escape by British Commonwealth prisoners of war from German POW camp Stalag Luft III in World War II. The film made numerous compromises for its commercial appeal, including its portrayal of American involvement in the escape.
Plot
During World War II, Allied POWs who have repeatedly escaped from camps in Germany are moved to a new camp under the command of Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger. He warns British Group Captain Ramsey—the highest-ranked POW officer—that escapees will be shot. Regardless, several POWs unsuccessfully attempt to escape on the first day. Hilts, a notoriously prolific escapee, finds a blind spot at the fence. In testing it, he is shot at, but his discovery is unnoticed. He is placed in a cell next to Ives in "the cooler", and the two become friends.
Awards
Cast
- Angus Lennie
- Charles Bronson
- David McCallum
- Donald Pleasence
- George Mikell
- Gordon Jackson
- Hannes Messemer
- Hans Reiser
- Harry Riebauer
- Heinz Weiss
- James Coburn
- James Donald
- James Garner
- John Leyton
- Jud Taylor
- Karl-Otto Alberty
- Lawrence Montaigne
- Nigel Stock
- Richard Attenborough
- Robert Freitag
- Robert Graf
- Steve McQueen
- Ulrich Beiger
- William Russell
More details
| author | James Clavell W. R. Burnett Walter Newman |
|---|---|
| award | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films |
| contentLocation | Germany |
| director | John Sturges |
| editor | Ferris Webster |
| events | flight |
| genre | adventure crime drama historical |
| keywords | a new camp air raid allied allies of world war ii arrest attempt to escape black market break camp capture claustrophobia colonel dig discover fatally shot fight fourth of july france france during world war ii french resistance group captain luftwaffe moonshine myopia nazi germany oberst plan pow prisoner of war railway station resistance spain spain during world war ii speak squadron leader stalag luft iii stalag luft iii murders sweden sweden during world war ii test world war ii |
| musicBy | Elmer Bernstein |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Film Editing |
| producer | John Sturges |
| productionCompany | The Mirisch Company |
| publisher | United Artists |
| recordedAt | Großhesselohe station |
| theme | epic prison war |