• Directed by: John Sturges • Selected Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner • Written by: Paul Brickhill, James Clavell, W.R. Burnett • Release Year: 1963 • Genre: Drama / History
Sypnosis
In 1942, Allied officers imprisoned in a Nazi stalag plan a mammoth escape. Under the guidance of British Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, they begin digging tunnels "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry," one of which they hope will enable 250 men to leave the camp by going under the guards. The principal conspirators are: Hilts, a brash American known as "The Cooler King" because of the amount of time he spends in solitary confinement bouncing a baseball off the prison wall; Hendley, the American in charge of scrounging supplies; Danny Velinski, the claustrophobic Pole who supervises the digging; and Blythe, the forger who makes passports and visas. Other groups are organized to supply civilian clothes, draw maps, store rations, and make compasses. Although "Tom" is discovered by the Germans during a Fourth of July celebration staged by the Americans, the men continue working on the two remaining tunnels. Eventually, everything is ready, and the prisoners escape before the Germans can be alerted. The escapees travel by foot, train, plane, and boat, and Hilts leads the Germans in a spectacular motorcycle chase before crashing into a barbwire fence. Others, such as Blythe, are killed; but a few, such as Velinski, manage to make good the escape. Angered by the effort it has taken to recapture the prisoners, the Germans execute 50 of them. Others, such as Hendley and Hilts, are returned to the camp, and the latter is seen once again with his baseball in solitary confinement.
• Paul Brickhill, who wrote the book from which the film is based, was piloting a Spitfire aircraft that was shot down over Tunisia in March 1943. He was taken to Stalag Luft III in Germany, where he assisted in the escape preparations.
• The film was shot entirely on location in Europe, with a complete camp resembling Stalag Luft III built near Munich, Germany. Exteriors for the escape sequences were shot in the Rhine Country and areas near the North Sea, and Steve McQueen's motorcycle scenes were filmed in Fussen (on the Austrian border) and the Alps. All interiors were filmed at the Bavaria Studio in Munich.
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