This page will contain external links about The Great Escape, as they become available.The Great Escape
The Great Escape (1963; director: John Sturges) is a famous World War II film, based on a true story about Allied POWs with a record for escaping from POW camps. The Nazis and Gestapo place them in a new more secure German camp, from which they promptly form a plan to break out as many as 250 men. The story was inspired by an actual escape from prison camp Stalag Luft III in 1944. While the film condenses various aspects of time and place, a disclaimer claims it to be true to the original as much as possible. This includes all the real-life details of the plans, tunnels, successes and tragic outcome of the "great escape." Paul Brickhill, an inmate of the original camp, wrote an account of the escape under the same name, upon which the film was based. However, despite the presence of the film's high-profile American stars, no Americans were involved in the actual escape. Featuring an all-star cast—including Steve McQueen (whose motorcycle chase is the film's most remembered action scene), Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and Donald Pleasence—The Great Escape is regarded as a classic, and is traditionally shown in Britain during the Christmas season. The march tune that serves as the film's main theme, written by Elmer Bernstein, has also become an easily recognisable classic. The few Americans involved in the true story of the Great Escape were members of either the British or Canadian military (mostly the RAF or RCAF, but John Dodge was in the British army). The POWs were mainly British and Canadian. Sequels and remakesA highly fictionalized, made-for-television sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story, appeared many years later. It starred Christopher Reeve as John Dodge and, interestingly, Pleasence as an SS villain. In 2003 it was announced that actor Jean-Claude van Damme wanted to do a remake. 2003 also saw the release of a video game based on the film for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. The Great Escape in popular culture
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2003 also saw the release of a video game based on the film for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. In 2003 it was announced that actor Jean-Claude van Damme wanted to do a remake. It starred Christopher Reeve as John Dodge and, interestingly, Pleasence as an SS villain. A highly fictionalized, made-for-television sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story, appeared many years later. The POWs were mainly British and Canadian. The few Americans involved in the true story of the Great Escape were members of either the British or Canadian military (mostly the RAF or RCAF, but John Dodge was in the British army). The march tune that serves as the film's main theme, written by Elmer Bernstein, has also become an easily recognisable classic. Featuring an all-star cast—including Steve McQueen (whose motorcycle chase is the film's most remembered action scene), Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and Donald Pleasence—The Great Escape is regarded as a classic, and is traditionally shown in Britain during the Christmas season. However, despite the presence of the film's high-profile American stars, no Americans were involved in the actual escape. This includes all the real-life details of the plans, tunnels, successes and tragic outcome of the "great escape." Paul Brickhill, an inmate of the original camp, wrote an account of the escape under the same name, upon which the film was based. While the film condenses various aspects of time and place, a disclaimer claims it to be true to the original as much as possible. The story was inspired by an actual escape from prison camp Stalag Luft III in 1944. The Nazis and Gestapo place them in a new more secure German camp, from which they promptly form a plan to break out as many as 250 men. The Great Escape (1963; director: John Sturges) is a famous World War II film, based on a true story about Allied POWs with a record for escaping from POW camps. The Wooden Horse, Eric Williams (about another escape from the same camp, Stalag Luft III). The Longest Tunnel, Alan Burgess. The Great Escape, Paul Brickhill. Eric 'Dispersal' Ashley-Pitt) were both married to English actress Jill Ireland: McCallum from May 11, 1957 until 1967, Bronson from October 5, 1968 until her death on May 18, 1990. Cmdr. Danny 'The Tunnel King' Velinski) and David McCallum (Lt. Lt. Charles Bronson (Flight. In fact, after Albion's final match and the assurance of their safety in the Premiership, the theme tune was played over the sound system at The Hawthorns while ecstatic fans stormed the pitch. In recent days, the term has been widely used in association with the escape of West Bromwich Albion from near-certain relegation from the English Premier League in the 2004-05 season. In football, "The Great Escape" has become a meme for a club's improbable escape from relegation. The Great Escape is also the title for two different video games. One published by Ocean in 1986 [1] (http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi?regexp=^Great+Escape%2c+The$&pub=^Ocean+Software+Ltd$) and another one from SCI [2] (http://www.thegreatescapegame.com/). Naked Gun 33 13 featured a parody of the Great Escape, hiding the dirt in various madcap and otherwise zany ways. Former Monty Python cast members Michael Palin and Terry Jones parodied The Great Escape in their Ripping Yarns series, in an episode entitled "Escape from Stalag Luft 112 B", about a prisoner whose myriad, overly perfectionist escape plans take so long to complete that the war ends before he is able to go through with any of them. It reached #1 in the UK charts. The Great Escape is also the name of a 1995 album by British band Blur. English football fans enjoy whistling the theme tune during matches. The animated film Chicken Run (2000) contains many references. In the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, a prisoner is seen dispersing debris from a tunnel operation in the exercise yard in the same manner as the inmates of Stalag Luft III. In Red Dwarf episode "Queeg", Lister and The Cat begin whistling the tune as a plan is set in motion to oppose the demanding backup computer, Queeg. In The Simpsons episode "A Streetcar Named Marge" (1992), Maggie plots a "Great Escape" from the Ayn Rand School for Tots. |