Classic Rip-Roaring Second World War Adventure Story With Tremendous Cast

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2011)

During World War II, a group of Allied prisoners notorious for escaping from captivity are sent to a custom-made POW camp in the German countryside. Can they break out while their jailers are watching their every move ?
A great international co-production, this classic wartime escape drama is one of the best films of the sixties and one of the most entertaining ensemble casts in any movie. I particularly like the mix of nationalities in both the cast and characters, and everybody is terrific in it, right down to the smallest part. McQueen and Attenborough, as the epitome of American Cool and British Stiff Upper Lip respectively, were both never better, but the real stars for me are Pleasence as Blythe, the genial forger who gradually realises he's going blind, and Bronson as Danny, the Polish tunnel king with a painful secret behind his tough guy persona. Everybody works together brilliantly, often in unlikely pairings, and despite its three-hour length the movie never seems languid or dull. The men are so well observed and the drama unfolds in a way which is both realistic but also consistently amusing and exciting. It's also one of those rare Hollywood blockbusters which doesn't cop out at the end; we want the heroes to escape so badly, yet only misery and death await so many of them. After his phenomenal success with The Magnificent Seven, Sturges turns in another masterful epic adventure film, brimming with suspense, humour and pathos. Elmer Bernstein's sweeping score, with its irresistibly catchy main theme, is simply brilliant - a great brassy fanfare of music and the perfect accompaniment to the action. Equally impressive is the editing by old pro Ferris Webster, which takes what on paper are hours and hours of stodgy dialogue scenes and somehow turns them into nail-biting intrigue. Extremely well written by W.R. Burnett and James Clavell, from a book by Paul Brickhill, based on his real-life experiences in Stammlager Luft POW camp in Silesia/Poland. For a hilarious alternative version of the story, try to see the 1977 Michael Palin/Terry Jones Ripping Yarns episode Escape From Stalag Luft 112B. Trivia - in reality, Donald Pleasence was an RAF pilot in WWII who was shot down and captured, and during the production Bronson met McCallum's wife, Jill Ireland, whom he later married ! Shot on authentic Bavarian locations, this is a brilliant film in every respect, a great little WWII history lesson for boys of all ages, and a much-beloved adventure classic by one of the great old-time directors. 7/10