"Give up your hopeless attempt to escape."

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2007)

I'm getting around to viewing films I might have seen only once many years ago and usually upon their original theatrical release, so today I had the opportunity to take a look at "The Great Escape". It's funny how you recollect some things from a movie and not others. Virtually everyone can recall the thrilling motorcycle chase by Steve McQueen's character, while for some reason I distinctly remember the manner in which the POW's got rid of the dirt from the tunnels. On the flip side, I had to be reminded of the potato vodka scene ('no smoking while you're drinking!'), and Hendley (James Garner) snookering Werner (Robert Graf) out of his wallet.
The thought that struck me today was how sanitized the movie appears to be compared to what real conditions must have been like, even in an elite camp for captured Air Force and RAF officers. Though I can grant that officers of the German Luftwaffe might have harbored a professional respect for fellow fliers, it seems that a character like Captain Hilts (McQueen) probably should have worn out his welcome after only a single escape attempt. But it's a true story, so somewhere between the reality of the actual event and poetic license used in the film there lies a fascinating tale.
McQueen of course is exceptional in his role, as are Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasence. Garner is top billed with McQueen and Attenborough in the opening credits, though his role seems underplayed compared to the other two, while James Coburn seems to achieve more visibility after the escape. The film offers an interesting convention with it's assortment of vignettes featuring each of the main characters in relation to one another.
While watching, one might need to bring a grittier sense of reality to the proceedings than offered on screen, as the grim prospect of tunneling fifty tons of dirt never seems to weigh on events as they unfold. There's also the lack of perspective in regards to the time it took for the escape to occur, even though the video sleeve stated that six hundred British and American Air Force men took over a year to plan and execute the largest ever mass escape in history in March of 1944. A follow up to what happened to the successful escapees would have been a nice touch as well.