John Sturges Takes You Prisoner

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2012)

In 1942, Allied prisoners of World War II who repeatedly try to escape are placed by the Germans in a maximum security camp called "Stalag Luft III". As you might expect, they try to escape. Repeatedly. Giving the prisoners a lot of time to meet without supervision, the Germans may be foreshadowing the "Hogan's Heroes" TV series that poked fun at this film. Top-billed is super-cool Steve McQueen (as Virgil Hilts). He's always earning himself solitary confinement. You'll notice Mr. McQueen looks sharper coming out of "The Cooler" than he does going in, sliding his jacket down the wall of the cell without fear of scratching the leather. That's cool...
Also billed above the title are super-nice James Garner (as Bob Hendley) and mastermind Richard Attenborough (as Roger Bartlett), who travels with English-accented Gordon Jackson (as Andy "Mac" MacDonald). Known as a scrounger, Mr. Garner takes commendable action when told his forger pal Donald Pleasance (as Colin Blythe) should not go on "The Great Escape" due to a disability. Garner insists on taking his friend, although it will risk the mission - and both their lives. That's nice...
Most valuable players may be muscular Charles Bronson (as Danny Velinski) and his blond companion John Leyton (as William "Willie" Dickes). These two tunnel diggers actually love each other; you can't definitively say they are gay, but you can't definitively say they aren't, either. Most surprising are the number of people who actually make it out successfully, with Australian manufacturer James Coburn (as Louis Sedgwick) being the second most likely to succeed, due to his choosing not to travel light. British sailor David McCallum (as Eric Ashley-Pitt) develops ways to disperse dirt, and Angus Lennie (as Archibald "Archie" Ives) is a short-lived favorite...
Senior British officer James Donald (as Ramsey) holds down the fort and Hannes Messemer (as Oberst von Luger) humanizes the opposition with a notably "Best Supporting Actor" worthy performance. Nicely produced and directed by John Sturges, "This is a true story. Although the characters are composites of real men and time and place have been compressed, every detail of the escape is the way it really happened." Helping Mr. Sturges in the production are composer Elmer Bernstein, photographer Daniel L. Fapp, and film editor Ferris Webster. This movie is a little long and probably not all that accurate, but "The Great Escape" is a great one.
********* The Great Escape (6/20/63) John Sturges ~ Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson