wow

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2016)

Edit
In 1943, having expended enormous resources on recapturing escaped Allied prisoners of war (POWs), the Germans move the most determined to a new, high-security prisoner of war camp. The commandant, Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger (Hannes Messemer), tells the senior British officer, Group Captain Ramsey (James Donald), "There will be no escapes from this camp." Von Luger points out the various features of the new camp designed to prevent escape, as well as the advantages that the prisoners will receive as an incentive not to try. After several failed escape attempts on the first day, the POWs settle into life at the prison camp.
Meanwhile, Gestapo and SD agents bring RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) to the camp. Known as "Big X", Bartlett is introduced as the principal organiser of escapes. As Kuhn (Hans Reiser) leaves, he warns Bartlett that if he escapes again, he will be shot. However, locked up with "every escape artist in Germany", Bartlett immediately plans the greatest escape attempted, with tunnels for breaking out 250 prisoners, to the point that as many troops and resources as possible will be wasted on finding POWs instead of being used on the front line.
Teams are organised to support the effort. Flight Lieutenant Robert Hendley (James Garner), an American in the RAF, is "the scrounger" who finds needed materials, from a camera to clothes and identity cards. Australian Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn), "the manufacturer," makes necessary tools like picks for digging and bellows for pumping air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenants Danny Valinski (Charles Bronson) and William "Willie" Dickes (John Leyton) are "the tunnel kings" in charge of digging the tunnels. Flight Lieutenant Andrew MacDonald (Gordon Jackson) acts as intelligence provider and Bartlett's second-in-command. Lieutenant Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) of the Royal Navy devises a method of spreading soil from the tunnels over the camp, under the guards' noses. Flight Lieutenant Griffith (Robert Desmond) acts as "the tailor", creating civilian outfits from scavenged cloth. Forgery is handled by Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe (Donald Pleasence), who becomes nearly blind due to progressive myopia caused by intricate work by candlelight; Hendley takes it upon himself to be Blythe's guide in the escape. The prisoners work on three tunnels simultaneously, calling them "Tom", "Dick", and "Harry".