The Great Escape

"Put a fence in front of these men... and they'll climb it!"

1963 2h 53m EN

🙌

7.9

BANGER

🔥

94%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.2

IMDB

★7.9TMDB · 2,962🍅94%Rotten Tomatoes●86Metacritic★8.2IMDB · 276,075

AdventureDramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

“Put a fence in front of these men... and they'll climb it!”

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Cast

Steve McQueen
Hilts 'The Cooler King'
James Garner
Hendley 'The Scrounger'
Richard Attenborough
Bartlett 'Big X'
James Donald
Ramsey 'The SBO'
Charles Bronson
Danny 'Tunnel King'
Donald Pleasence
Blythe 'The Forger'
James Coburn
Sedgwick 'Manufacturer'
Hannes Messemer
Von Luger 'The Kommandant'

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Sturges
Writers: James Clavell, W.R. Burnett
Languages: English, German, French, Russian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 173 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

63 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, French, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Great Escape Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Sturges, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Sturges directs. Daniel L. Fapp behind the camera. Elmer Bernstein scores. Ferris Webster cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, German, French, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 173 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
363 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, French, Russian.
5Part of the "The Great Escape Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by John Sturges, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Elmer Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Steve McQueen and James Garner and Richard Attenborough carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Put a fence in front of these men... and they'll climb it!".
11IMDB entry: tt0057115 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 31 themes, including "prison", "uniform", "swastika", "prisoner".
13Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp
Original score: Elmer Bernstein
Editing: Ferris Webster
Makeup / hair: Jay Sebring
Runtime: 173 min · 2h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $11,700,000
Return: 293% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Great Escape (1963)
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 86/100
IMDB rating: 8.2/10 · 276,075 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 3 wins & 12 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

The Great Escape Collection

The Great Escape is a 1963 American epic war suspense adventure film based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 non-fiction book of the same name. The film depicts a heavily fictionalized version of the mass escape by British Commonwealth prisoners of war from German POW camp Stalag Luft III during the Second World War. A fictional, made-for-television sequel, The Great Escape II: The Untold Story, was released in 1988. The film is not a true sequel as it dramatizes the escape itself just as the original film does, although mostly using the real names of the individuals involved (whereas the original film fictionalized them and used composite characters). It depicts the search for the culprits responsible for the murder of the 50 Allied officers.

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John Sturges

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-02
★ 10/10
Not just great, simply magnificent more like! "Wait a minute, you aren't seriously suggesting that if I get thru the wire and case everything out there, and don't get picked up, to turn myself in and get thrown in the cooler for a couple of months so you can get the information you need" Smart, witty and directed with adroit hands by John Sturges, The Great Escape is standing the test of time as a joyous multi cast family favourite. Based on the real accounts of allied soldiers escaping en mass from a German POW camp back in 1942, the film is involving from start to finish, due in the main to the wonderful array of characters on show. We follow them from the moment they arrive at the camp right through to the stunning climax, and it is with great joy I say that none of the cast lets the side down, they all do great work for the astute and undervalued Sturges. A number of great set pieces align with Elmer Bernstein's fabulous score to never let the blood settle, and in among the cheeky slices of humour is palpable tension to make this simply one of the best films of its type, in fact one of the best films ever. Sturges and his writers, James Clavell & W.R. Burnett, adapt from the book written by Paul Brickhill, someone who speaks from experience having been one of the prisoners of super POW camp Stalag Luft III, which of course is what The Great Escape is born from. Sturges was fascinated by the story and after trying without fail for over a decade to get it onto the screen, he finally succeeded. The success three years earlier of his star ensemble Western, The Magnificent Seven, enabled Sturges to realise his vision, the result of which is still enthralling new generations with each passing year. The cast is made up of notable thespians and iconic heroes. Steve McQueen (enticing the American audience in one feels), Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Donald, Donald Pleasance, James Coburn, James Garner, David McCallum, John Leyton and Gordon Jackson. Which of course is a pretty tidy roll call, but the input and impact of Hannes Messemer as the Camp Commandant, Colonel Von Luger should not be understated. His scenes have a real humanistic quality that shows a softer side of Germany to the one ruled by a certain despot (the finale here offering up the counter opposite of the war), the writers smartly, and rightly, not tarring a nation with the same old brush. A wonderful involving movie that puts characteristic heart in bed with the action and suspense laden plot. 10/10
GenerationofSwine2023-01-10
★ 10/10
I can't watch this any more. It's a fun movie, one that my dad made me watch as a kid. One that I loved... .... and then Eddie Izzard killed it for me. Now whenever I try to watch it all I do is think about his stand-up bit. I think it was from his "Dressed to Kill," maybe "Circle," but whichever it was, that is how you know you're hysterical, when you forever utterly ruin a classic movie because your routine surpasses the film you're making fun of. Anyway, Izzard had a point, so it's fair I can't not think of him whenever I watch it. He turned Steve McQueen's character into a joke and I love him for it. But, if you haven't seen the stand-up, it's a fun movie. It's not as good as Stalag 13, but it's more of an action film and one that, well, Izzard had a point but it's still a fun movie.
CinemaSerf2024-06-01
★ 8/10
Got to be the definition of an all star (albeit all male) cast in this gripping demonstration of just how inventive and ingenious people can be when incarcerated and facing a bleak (if any) future. Each character in this WWII POW drama brings something different to this ensemble of style and imagination. Richard Attenborough stars as the proverbial pain in the ass to his Nazi guards having repeatedly escaped before, and he puts together his "X" organisation to work every scheme imaginable to get people out of this supposedly escape proof "Super-Stalag ". Steve McQueen forms an unlikely alliance with Angus "the Mole" Lennie; James "the scrounge" Garner with the expert, tea-drinking, forger Donald Pleasance whose eyesight is failing rapidly; Charles Bronson and James Coburn and a whole raft of seasoned British actors bring this whole enterprise to life in a gritty, sometimes amusing, but ultimately determined way. Hannes Messemer "The Kommandant" also deserves mention as he seems to still cling to some of the basic tenets of human decency as he tries to stop the Gestapo from implementing their more drastic solutions. Elmer Bernstein tops the whole thing off with a cracking score. It is long, certainly, but at least we can be certain we get out at the end...