Based on a true story, “The Great Escape” deals with the largest Allied escape attempt from a German POW camp during the Second World War. The first part of the film focuses on the escape efforts within the camp and the process of secretly digging an escape tunnel. The second half of the film deals with the massive effort by the German Gestapo to track down the over 70 escaped prisoners who are at this point throughout the Third Reich attempting to make their way to England and various neutral countries.

The Great Escape (1963)
  • Rating: (82,628 votes)
  • Taglines:put a fence in front of these men...and they'll climb it... » A Glorious Saga Of The R.A.F. »
  • Runtime:172 minutes
  • Director: John Sturges
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Hilts 'The Cooler King'
    Steve McQueen
    Hendley 'The Scrounger'
    James Garner
    Bartlett 'Big X'
    Richard Attenborough
    Ramsey 'The SBO'
    James Donald
    Danny 'Tunnel King'
    Charles Bronson
    Blythe 'The Forger'
    Donald Pleasence
    Sedgwick 'The Manufacturer'
    James Coburn
    Von Luger 'The Kommandant'
    Hannes Messemer
    Ashley-Pitt 'Dispersal'
    David McCallum
    MacDonald 'Intelligence'
    Gordon Jackson
  • Genres:Adventure, Drama, History, War
  • Producers:
    John Sturges
    producer  
    James Clavell
    producer (uncredited)  
    Walter Mirisch
    executive producer (uncredited)  
  • Plots: Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist type prisoners of war are all put in an 'escape proof' camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
The Great Escape
  • User's comment:A Great Escape by joel cohen

    I saw this movie for the first time as a nine year old boy on a big screen in the Bronx. I'm now in my 40's. I have seen it many times since but not on the big screen. It was meant for the big screen! It's on my top five list along with The Sand Pebbles. It's a great movie about hope and freedom and man's responsibility to his fellow man. These men are all near saints; James Garner insisting on Donald Plesence making the escape, Charles Bronson fighting his claustrophobia. Steve McQueen is the star among the stars, not merely because of his motorcycle skills but for his attempt to save a life and for bringing the game of "off the wall" to the masses. :-)


  • Quotes: Bartlett: One has to ask some very strange things in the job I have. Sedgwick: Danny, do you speak Russian? Danny: A little, but only one sentence.
  • Also known as: El gran escape (Argentina), El gran escape (Mexico), El gran escape (Peru - imdb display title), El gran escape (Venezuela), A Grande Evasão (Portugal), A nagy szökés (Hungary), Büyük firar (Turkey - Turkish title), Da taowang (China - Mandarin title), Dai dassô (Japan - alternative transliteration), Den stora flykten (Sweden), Den store flugt (Denmark), Den store flukten (Norway - imdb display title), Fugindo do Inferno (Brazil), Gesprengte Ketten (West Germany), Ha-Briha Ha-Gdola (Israel - Hebrew title), Hak kai marutayuu (Thailand - Thai title), I megali apodrasis (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), La gran evasió (Spain - Catalan title), La gran evasión (Spain), La grande évasion (France), La grande fuga (Italy), Marea Evadare (Romania), Suuri pakoretki (Finland), Veliko bekstvo (Serbia - imdb display title), Wielka ucieczka (Poland),

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