The Great Escape (1963) - film review

During the Second World War, German High Command decides to place all of the most troublesome Allied prisoners of war in a single camp managed by Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger.  Although the Germans are certain the camp is escape-proof, the prisoners have other ideas and as soon as they arrive their thoughts are directed towards escaping.  Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, known as Big X on account of the fact that he has organised more escapes than almost any other Allied prisoner, is delivered to the camp by the Gestapo, and warned that if he tries to escape one more time, he will be shot.  This does not deter Bartlett and he immediately begins to organise an escape in which not just a handful but over two hundred prisoners will go free.  The intention is that this mass escape will divert German resources away from fighting on the frontline, thereby helping the Allied war effort.   Work begins on three escape tunnels, with Bartlett’s team consisting of: Sedgwick, who invents a system of ventilation in the tunnels; Hendley, whose job is to steal tools needed to dig the tunnels; Blythe, who forges identity papers; and Velinski who does the digging, in spite of the fact that he suffers from chronic claustrophobia.  Another American, Hilts, distracts the Germans by making his own, less well thought out, bids for freedom, only to end up spending most of his time in solitary confinement.  On the night of the escape, all is well until German sentries spot the escaping prisoners.  By this stage, 76 men have gained their freedom and are making their way across Germany, heading for the borders.  Only a handful of these will live to tell the tale...

John Sturges’s classic war film featuring an all-star cast has lost not of its appeal and remains one of the most exciting and entertaining examples of the genre, a sterling tribute to the indomitable nature of the human spirit.  In spite of its daunting runtime and some grim moments in its final third, The Great Escape is one of the most accessible and best-loved of Hollywood’s war films, one that is both an enjoyable divertissement and a poignant record of a real-life story (taken from Paul Brickhill’s supposedly factual novel).  As a meticulous account of a prison escape, it is second only to Robert Bresson’s French masterpiece, A Man Escaped (1956).

The Great Escape boasts a whole host of exemplary performances, including a particularly memorable double act comprising Donald Pleasence and James Garner (who had both seen the inside of POW camps for real – the former in WWII, the latter in Korea).  Steve McQueen somehow manages to rise above his talented co-stars by dint of his charisma and an air of unflappable nonchalance that makes his character’s nickname, the Cooler King, very appropriate.  The legendary motorcycle chase sequence was inserted as a precondition for the actor’s agreeing to appear in the film.  McQueen handles the sequence brilliantly, beefing up the drama and momentum just when the film needs it, making this one of the highpoints of his short but stunning film career.

So fantastic is the story that the film tells that a straight dramatic approach would have been inappropriate, so wisely Sturges and his screenwriters opted for a more tongue-in-cheek slant.  An excellent screenplay skilfully combines wry comedy with drama and suspense, with Elmer Bernstein’s memorable score accentuating both the humour and the tension to perfection.  There are surprisingly few war films that handle their subject so lightly, and those that do are seldom as successful as this one.  Perhaps the reason why The Great Escape works as well as it does is because of a fundamental truth: the darker life is, the more absurd it can seem, certainly to an onlooker.  This is a film that reminds that comedy and tragedy are really just two sides of the same coin – or maybe just the one facet seen from two slightly different angles.

© James Travers 2009

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