There are a number of classic movies about World War Two - must see movies. Recently there have been Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, and from further back Von Ryan's Express, Kelly's Heroes, Ice Cold in Alex, The Dambusters, Battle of Britain, This Happy Breed, Casablanca, A Matter of Life and Death and Bridge over the River Kwai. And, as much as any of these, The Great Escape is a classic.
Made in 1963, and based on a true story of a mass breakout from a notoriously harsh Nazi prisoner of war camp, The Great Escape follows the escape plans and subsequent bid for freedom of a mixed bunch of Allied Prisoners of War. The troops, transferred to the supposedly escape proof camp because of their history of escape attempts, are all committed to causing the greatest possible disruption to the Nazi war effort, and to this end Squadron Leader "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) plans an ambitious escape bid designed to keep as many Nazis as possible tied up in searching for escapees, rather than fighting on the front line.
The first half of the film has a comedic feel as it deals with the preparations for the escape, in which master tunneller Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson) co-ordinates the building of three separate tunnels as routes out of the camp, while various prisoners cart the moved earth away in their trousers, dispersing it around the camp gardens. Other prisoners work on the logistics of getting the POWs across Europe, to England and other neutral countries - Donald Pleasance "The Forger" manufacturing papers, and another sewing clothes for them to wear to blend into their surroundings. In the meantime, American Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen) makes attempt after attempt to break free, antagonising - and distracting - the German guards, and ending up in solitary confinement, bouncing a ball off of the wall, earning himself the name "The Cooler King" (Oh, for anyone who hasn't realised, Chicken Run is a homage to this movie.)
The second half of the film is darker, following the escapees' attempts to evade recapture, and the German Gestapo's massive efforts to hunt them down. Not all make it, and a mass execution of some of the heroes brings home the actualities of the risk they took in making the attempt, rather than being content to wait out the war as prisoners. The final climactic scene shows Hilts, closely pursued , attempting to leap the barbed wire at the Swiss border on a motorcycle. He fails, and the last time we see him he is being taken back, once again, to the Cooler.
The pace never flags, the direction is superb, the cast is stellar, and the performances all but flawless (if you make allowances for James Coburn's less than perfect Australian accent). However, in the end, what you will remember about The Great Escape is Steve McQueen. He is the focal point, the epitome of cool defiance. I guarantee, no matter how often you watch the movie, you will be on the edge of your seat at the end, rooting for him to make that jump.
Cast from IMDB