THE GREAT ESCAPE

(1963 Action/War)




Coming from a theatre background, I had a lot of qualms with the way this big-budget
movie was being made, but I kept my mouth shut and was ultimately very happy with the experience.


---Donald Pleasence



ALTERNATE TITLES:

LA GRANDE FUGA (Italian title)
THE LAST ESCAPE (Working title)



CAST AND CREW:

STEVE McQUEEN (Captain Virgil Hilts/The Cooler King)
JAMES GARNER (Bob Hendley/The Scrounger)
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH (Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett/Big X)
JAMES DONALD (Ramsey/The SBO)
CHARLES BRONSON (Danny Velinski/Tunnel King)
DONALD PLEASENCE (Colin Blythe/The Forger)
JAMES COBURN (Louie Sedgwick/Manufacturer)
DAVID McCALLUM (Ashley-Pitt/Dispersal)
HANNES MESSEMER (Von Luger/The Kommandant)
GORDON JACKSON (MacDonald/Intelligence)

Produced and Directed by JOHN STURGES
Written by JAMES CLAVELL and W.R. BURNETT
(Based on the book by PAUL BRICKHILL)



SYNOPSIS:

During World War II, Allied prisoners plan a massive escape from the toughest Nazi prisoner-of-war camp of them all.



PLEASENCE'S CHARACTER:

Pleasence plays Colin Blythe---the mild-mannered document forger.



PORTRAITS AND STILLS:

  • DONALD PLEASENCE AS COLIN BLYTHE
    Photo courtesy of Tim Murphy and Kent Burton

  • GORDON JACKSON, PLEASENCE, RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, AND JAMES GARNER
  • PLEASENCE AND GARNER PREPARE FOR A CRASH LANDING
    Photos scanned by Christopher Weedman



    SCREEN CAPTURES:

  • DONALD PLEASENCE IN PAJAMAS DRINKING TEA
  • PLEASENCE ON TOP OF HILL
  • PLEASENCE AND JAMES GARNER FLY TOWARD THE ALPES
  • PLEASENCE, DAVID McCALLUM, AND GARNER
    Images captured by Christopher Weedman



    REVIEWS:

  • BOSLEY CROWTHER (The New York Times)
  • CHRISTOPHER WEEDMAN (THE MAN WITH THE HYPNOTIC EYE webmaster)



    FILM LINKS:

  • INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE



    OTHER LINKS:

  • INFORMATION ON THE REAL LIFE EVENTS



    Photos © 1963 UNITED ARTISTS. All Rights Reserved.

    Logo designed by Karen Rappaport






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