The Great Escape

John Sturges withholds the escape his film is named for. Most of the running time goes to craft: forged papers, tailored civilian clothes, soil carried out in trouser bags, tunnel surveying. The break begins only in the last stretch. W.R. Burnett said he worked on the script a year and invented the American characters played by Steve McQueen and James Garner. No Americans took part in the real escape; a few had worked on the tunnels early and were moved to another compound beforehand. Insurance kept McQueen off the motorcycle jump, which his friend Bud Ekins performed, and in reality nobody got out by motorcycle or plane. Some authenticity came from casting. Donald Pleasence had been a wireless operator, shot down in 1944 and held at Stalag Luft I; Sturges waved his suggestions away, then began treating him as a historical adviser. The camp was built in a clearing of the Perlacher Forst in Bavaria. What the film keeps straight is the outcome: 76 men came out of the tunnel, only 3 got away, and 50 of those recaptured were shot. It was nominated for Film Editing and lost. A good fit if you would rather watch the craft of preparation than the chase. Not for anyone expecting the caper tone to hold, because it closes on mass execution.