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Wednesday, 17 August 2011

World Cinema Classic: The Great Escape (1963)

Cast: Steve McQueen(Capt Hilts), Richard Attenborough(Roger Bartlett) James Garner (Hendley)
Genre: History/ Adventure/ Drama
Plot: A star studded classic based on the real prison break events of WWII in Germany. Germans have set up an escape proof prison camp for the frequent escapees of allied forces. A group of POWs plan a massive escape for 100 plus detainees.
There is something about these pre-generation legends. When a movie begins you find there acts somewhat awkward then-as movie progresses-there persona starts taking over and in the end it's the characters that are left behind with you forever.
This was the exact case with "The Great Escape" as well. You wont ever forget the "Cooler king" Hilts, who is more often than not ends up in cooler-isolation cell or the "squadron leader" Bartlett or the Forger Lt. Blythe or the Aussie tools-magician Sedgwick, frankly all of them are so dear.
The actual escape plan of prisoners and it's preparation is very minutely shown in the movie- the hurdles they face, the tricks they use, to get over them! It was all so refreshing and full of merriment.
Plan was to run out with all the 250 prisoners and three tunnels were dug simultaneously -Tom, Dick and Harry. Though only 70 prisoners escape and just 20 of them reach there destinations, rest are captured and shot dead. But what happens in-between all this is what you need to watch the movie for. There is chase, there is fight and as much excitement as you can take without hurting your stomach seriously!
One of the memorable scene is Hilts Potato act. He keeps everyone guessing and surprisingly comes out with a potato concoction for 4th of July. Sorry for the spoiler! There are many other unforgettable scenes. Hilts coming back to the prison after escaping was also very admirable. This helped prisoners to plan out the escape routes.
The movie maintains a comic and jolly tone throughout. Germans want to keep the POWs isolated from war but POWs still do what a sworn officer is supposed to do-that is trouble the Germans as much as possible!
The recapture of the 50 prisoner was also a win for them because they drove the German sanity to hell before being captured and failed the enemy's objective of keeping them away from participating in the war. They participated in their own unique manner!

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