Broken laces
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Broken laces |
| Original title | The Great Escape |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1963 |
| length | 165 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Sturges |
| script |
James Clavell W. R. Burnett |
| production | John Sturges James Clavell |
| music | Elmer Bernstein |
| camera |
Daniel L. Fapp Walter Riml |
| cut | Ferris Webster |
| occupation | |
| |
Busted Chains is an American film made in southern Germany in 1962 . It is about a mass escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II . The story is based on a true story . The basis for the script was the book The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill. In 1988 a sequel for television was produced with Broken Chains - The Revenge of Prisoners .
The film production company Mirisch Corporation produced the film for the film distributor United Artists .
content
A group of Allied prisoners of war - mainly officers of the air force who had repeatedly attempted to escape - was sent to Stalag Luft III in 1944 , a new camp that was considered to be particularly escape-proof . As soon as they arrive, the “professionals” are trying again to escape, but all of them fail. So the Americans and the British decide together and under the leadership of the British Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, known as the Big X , a large-scale escape through self-dug tunnels. A total of three tunnels are dug - in case one should be discovered - and labeled "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry" . The group is supported by several specialists. Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley - "the Schnorrer" - procures the desired items, regardless of whether they are cameras, textiles or official papers. Officer Louis Sedgwick - "the craftsman" - makes digging tools and a ventilation system for the tunnels. The two flight lieutenants Danny Valinski and William Dickes - "the tunnel kings" - are responsible for digging the tunnels. Lieutenant Sandy MacDonald - "the brain" - oversees the camp, collects information and acts as Bartlett's advisor. Lieutenant Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt of the Royal Navy - "the distributor" - is working on a procedure to secretly scatter the debris from the tunnel excavations on the camp grounds. Flight Lieutenant Griffith acts as “the tailor” and uses the textiles he gets to make civil and military clothing. Flight Lieutenant Dennis Cavendish - "the surveyor" - is responsible for the maps and surveying. Haynes and Nimmo are responsible for the distractions. Lieutenant Colin Blythe - "the forger" - forges documents and ID cards. Because of the difficult work in candlelight, he almost goes blind from progressive nearsightedness.
USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts - "The Bunker King" - angered the guards with frequent escape attempts and general disrespect. Hilts and Flying Officer Archibald Ives - "the mole" - are planning an escape. They want to sneak up to the fence in a blind spot at night and dig a small tunnel that should bring them free. The idea is brought forward to Group Captain Rupert Ramsey, Bartlett, and Macdonald. They agree, because any independent attempt to escape would distract from the great collective attempt to escape. However, Hilts and Ives are captured again during their attempt to escape and locked in the "bunker" for several days as a punishment. While Hilts is calm about the arrest, Ives is burdened because after four years of imprisonment he feels a strong urge to freedom. After being released from the "bunker", Bartlett asked Hilts to flee again, but only on the premise of exploring the area around the prison camp - in particular the surrounding towns, streets, police stations, roadblocks and the shortest route to the nearest train station - around then to ask voluntarily. Hilts rejects the proposal and prepares the American Independence Day celebration with the other prisoners . Meanwhile, Hendley befriends the guard Werner, which he uses to steal documents and smuggle items for his comrades.
On Bartlett's orders, the works at the Dick and Harry tunnel are temporarily closed. By chance the third tunnel ( Tom ) was discovered by the camp administration during a barrack search on American Independence Day . Ives, traumatized with the knowledge that any hope of freedom could be shattered, tries to escape by climbing over the camp fence, where he is shot by guards. The prisoners therefore plan to escape through the second Harry tunnel after completing forged documents and civilian clothing . Hilts undertakes to explore the area around the camp and then voluntarily surrenders to the German soldiers. The information he obtains is used for the necessary escape cards. However, the Harry tunnel turns out to be too short during the escape, so that the refugees have to flee about six meters over a meadow area illuminated by the watchtower. So the outbreak, when it is already in full swing, is noticed by the guards. Only 76 of the 250 men who were ready to break out managed to escape from the prisoner-of-war camp. Then the film shows in short sequences the escape of the liberated through half of Europe.
However, it only ends successfully for three of the fugitives. Valinski and Dickes steal a rowboat and row downriver to the seaport , where they board a Swedish merchant ship. Sedgwick steals a bicycle and later hides in the carriage of a freight train going to France, where he meets members of the French resistance who help him flee to Spain. Most, however, are apprehended or killed by the Gestapo because of their forged papers and other inconsistencies . Hendley and Blythe steal a plane and want to fly to neutral Switzerland, but they have to make an emergency landing due to an engine failure. Blythe is shot on a hill, while Hendley surrenders to his fate and is arrested. Bartlett is identified at a train station by Gestapo agent Mr. Kuhn, but Ashley-Pitt overpowers him and shoots him with his own weapon so that Bartlett and his companion MacDonald can escape. Ashley-Pitt is shot dead by a soldier at the train station. Bartlett and MacDonald later be recognized by the Gestapo and arrested while they want to get on a bus: MacDonald makes a fatal mistake when he a Gestapo man on the desired in English (German "Good luck!" "Good luck!" On) English answers. Hilts steals a motorcycle and drives to the German-Swiss border, but is followed by German soldiers. Once at the border, he jumps the machine over the first border fortification, but gets caught on the barbed wire of the second border fortification and is arrested. 50 refugees, including Bartlett, MacDonald, Cavendish and Haynes, are shot with a machine gun on the supposed way back to the prison camp after being dismounted from the trucks for a break. Only a few escapes, like Hendley and Hilts, find their way back to the camp. The command authority of the Waffen-SS was withdrawn from the Luger camp commandant because he did not prevent the escape from the prison camp.
presentation
More than a dozen world-class actors played. Among them were Steve McQueen (the bunker king , based on the experience of Alvin W. Vogtle ), Richard Attenborough ( Big X ), Charles Bronson (the tunnel king ), Donald Pleasence (the forger ), James Coburn (the craftsman ), David McCallum , Gordon Jackson (the brain ), James Donald (camp elder) and James Garner (the scrounger ). Hannes Messemer (the commander ), Robert Graf (the ferret ) and Heinz Weiss were represented by German actors . The film contains both humorous interludes about camp life and the outwitting of the guards as well as tragic elements, such as the forger's blindness and the murder of the recaptured Allied soldiers by the Gestapo .
Production history
All interior shots of the film were made in the Bavaria Studios near Munich. The prison camp that can be seen in the film was built in the Perlacher Forest , which is directly adjacent to the studios . The final part of the film - the escape through Europe - was shot in the Allgäu , in Füssen , near Pfronten , Hopfen am See and near Schwangau , with the participation of the local population. The train and train scenes were filmed on the Großhesselohe – Holzkirchen railway , at Deisenhofen station and on railway lines near Markt Schwaben . The emergency landing of Hendley and Blythe's aircraft was filmed near Frauenried / Irschenberg .
The German premiere was on August 29, 1963.
Parallel to the film, the Great Escape March, composed for the film, was released in a version sung by John Leyton on single . The German-language cover version , also interpreted by the English singer and actor, was released under the title Eine kann mein nur sein (Text: Kurt Hertha ).
Historical
The film is based on a true story. However, the real escape did not take place in summer, as shown in the film, but in winter weather conditions with ice and snow. It actually took place on the night of March 24th to 25th, 1944 in the main camp " Stalag Luft III " in Sagan in Lower Silesia , about 160 km southeast of Berlin . Unlike in the film, there were no Americans among the refugees. Numerous other details were changed for the film.
Donald Pleasence was able to draw on his own experiences as a prisoner of war in a Stalag : On August 31, 1944, the Avro Lancaster NE112, in which he participated in almost 60 missions as a radio operator and gunner of the 166th Squadron of the RAF Bomber Command , was in one Attack on German positions in Agenville shot down. Pleasence survived the crash, was taken prisoner and was interned in the Luftwaffe Stalag Luft I POW camp in Barth until the end of the war .
Receptions
The cost of production was $ 4 million. The film grossed around 11.7 million US dollars in the US alone and became one of the most successful films of 1963. It is still considered one of the most important war films to this day.
Reviews
Broken Chains was received very positively by the critics and achieved a rating of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes , based on 45 reviews. In summary, it says: "With an impeccably slow and patient plot structure and an ensemble for eternity, Busted Chains is an exciting film classic." In the IMDb it has been constantly represented since the list of the top 250 films was created and is currently in 134th place (status : January 5, 2020).
“Excellent photographed and staged thriller about a mass escape of Allied prisoners of war by John Sturges. Even if this film [...] has its length, the skillful design and the brilliant cast make up for it. Particularly successful: the sequence in which Steve McQueen is chased by the Nazis on a breakneck motorcycle ride. "
"Excellent cast and staged with a lot of routine, the film is primarily interested in the tension elements of the material."
The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the production the title valuable .
Movie quotes
- Shaun the Sheep : In episode 20 The Great Eruption , the tunnel construction and the film music are used as quotations.
- Chicken Run : The subject is also taken up in this film and implemented with clay figures .
- The Simpsons : In episode 2 of season 4 A Streetcar Named Marge , the movie is parodied, especially in the scenes with Steve McQueen as "Bunker King" (with the original music).
- 3 Angels for Charlie (Original title: Charlie's Angels ): The captured Bosley is shown in a scene with a baseball glove and baseball and thus reminds in his cell of the "bunker king" Virgil Hilts.
- In Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019, one sees a scene from The Great Escape , in which instead of Steve McQueen Leonardo DiCaprio acts.
Awards and nominations
- 1964 : Nomination in the Best Editing category
- 1964 : Nomination in the category of best film - drama .
Moscow International Film Festival
- 1963: Award for Best Actor for Steve McQueen.
- 1963: Nomination in the category Best Film (Goldene St. Georg) .
- 1964: Second place in the Best Drama category .
- 1964: Second place in the Best Action Performance category for Steve McQueen.
- 1964: Fourth place in the Best Action Performance category for James Garner.
- 1963 Award in the Top Ten Films category .
Writers Guild of America Award
- 1963: Nomination for Best Written Drama (Screenplay Adaptation) for James Clavell and WR Burnett.
Film bug
The wagons of the train, which some of the escaping prisoners of war from Neustadt station use, are marked with the inscription of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn , which did not exist at the time of the escape. At the arrival station you can clearly see the faint overpainting of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , which at that time, however, used a different logo.
The motorcycle of a Wehrmacht soldier stolen by Virgil Hilts was a modified TR6 Trophy , a model from 1961 by the British motorcycle manufacturer Triumph Motorcycles . The motorcycle with which he then jumps so spectacularly over the border fortification has a greatly improved suspension and a reinforced block engine. In view of the stunts, it is understandable that no Zündapp or BMW with rigid frames were used for the scenes , which would have been contemporary. Hilts also wears a Rolex Submariner wristwatch , which was only made after the Second World War.
In the scene in which Virgil Hilts meets German soldiers with the stolen motorcycle for the first time, is asked about the pay book and then runs away, a signpost can be seen. The following cities and distances can be seen there: Reutte / Tirol 21 km (to the right), Basel 124 km (to the left), Ravensburg 98 km (to the right). There is no place where the stated distances apply.
And finally, the bus that Bartlett and MacDonald want to get into on the run is a Mercedes-Benz O 3500 . This type was not manufactured until the end of 1949.
Video games
Two video games based on the film have been released.
- In 1986 Ocean Software published the computer game The Great Escape for the home computers ZX Spectrum , Commodore 64 , Amstrad CPC and the MS-DOS operating system .
- In 2003 appeared for the PlayStation 2 , the, Xbox and Windows - PC also a video game under the title The Great Escape . In it, the player controls one of four different main characters according to the levels: Captain Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen), Lieutenant Sandy McDonald (Gordon Jackson), Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn) and Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley (James Garner). But there are many other characters from the film that the player cannot control.
- In the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (released 2006 for the PS2), the head of the mission, Major Zero, initially renamed himself Major Tom. After failing the first mission due to the game's content, he changed his name back to Major Zero, believing that it was bad luck because the tunnel was discovered for Tom before it was completed. He was a huge fan of Bond and War films.
literature
- Paul Brickhill: The Great Escape . With an introduction by George Harsh. Norton, New York 2004, ISBN 0-393-32579-2 .
- Paul Brickhill, Allan A. Michie: A tunnel to freedom. In: Secret command matter. Verlag Das Beste 1965, DNB 452520614 , p. 297ff. (German version of Reader's Digest )
- Helma Türk, Christian Riml (eds.): Sprengte Ketten - The Great Escape, Behind the scenes. Photographs by the cameraman Walter Riml. Self-published 2013, DNB 1053679688 , p. 58ff, p. 72, (German / English) (online)
Web links
- Escape in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Escape at rotten tomatoes (English)
- Broken Chains at Metacritic (English)
- Broken chains in the online film database
- Broken chains in the German dubbing file
- Photos from the shooting
- The prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III and the film with pictures of the prisoners of war (.en)
- The Real Great Escape (.en) ( Memento from February 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Great Escape (PBS Nova) (.en)
- Imperial War Museum, London - Exhibition on the escape of prisoners of war during World War II. (.en)
- Description of Stalag Luft III by Wing Commander Ken Rees (.en) ( Memento from July 5, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- World of Sinclair computer game from 1986 (.en)
- The Great Escape 1986 for various computer systems at Mobygames (.en)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Booklet for the DVD" 2002.
- ↑ Return To The Great Escape Featurette (1993) [1 of 3] . Approx. from 8:30 min. Retrieved from YouTube on March 5, 2012.
- ↑ Helma Türk & Christian Riml (eds.): Broken chains - The Great Escape. Behind the scenes photographs by the cameraman Walter Riml. Self-published 2013, (online)
- ↑ a b Broken chains. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ See CD "1000 Nadelstich · Episode 5 (Teen Stars)", Bear Family Records 2001.
- ^ The Truth About The Great Escape . Express , August 7, 2008 (English)
- ↑ Record for Lancaster NE112 on lostaircraft.com
- ^ Chorley, WR (1997), Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 5: 1944; p 407 . Midland Counties Publications, UK. ISBN 0-904597-91-1 .
- ^ Glenn Lovell: Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges . 1st edition. University of Wisconsin Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-299-22834-7 , pp. 224 .
- ^ The Great Escape - Box Office Data. In: The Numbers. Retrieved January 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Broken chains. In: Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved January 4, 2016 .
- ↑ Course of the film in the top 250
- ↑ Broken chains at prisma-online.de; Retrieved November 1, 2008.
- ^ Suzi Perry: The great on-road escape. In: Telegraph.co.uk. January 27, 2006, accessed January 5, 2016 .