Allied prisoners of various nationalities pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from an "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval castle.
John Mills
Pat Reid
Eric Portman
Colonel Richmond
Frederick Valk
Kommandant
Denis Shaw
Priem
Lionel Jeffries
Harry Tyler
Christopher Rhodes
'Mac' McGill
Richard Wattis
Richard Gordon
Ian Carmichael
Robin Cartwright
Bryan Forbes
Jimmy Winslow
Theodore Bikel
Vandy
Eugene Deckers
La Tour
Anton Diffring
Hauptmann Fischer
Guido Lorraine
Polish officer
Witold Sikorski
Polish Officer
A. Blichewicz
Polish Officer
B. Dolinski
Polish Officer
Leo Bieber
German Interpreter
Rudolph Offenbach
Dutch Colonel
Keith Pyott
French Colonel
Arthur Butcher
Polish Colonel
David Yates
Dick
Carl Duering
Ludwik Lawinski
Peter Swanwick
John G. Heller
Guy Deghy
Director, Writer
Guy Hamilton
Writer
William Douglas-Home
Writer
Ivan Foxwell
November 14, 2015
8
Escape from Colditz Castle.
Guy Hamilton directs and co-adapts the screenplay with Ivan Foxwell from the P.R. Reid novel of the same name. A story based on actual facts, it stars John Mills, Lionel Jeffries, Bryan Forbes, Anton Diffring, Richard Wattis, Ian Carmichael and Eric Portman. Music is by Francis Chagrin and cinematography by Gordon Dines.
The story essentially follows the repeated escape attempts by allied prisoners held at Colditz Castle. It shows the hard luck stories, the bonds that are formed between the men, the regime and day to day life they lived by, and of course it builds to the historical finale.
It's structured with great balance by the makers, who manage to wring out a number of tense sequences whilst also ensuring that humour shines brightly. It gives the pic the requisite feel of stiff upper lippery, imbuing the characters with justifiable heroism in the face of being a POW, which all told plays as inspirational stuff.
Acted with aplomb by a notable cast, this delightful pic harks back to a a grand time of British film making, while simultaneously doffing its cap towards the real life allied soldiers who wound up in war prison establishments. 8/10
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00