THE GREAT ESCAPE!

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Here is the "break-out" role that made Steve McQueen a true "star" throughout the world with "THE GREAT ESCAPE". The Screenplay by James Clavell was adapted to the true to life depiction by author Paul Brickhill (who was himself shot down over Tunisia in March, 1943 and held as a POW) of a mass escape of Allied prisoners from exasperated Nazi's who built the so0called "escape proof" Stalag Luft III camp for repeat escape inmates. We witness the depiction of a desperate plan of escape through a tunnel engineered by convicts who each mastered various talents for deception and technical prowess features an all star cast led by: Steve McQueen as Captain Hilts, "The Cooler King"; James Garner as Flight Lt. Henley "The Scrounger", Lord Richard Attenborough as Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, aka "Big X", James Donald as Group Captain Ramsey, "The SBO", Charles Bronson as Flight Lt. Danny Velinski, "The Tunnel King", Donald Pleasance as Flight Lt. Colin Blythe, "The Forger", James Coburn as Flight Officer Louis Sedgwick, "The Manufacturer, David McCallum as Lt. Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt, Dispersal", Gordon Jackson as Flight Lt. Sandy MacDonald, "Intelligence", John Leyton as Flight Lt. William Dickes, "The Tunneler", Angus Lennie as Flight Officer Archibald Ives, "The Mole", Nigel Stock is Flight Lt. Denys Cavendish, "The Surveyor", and Robert Graf as Werner "The Ferret" with Hannes Messemer as Col. von Luger.

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Executive Producer Harold Mirisch stayed close to the Brickhill book with the film. In reality, there were actually 3 tunnels dug. Each was named "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry" to maintain secrecy. Only one tunnel was used for the attempted escape of 220 prisoners. In all, 600 prisoners labored for more than a year in real-life, prompting the Gestapo to double the guards after taking over the camp from the Luftwaffe. At a critical juncture in the filming, Mirisch chose to show the cast 20 minutes of film that was shot. Following the screening, McQueen flew into a rage when he saw that a majority of the film clip depicted fellow actor James Garner, and he stormed off the set on a motorcycle for two weeks demanding a larger role and holding up production. After days of costly delays, an angry Director John Sturges announced that he was combining the Garner and McQueen roles.

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The next day, a turboprop commercial airliner carrying substantially the entire office of The William Morris Agency from Los Angeles, California landed in Munich and McQueen was located. Delicate negotiations resulted in Mirisch admitting that McQueen was ultimately right in wanting to expand his role as part of his job as an actor. A truce was struck wherein "Big X" (Lord Richard Attenborough) would ask Steve to escape and deliberately get caught in order to report on the geographical conditions and Nazi positions outside of the camp. Further, McQueen was allowed to add what became the most memorable and enduring scenes late in the film where he overtakes a Nazi soldier, and steals his uniform and motorcycle. This movie also began Steve's close association with life-long friend and stunt double Bud Ekins. What emerges is one of the most iconic stunts in movie history where the Germans on motorcycles hemmed-in McQueen on all sides of a country pasture and he is forced to assess the situation and make the daring decision for a motorcycle stunt that remains annealed in the worldwide consciousness: The final escape scene features McQueen doing all of the driving himself with one exception: the resulting 60 foot jump over a barbed wire was doubled by Bud Ekins who cleared the fence on the first try! The shot required a lot of measuring with the stunt crew enhancing the contours of the hill that became Ekins' launching ramp. As I previously mentioned, this sequence was McQueen's idea, and is today the film's most remembered action sequence.

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A footnote: On October 10, 2007 Bud Ekins passed away of natural causes at 77.

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Interestingly, Donald Pleasance and Hannes Messemer were actual POW's in World War II and advised Sturges on making the POW scenes more realistic. Charles Bronson, who had worked as a coal miner used his real-life claustrophobia to enhance his role as "The Tunnel King". The film was Nominated at the 1964 Academy Awards for Best Film Editing (Ferris Webster). Tension and a fascinating slight of hand of the prisoners with so few resources makes this a nail-biter of a film.

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A final word: Just prior to beginning work on this film, the film studio sent an attorney to the McQueen household with a contract for him to sign within 24 hours requiring him to stay away from racing. Steve's career was exploding at the time, but he was a very active weekend motorcycle racer. McQueen recalls the incident. "They gave me twenty-four hours to make up my mind. I took most of those twenty-four hours thinking about whether I wanted to go on racing, earning my money on the track, or whether I wanted to continue being an actor on the studio's terms. It was a very tough decision for me to reach. Still, I had Neille and our two young children to consider, and that made the difference. I signed their paper."

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ENJOY!

Authors Note: Dariana needs your support. She has been diagnosed with lung cancer. After you've visited mine, go to hers and give her your help. She needs it badly. Her blogsite is: http://thedivinedivas.blogspot.com.