The Great Escape

Based on the movie in 1986 and 2003, was released the eponymous computer game.

Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Charles Bronson before that, starred together in the film "the Magnificent seven" (it was also the Director, John Sturges).

Ex-POWs asked the filmmakers have excluded details on how the POWs received from their home countries. Such assistance as maps, papers, and tools hidden in gift packages. This request was made in order not to reveal all the secrets of escape. The filmmakers agreed.

The hero, Steve McQueen, was based on several real prototypes, including major Dave Jones, who was the commander of the aircraft during the Doolittle RAID. Also, this role was based on the image of Colonel Jerry Saga, who was the agent of the office of strategic services in the North African desert, where he was captured. Colonel Sadi had put on a pilot costume, otherwise he would have been executed as a spy. Another inspiration behind this role was Eric foster, 7, have done many escapes from German camps.

Richard Attenborough played air force major Roger Bartlett (Big X), the character based on the way Roger Bouchelle — British prisoner of war born in South Africa and was the secret leader of the Great Escape. Attenborough, as well as his hero, was a pilot in the RAF during the Second world war.

Of flight captain Colin Blythe, is based on Thieme Walline, played by Donald Platens. Platens he served in the RAF during the Second world war. He was wounded and spent a year in a German pow camp Luft I. the creators of the first did not know that Platens was in the camp. So when the actor gave advice to the Director, he asked him to keep his opinions to himself, but learning about his past later, he asked me for advice. As the hero of Presence was partially based on a born in London John Cordwell, who later became a Chicago architect and owner of the "Red Lion Pub".

James garner fought in the Korean war and was wounded twice. At that time he was a "supplier" as his hero Lieutenant Handley. Hannes, Messemer played the head of the pow camp Luft III, the Luftwaffe Colonel von Luger — hero, based on Colonel Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau. Messemer, also during the war, visited the camp for prisoners of war, but in the Soviet. Two more German actor til Cave and Hans Reiser were prisoners of war of the Americans.

Senior Lieutenant Archibald Ives (the Mole), played by Angus Lennie, based on Jimmy Kiddle, who was shot trying to climb over the fence.

The Dutch pilot Bram van der Stok was cut from the film, although it was originally one of the three most successful runners. It was replaced by Sedika, played by James Coburn.

Charles Bronson as his character Danny Velinski suffered from claustrophobia — this disease developed it as a result of his work in coal mines. Hero Gordon Jackson MacDonald based on George Harsha, a very good friend of Wally Flood (this "Tunnel king", which almost a year was a consultant to John Sturges on the set).

The film is entirely filmed in Europe. Especially for shooting near Munich was built very exact copy of the camp Luft III. The scene, which took place outside the camp, was shot in the basin of the river Rhine and the North sea coast.

All the episodes occurring in the room, filmed at the Bavaria Film Studio in Munich. Production facilities of the Bavarian studios are not allowed to remove the scene of the shooting in the woods: Studio-open area was too small. Therefore, the crew received permission from the German government to the shooting in the national forest, which was adjacent to the Studio. After filming in the forest, the filmmakers put about 2,000 small pines to replace those that were damaged during the shooting.

Most of the planes in the airfield are actually American aircraft North American T-6 Texan, on which the paint was applied Nazi symbols. But the one who directly control, is a real German aircraft Bucker Bu 181 Bestmann.

The film is regularly shown on British television, especially at Christmas time. In 2006, the UK passed a vote, which aimed to find out what movie viewers would most like to see for Christmas. "The great escape" took third place, and among the male population and is ranked first.

In 2009, seven former prisoners of war arrived at camp Luft III to mark the 65th anniversary of the rescue, and watched a movie. According to the veterans, life in the camp depicted in the film is authentic

In 2002, Quentin Tarantino listed the top 12 films in his opinion. This list includes "the Great escape".

The film is based on the book by Paul Brickhill The Great Escape, which, in turn, is based on a real case of mass escape from pow camp Stalag Luft III.

The screenwriters increased the importance of the role of American prisoners of war, because in reality their role was minor and the escape was mostly organized by the British. In fact the Americans helped build the tunnels and worked on the early escape plans, but were separated from the Europeans before the tunnels were finished.

Have been taken some fictional scenes that added drama and dynamism: for example, the scene with the motorcycle included in the film at the suggestion of McQueen, personally performed all the stunts, except for the last most difficult jump.

In fact, preparations for the escape were immediately 600 people (and not 250 as in the film) who worked more than a year. Moreover, the actual escape was made the night of March 24 1944, and the ground was snow-covered. And coming from the camp, German city named in the movie with the Neustadt, was actually the Polish town of żagań.

The episode in which Hilts jumps fence on a motorcycle, shot in the meadows near füssen in Bavaria (on the Austrian border) and the Alps. Barbed wire, which cuts Hilts were actually just rubber. Made fake barbed wire in the following way: almost all participants of the filming took a thin rubber strips and tie them in a knot around the other longer pieces of rubber, and then pulled through the set. Bike stunts performed McQueen, except one: the jump on a motorcycle over a fence with a height more than two meters performed McQueen's friend Bud ekins. The bike was cosmetically modified "Triumph TR6 Trophy" — these British motorcycles did not exist during the Second world war.

In the film the entrance to the tunnel That is under the oven and into the tunnel "Harry" — in the sump in the washroom. In fact, the entrance to the tunnel "dick" was in the sump, "Harry" was under the stove, and "Tom" was in a darkened corner next to the furnace chimney.