Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their men to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist-type prisoners-of-war are all put in an "escape proof" camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the movie is played for comedy, as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use planes, trains, and boats to get out of occupied Europe.—John Vogel <[email protected]>
In 1942, the Germans have built what they consider an escape-proof P.O.W. camp, where they plan to house all the problem P.O.W.s (those that have made multiple escape attempts in the past). What the Germans don't realize is that they've put all the best escape minds in one location. If they can't escape, these P.O.W.s believe it is their military duty to make the enemy place as much effort into their confinement as possible to divert them from other war-related pursuits. Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Bartlett plans not just a one or two man escape at a time like most escape attempts in the past have been, but a massive escape of two hundred fifty men through a series of tunnels. If one tunnel is found, they can focus on the others. Each escapee will be provided with a complete set of forged documents and standard clothing. With their reputations preceding them, each P.O.W. is assigned a specific task in carrying out the plan. Somewhat outside of the plot are Captain Hilts and Flying Officer Ives, who spent their first thirty days in camp in the cooler together. They who are unofficially assigned as the decoys who will make more rudimentary escape attempts. They ask Hilts to make a more serious task of reconnaissance of the local town if he ever does successfully escape, which of course means his recapture to bring the information back into camp and more time in the cooler. Beyond basic logistical problems and the Germans finding out what's going on, they have potential problems in certain P.O.W.s who may become liabilities dealing with their own personal issues.—Huggo
Nazi Germany, 1942. With the Germans forced to spend time and resources hunting down escaping Allied officers, the Third Reich opened Stalag Luft III: a maximum-security, Luftwaffe-run POW camp. And designed to discourage even the craftiest prisoners, the Nazis moved truckloads of downed fighter pilots to the newly established prison camp. However, they have unwittingly assembled a dream team of escape artists. As the indomitable human spirit meets the dogged determination to be free, the hand-picked inmates waste no time sniffing out weaknesses and minute opportunities for escape--after all, it is the sworn duty of all officers to give the enemy hell and try to escape. Are the mighty oppressors prepared for the great escape?—Nick Riganas
Captain Hilts, Major Bartlett, Lieutenant Hendley and other comrades from the British and American air forces end up in a German prisoner of war camp. The camp was built especially for the most cunning escapees and is designed to prevent further escapes with its double barbed wire walls, numerous observation towers and permanent controls. But the soldier's duty is to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible, so his comrades don't hesitate for a second and plan their escape. A group of Allied soldiers gather around the British Major Bartlett. His plan is to dig three tunnels and smuggle 250 men out of the camp. A complex endeavor that harbors many dangers. Danny Velinski and Willie Dickes are in charge of the tunneling. Officer Sedgwick provides tools and a ventilation system. Lieutenant Hendley provides materials such as textiles and papers. Each soldier has his task, which must be carried out with the utmost precision. And although the German supervisors are watching like snipers, they don't raise any suspicions and everything runs perfectly. Too perfect?—Arte
Having expended enormous resources on recapturing escaped Allied prisoners of war (POWs), the Germans move the most determined to a new, high-security prisoner of war camp. The commandant, Luftwaffe Colonel Von Luger, tells the senior British officer, Group Capt. Ramsey, "There will be no escapes from this camp." Ramsey replies that it is their duty to try to escape.Gestapo and SD agents bring Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (RAF) to the camp and deliver him to Von Luger. Known as "Big X," Bartlett is the principal organizer of escapes and Gestapo agent Kuhn orders that he be kept under the most restrictive permanent security confinement, which Col. Von Luger, disgusted by the Nazis and the SS, only makes a "note" of, treating the command with complete contempt. As Kuhn leaves, he warns Bartlett that if he escapes again, he will be shot. Bartlett is then placed with the rest of the POWs, rather than the restrictive holding that Gestapo agent Kuhn had demanded.
Locked up with "every escape artist in Germany", Bartlett immediately plans the greatest escape attempted tunnels for breaking out 250 prisoners. The intent is to "confuse, confound and harass the enemy" to the point that as many troops and resources as possible will be wasted on finding POWs instead of being used on the front line.
Teams are organized to tunnel, make civilian clothing, forge documents, procure contraband materials, and prevent guards from discovering their work. Flight Lieutenant Robert Hendley, an American in the RAF, is "the scrounger" who finds what the others need, from a camera to clothes and identity cards. Australian Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick, "the manufacturer," makes tools such as picks for digging and bellows for pumping air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenant Danny Velinski and William "Willie" Dickes are "the tunnel kings" in charge of making the tunnels. Eric Ashley-Pitt of the Royal Navy devises a method of hiding bags in the prisoners' trousers and spreading dirt from the tunnels over the camp, under the guards' noses. Forgery is handled by Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe, who becomes nearly blind from intricate work by candlelight. Hendley takes it upon himself to be Blythe's guide in the escape.
The prisoners work on three tunnels simultaneously, calling them "Tom," "Dick" and "Harry." Work on Harry and Dick is stopped so that more work can be performed on Tom. The work noise is covered by the prisoner choir led by Flt. Lt. Denis Cavendish, who is also the group's surveyor.USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen), "The Cooler King," irritates guards with frequent escape attempts and irreverent behavior. His first attempt, conceived in the cooler, is a short tunnel with RAF Flying Officer Archibald Ives; they are caught and returned to the cooler.
While the British POWs enjoy a 4th of July celebration organized by the three Americans, the guards discover tunnel Tom. The mood drops to disappointment and hits Ives hardest. He is drawn to the barbed wire that surrounds the camp and climbs it in view of guards. Ives is machine-gunned dead near the top of the fence. The prisoners switch their efforts to Harry.Hilts agrees to change his plan and reconnoiter outside the camp and allow himself to be recaptured. The information he brings back is used to create maps showing the nearest town and railway station.
The last part of the tunnel is completed on the night of the escape, but it proves to be 20 feet short of the woods, which are to provide cover. Danny nearly snaps from claustrophobia and delays those behind him but is helped by Willie. Seventy-six prisoners escape.
After attempts to reach neutral Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain, almost all the POWs are recaptured or killed. Hendley and Blythe steal an airplane to fly over the Swiss border, but the engine fails, and they crash-land. Soldiers arrive. Blythe, his eyesight damaged, stands and is shot. Hendley waves and shouts, "don't shoot" and is captured as Blythe dies. Cavendish, having hitched a ride in a truck, is captured at a checkpoint, discovering another POW, Haynes, captured in his German soldier disguise.
Bartlett is recognized in a crowded railroad station by Gestapo agent Kuhn. Eric Ashley-Pitt sacrifices himself when he kills Kuhn with Kuhn's own gun, and soldiers then shoot and kill him. In the commotion, Bartlett and MacDonald slip away but they are caught while boarding a bus after MacDonald blunders by replying in English to a suspicious Gestapo agent who wishes them "Good luck". Hilts steals a motorcycle, is pursued by German soldiers, jumps a barbed wire fence but becomes entangled in another and is captured, he escapes execution as a spy by showing them the captain's bars on the inside of his shirt.
Three truckloads of recaptured POWs go down a country road and split off in three directions. One truck, containing Bartlett, MacDonald, Cavendish, Haynes and others, stops in a field and the POWs are told to get out and "stretch their legs." They are shot dead. Fifty escapees are murdered. Hendley and nine others are returned to the camp. Von Luger is relieved of command of the prison camp and is driven away by the SS for failing to prevent the breakout.
Only three make it to safety. Danny and Willie steal a rowboat and proceed downriver to the Baltic coast, where they board a Swedish merchant ship. Sedgwick steals a bicycle, then rides hidden in a freight train boxcar to France, where he is guided by the Resistance to Spain. Hilts is brought back alone to the camp and taken to the cooler. Lieutenant Goff, one of the Americans, gets Hilts's baseball and glove and throws it to him when Hilts and his guards pass by.
