History Film / TheGreatEscape

* YouJustToldMe: [=MacDonald=] tries to pass himself off as a German citizen by speaking fluent German to some SS officers. One of them says to him, "Good luck." In English. The escapee replies, "Thank you." Also in English. [[OhCrap Oops]]. Bartlett's real-life counterpart is described as having been caught this way.

** Initially The [=POWs=] spread the word about ignoring Barlett, just in case the Germans don't who he is.

* RaceLift: Averted, save for a downplayed country lift. There were mostly British-Commonwealth prisoners in the camp and the movie reflects that. On the other hand the Americans were transferred to other camps just before the great escape but the movie has only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. American actors James Coburn and CharlesBronson [--(of Polish-Lithuanian ascendancy)--] are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively.

* AffablyEvil: Von Luger is more civil to the prisoners than they are to him.

* DreamTeam: The Germans round up together a large group of Allied escape artists, hoping the [=POWs=] would be easier to contain in a [[TaughtByExperience new Stalag-camp, designed and run without the flaws of previous ones]]. The temerity of this predicament is addressed in-story.

*** several of the characters assault German guards, a thing which real-life prisoners and escapers avoided at all costs as being tantamount inviting execution, or at least a spell in a highly unpleasant German military prison

* GreatEscape: The TropeNamer.
* HeroicBSOD: Ives in the cooler, Danny having an attack of {{Claustrophobia}} in the tunnel.
** Ives suffers a 2nd one during the 4th of July celebration, [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide which leads to his suicide]]]].

* InSeriesNickname: Everyone in the main cast has an awesome nickname, like [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Tunnel King]] and TheScrounger

* InUniverseNickname: Danny is the "Tunnel King".

* RaceLift: Well, more like Country Lift. Most of the main characters in the movie are Americans, but in reality there were mostly British prisoners in the camp.
** Not quite so much the case as appears at first glance. There are only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. American actors James Coburn and CharlesBronson are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively.

** Not quite so much the case as appears at first glance. There are only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. American actors James Coburn and CharlesBronson are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively. And Bronson's parents had immigrated from Lithuania, a close country with many historical ties to Poland.

Seventy-six were able to escape, but only three made it out of Germany. The rest were recaptured, several of them [[ThwartedEscape at the last moment]]. 'Cooler King' Hilts ([=McQueen=]) was only caught after an iconic motorbike chase, which ended with him trapped on barbed wire, only inches from theoretical safety. Finally, most of the recaptured escapees were executed.

* TheAlcatraz: The camp.

* ThwartedEscape: Painfully
* TrainEscape: A way a number of them try to escape.

* YouJustToldMe: [=MacDonald=] tries to pass himself off as a German citizen by speaking fluent German to some SS officers. One of them says to him, "Good luck." In English. The escapee replies, "Thank you." Also in English. [[OhCrap Oops]].

** Only Sedgwick, Danny, and Willie manage to escape Nazi Germany entirely. Most of the others are either killed during the escape, or executed afterward. A small number (including Hilts) are recaptured and simply put back in the camp. Also, the Luftwaffe Commandant is being replaced by the Gestapo, who will probably make life more difficult for the remaining [=POWs=]. The [=POWs=] succeeded in causing the Germans to expend resources capturing them again, but fifty were murdered. It's openly asked: "Was it worth it?" and answered with: "That depends on your point of view."

The film is largely accurate but [[ExecutiveMeddling meddling executives]] added an unhistorical American character, and, for security reasons, omitted all mention of the help the escapees received from outside the camp.

* SceneryPorn: Lots of it in the post-breakout portion of the film.

A classic 1963 war film, directed by John Sturges and featuring an AllStarCast including SteveMcQueen, Richard Attenborough, James Garner, CharlesBronson, James Coburn, and Donald Pleasance. InspiredBy the true story of a mass escape from a German prison camp, by way of Paul Brickhill's ([[AdaptationDisplacement now nearly forgotten]]) autobiographical account.

* AllStarCast

A classic 1963 war film, directed by John Sturges and featuring an AllStarCast including SteveMcQueen, Richard Attenborough, JamesGarner, CharlesBronson, James Coburn, and Donald Pleasance. InspiredBy the true story of a mass escape from a German prison camp, by way of Paul Brickhill's ([[AdaptationDisplacement now nearly forgotten]]) autobiographical account.

A classic war film, InspiredBy the true story of a mass escape from a German prison camp, by way of Paul Brickhill's ([[AdaptationDisplacement now nearly forgotten]]) autobiographical account.

Seventy-six were able to escape, but only three made it out of Germany. The rest were recaptured, several of them [[ThwartedEscape at the last moment]]. 'Cooler King' Hilts (SteveMcQueen) was only caught after an iconic motorbike chase, which ended with him trapped on barbed wire, only inches from theoretical safety. Finally, most of the recaptured escapees were executed.

* CacophonyCoverUp: The prisoners sing "O Come, All Ye Faithful" to mask the sounds from a workshop. Also when the tunnel is started and is necessary to break a thick piece of slate, some of the prisoners pound some stakes into the ground with mallets for their vegetable gardens (that are part of the distractions as well).

* CacophonyCoverUp: The prisoners sing ''The Twelve Days of Christmas'' to mask the sounds from a workshop. Also when the tunnel is started and is necessary to break a thick piece of slate, some of the prisoners pound some stakes into the ground with mallets for their vegetable gardens (that are part of the distractions as well).

* {{Claustrophobia}}: Danny comes down with this as a result of his tunneling.

** Steve [=McQueen=] walked out demanding rewrites and John Sturges considered writing the character out of the story altogether but United Artists informed him they considered Mcqueen indispensable to the picture's success and financed a new writer to accommodate his demands. This led to a diminished role for Big X, who was supposed to be the main protagonist.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: The 50 are reported as "shot while escaping" and not like a war crime. The allied prisoners are not fooled by the obvious lie and even Von Luger is ashamed by the murders.

* ThoseWackyNazis: The villains, of course.
* ThrownItIn: Goff's line "No taxation without representation" during the Fourth of July scene was an ad-lib, causing Steve [=McQueen=] to do a DoubleTake.

* Chekhov'sHobby: While in the cooler, Hilt's tells Ives that he did a lot of motorcycle riding while in college. After the Escape, [[spoiler:he nearly reaches Switzerland on a commandeered motorcycle.]]

* ThwartedEscape: [[CaptainObvious Obviously]].

* BittersweetEnding: Only Sedgwick, Danny, and Willie manage to escape Nazi Germany entirely. Most of the others are either killed during the escape, or executed afterward. A small number (including Hilts) are recaptured and simply put back in the camp. Also, the Luftwaffe Commandant is being replaced by the Gestapo, who will probably make life more difficult for the remaining [=POWs=]. The [=POWs=] succeeded in causing the Germans to expend resources capturing them again, but fifty were murdered. It's openly asked: "Was it worth it?" and answered with: "That depends on your point of view."
** Hilts is back in the cooler bouncing a baseball against a wall, [[HopeSpot planning his next escape]] as he did so many times before.
** When the guards place Hilts back in the cooler again, you can visibly see their heads bow, and their actions half-hearted. Proving that even Mooks have emotion.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Steve Mcqueen walked out demanding rewrites and John Sturges considered writing the character out of the story altogether but United Artists informed him they considered Mcqueen indispensable to the picture's success and financed a new writer to accommodate his demands. This led to a diminished role for Big X, who was supposed to be the main protagonist.

* GoodIsNotNice: Bartlett is unnecessary blunt and cold to some of the fellow escape artists under his watch and refuses to give due credit to a Luftwaffe that applies some professional courtesy and is milder compared to other Nazi branches.

** Not quite so much the case as appears at first glance. There are only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. American actors James Coburn and CharlesBronson are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively.
*** Bronson's parents had immigrated from Lithuania, a close country with many historical ties to Poland.

* RunningGag: Hilts and his baseball and glove when he's in the Cooler.

* {{Sequel}}: The 1988 MadeForTVMovie ''The Great Escape II: The Untold Story'', which stars Christopher Reeve and basically picks up where the original film left off. It's almost 100% fictional, though,
** It also features [[YouLookFamiliar Donald Pleasence again]], this time as a Nazi officer.
* ShownTheirWork: They went to great lengths to accurately build a German POW camp. Of course, it did help that several of the actors had been prisoners of war during WW2. DonaldPleasence, who had been in a German POW camp, made a few suggestions to John Sturges, who wasn't aware of that fact, and was told to keep his opinions to himself. However, when the director learned that Pleasence knew what he was talking about, he was asked for advice all the time.

** Early on in the production Sturges began receiving memos from United Artists requesting female roles and a {{MsFanservice}} scheme was proposed. Sturges would have none of it.

** Not quite so much the case as appears at first glance. There are only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. American actors James Coburn and Charles Bronson are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively.

** Charles Bronson had actually been a coal miner and actually was claustrophobic because of it.

** Not to mention the camp commandant is shown to not give the Nazi salute much respect. In the scene in his office with Bartlet he seems to be actively struggling to keep his visible distaste for the Gestapo and SS down to a level that won't get him arrested.