The Great Escape

Based upon the factual book of the same name (1950) by Paul Brickhill, this acclaimed war drama recounts the events of the 1944 Allied officers escape from the German prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III. Although the film features several fictional events, it is usually regarded as true to the real story. One of the film’s projecting inaccuracies, though, is its failure to show how cold, hungry and sore prison life really was. Featuring an all-star cast including McQueen (whose motorcycle chase is the film's most remembered action scene), James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasence, The Great Escape is regarded as a classic. The march tune that serves as the film's theme, written by Elmer Bernstein, has also become a classic.