David McCallum as Dispersal too has the flipside. He's the guy responsible for making the escape attempt look normal and routine for the guards. He has a method of getting the soil dug out to blend in with the dirt in the camp. The flipside is that when he escapes, he has to make himself look obvious and a target to help the others get away.
Good approach to this classic movie. Here's something to add to this. About 20-30 years ago at Planes of Fame in Perris, California, I met a USAAF B-17 Veteran, I think he was a gunner. He'd been shot down over Germany and was imprisoned at the same Stalag as the Great Escape. He got there after the famous escape attempt. About the movie, I don't remember much of what he said. I made a snarky remark about Hogan's Heros, and he brightened up. It wasn't just a silly TV show. There was an actual Sergeant Schultz, same name and rank, who was a guard. He'd been thoroughly compromised. First they'd given him some things from their Red Cross packages, then asked him to do a 'small favor,' bring something in from the outside. He didn't remember what. But whatever that was, being in the hands of the POWs was proof that one of the guards had violated the rules, and would either be shot or just like one of the jokes in the show, 'Sent to the Russian front.' After that they 'owned' Sgt. Schultz and had him bring in all kinds of stuff, including radio parts. He said they had a couple of working radios inside the camp. Another WWII slang term for the 'Scrounger' is Dog Robber.
There is a story of an American airman who escaped from a German POW camp and went missing. As there was a big air raid on the nearby town a couple of days later they thought he had died in the bombing. Some years later it was discovered that he had not died in the raid and was, in fact, still in Germany. What had happened was that he, along with a number of other POWs, had been sent to help out at a local farm. The farmer had been sent to the Eastern Front were he was killed. His wife was left to run the farm and she needed help with the harvest. So the Germans sent out work parties to the farm. With his visits the airman and the widow had started a relationship and when he escaped instead of trying to make it back to Britain he went to the farm, where she hid him until after the war had ended. It was not until some years later the truth came out.
@Bruce Porter Wish I could give you 2 thumbs up. One from my late brother who like you had this as his favorite movie. 2nd thumbs up would be from me as I am in total agreement that Elmer Bernstein has no equal as a film composer. He had the widest range & composed some of the most memorable scores in movie history.
My favorite of all time too. Saw it on TV when I was 10. It was the first movie that ever made me cry. I still sometimes cry when I see that scene. It also put into motion my dream of buying and riding a motorcycle one day. Well that and making a 1/35 scale model of a BMW R75 with powered sidecar(and MG34)!
The reason the British prisoners were so well organized in POW camps was because many of the former prisoners from WW I had written many comprehensive memoirs which were studied closely by the military .
It was amazing to see how many actual veterans were in that movie: Bronson...US Army McQueen..US Marines Pleasance...RAF Gardner...US Army Just to name the one's I know of...Awesome movie!
The amazing thing is they are based loosely on the "real escape" A few years ago archaeologists dug down and found one of the real tunnels they had a back a couple of the original prisoners to see them and explain what the camp was like. A very fascinating programme.
I read the book when I was in the seventh or eighth grade. I was delighted a few years later when I saw the movie on TV and realized it was based on this book I had already read. I highly recommend the book.
Every man on earth must read this book. I have watched movie 100 times between 1973 to 2022. I read Brick hills book in 1999. I have read it 20 times. You will find something new every time I see movie or red book, I find something new
I was going to call you on the fact that there was no ground penetrating radar in WWII, but I just looked it up and it was first patterned in 1910. You get extra points for that and I get a goose egg.
I had a dentist with the same story. Drafted by the Nazi's as a Romanian, then ended up fighting on the Russian side after a brief stint in a POW camp. Then when the Russians and allies met in Germany he snuck over to lines to the ally side and eventually immigrated to the US after the war.
I have to admit that when this movie was first on TV in the USA as a 2-parter on September 14-15, 1967, I was eleven years old and when it ended I realized I had a tear running down my check.
The Cooler King was partly based on Jerry Sage of the OSS. His book, Sage, is really good and gives another angle to the Great Escape. BTW, American POWS did help with the escape preparations almost to the end, but no Americans got to escape. The American compound was completed shortly before the escape night and they were all stuck over there, with no tunnels, listening to all the commotion.
Canadian airman played a historical role in the build of the tunnels and the escape. Major characters played in the movie. Their identities were changed for the American audience. Lest we forget.
C Dix ... too right. Hank Birkland William Cameron Gordon Kidder Patrick Langford George Edward McGill Keith Ogilvie Tommy Thompson James Wernham George Wiley Canadians who participated in the escape from Stalag Luft III. We remember.
Indeed. Charles Bronson's character was a Hollywood-ized version of Canadian Wally Floody who was the tunneling engineer for the escape. Floody was from Clinton, Ontario. Also, interesting that, while complaining about Americanization, I have to use American spelling of "tunnelling" in order to satisfy the spill-chigger.
@@BarnDoorProductions bronsons character was not an american i forget what nationality it was but it was based on one of the two who escaped to sweden (as shown in the movie)
Ray Rayner was an iconic children's tv star in Chicago from1960 thru the 1980s. He was B17 navigator that was shot down over Germany. He ended up in that camp. He was not allowed to participate in the escape because he was so beloved for his entertainment value and they didn't want to get him possibly killed in reprisal.
Loved "Marooned". First saw it as a kid in the theatres during a Saturday afternoon matinee -- maybe a coupe years before Star Wars, and it blew me away. Great 'cold war' feel. Yes, very underrated!
@@princeofcupspoc9073 Personally I thought "Marooned" sucked, but that's just my opinion. I didn't know it was Sturges'. He also directed "Ice Station Zebra" with Rock Hudson and Earnest Borgnine (Howard Hughes' favorite movie in his declining years--he watched it hundreds of times); "The Satan Bug" with George Maharis and Anne Francis; "Sergeants 3" with the rat pack; and "Underwater" with Jane Russell. Forty-four directing credits with a lot more hits than misses, including the great "Bad Day at Black Rock." www.imdb.com/name/nm0836328/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
8:40 I still love Coburn's comment to the French resistance members at the cafe'. "You are...English?" "I'm Australian, mate." Hee. Left unsaid in the scene where his character is handed off by the French Resistance to the Spanish guide is the likelihood that the Spanish guide is a Communist. They were the resistance during the Franco dictatorship, but you couldn't make them heroes in the movie.
Pretty much the most watchable film ever. No idea how many time I have watched it. You just get drawn into it; in every scene you are there.... Brilliant.
Yet another great movie. Must have watched 20-30 times. Hilts “the cooler King” was studying Chemical Engineering at Purdue University before the war and raced flat track motorcycles. Lenny “the mole” was a jockey who goes wire happy. You failed to mention that there were only 3 Americans in the camp. On the 4th of July they make moonshine to celebrate America’s independence from the British. The relation between the scrounger and the ferret is more complex. It is one of picking pockets and threatening the ferret (with going to the Eastern front. I almost failed to mention that McQueen did his own stunts with the motorcycle. Again a very good pick. Of course you can talk about a bridge to far, battle of the bulge, Patton, the longest day. I could go on and on. Thanks.
There were about 7,500 Americans in the camp from the Army Air Corps when the American compound was opened in September 1943. And the Cooler King was a composite of several, including Jerry Sage, who was OSS and posing as an Air Corps Officer.
Knowing the back story of each character puts everything in perspective. Stories come alive and become more human when your main characters slowly or secretly reveal their hidden flaws as you root for them. But also keep in mind that this movie was made into being an '"Americanized" version of a real British tale.
I first caught your channel after searching for a movie, The Dirty Dozen. I was hooked. How in the world did you obtain so much knowledge about movies. You sir are a drug that I simply can not get enough of. I'm hooked and subbed.
Thanks. I have a lot of useless stuff in my head, but most of the info is from me doing research online. Nothing super-complicated, I just enjoy learning more about the movies I love.
Excellent job. I was telling my young son in law about this movie and showed him the motorcycle scene. Then your video came up. You summed it up beautifully
superb recount of one of my all time fav Movies,,,, The Great Escape !! what memories I have of that movies ...james garner !! charles Bronson !! and Steve McQueen !!! All time Greats !!!
Another good movie in regards to character development is "Stalag 17", with William Holden, among others. It shows that not every soldier came from Central Casting; there was, and still is, a wide variety of temperaments and people who look out for themselves at the expense of others.
Another interesting fact is that McQueens character Captain Virgil Hilts...is based on one of the pilots in the Dolittle raid on Tokyo. After returning to states, he was sent to Europe as a fighter pilot. Not sure, but I believe he was he was shot down and wound up as a POW, hence the character played by McQueen. Could someone please follow up on that. Thanks.
That's true - there was a Doolittle Raider who spent time in a German POW Camp. US POWs WERE involved in planning/digging the Great Escape - but in real life, the problem is that the Americans were moved out of the camp in an expansion...so they lost out. Read the Book "SAGE" by Jerry Sage..one of the American POWs
The McQueen/Hilts character is also based on Barry Mahon, who had an incredible career of WWII air combat and prison camp escapes. After the war he became Errol Flynn's personal pilot and agent, and then an adult film producer/director with over 125 credits on IMDB.. www.imdb.com/name/nm0537069/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
The characterizations by ALL the actors in this film was exceptional. It was condensed from Paul Brickhill's book but, it was done expertly by W R Burnett and James Clavell, ( Cavell was a POW of the Japanese in Changi Prison near Singapore). This is one one my top 20 films for acting, story and direction.
An interesting fact that you didn't bring up was that Garner, a Korean war veteran with 2 Purple Hearts, he really was the scrounger in his platoon in Korea!!
There was a British film, shot in the early 50's. It was a story about how some British P.O.W.'s that dug a tunnel right in front of the German guards. For me I had the privilege to have a neighbor who was an American that flew for the RAF. He was forced down in to the English Channel, and was picked up by a German E Boat. The German version of the P.T. Boat. He was sent too the Stammlager Luft III. After the great escape, He told me that the S.S, took over the camp. He remained there till the Germans force most all P.O.W. 's on a march away from the Russian front.
The four main POWs not talked about are 'The Tunnel King', (the other one) 'The Surveyor', 'Dispersal' and 'The Mole'. I will refer to characters by their nicknames, to keep in theme with the video, I do know their names though, because I love this film. Adding on the what you say about 'The Tunnel King', both men with this nickname spend most time in the tunnels, and in the end, are two of the three men to actually get out of Germany. 'The Surveyor' is the lookout of the group. He is eventually caught, because he happily hangs out i the back of a truck and not being aware. He also doesn't pay attention to 'The Cooler King' when he tries to warn him of the missing planks from his bunk. 'Dispersal' is constantly finding way to inconspicuously get rid of dirt from the tunnels without being noticed. In the final escape he makes himself obvious and visible in order to save another member of the escape. 'The Mole' is known for being a tunnel man. All of his attempted escapes in the film are tunnels, except for his final attempt: a desperate scramble to get OVER the fence.
Also, the camp kommandant -- Colonel Von Luger played brilliantly by German actor Hannes Messemer -- was a German officer charged with keeping this particular Stalag escape proof but fails. In part, the character fails because he does not believe in the Nazi regime or its severe ways despite being a Luftwaffe officer.
and as written above..he apparently was a German POW in a Russian Camp who escaped and got back to Germany. Can you imagine having a chance to talk to these actors about their REAL LIFE experiences?
Every German actor in that movie that worked at stalag lift 111 was either a pow or a German soldier in ww22, except for the ferret, Werner, played by Rob Graff
Back in the early 60s, my father had a friend over to the house. He was a prisoner of war in Germany. He recounted to me all the incredibly inventive ways that people built radios, compasses, and made escape plans. I would reverse your conclusion that it was their primary intent to escape with it was their primary intent to interfere with German human and material resources. They still considered themselves soldiers on active duty in that regard.
When I started my first job an older coworker told me when he and his tree brothers were young and they saw this movie they decided their parents were the Germans and they were the POWs. Over winter, behind the furnace, they tunneled through the home's basement foundation and started tunneling. In spring they got caught when their mother was outside tending a flower box and as she took a hand shovel to the ground it gave way. Looking down the hole she saw one of her kids looking back up at her.
That is the best story I have ever read on internet. The great escape movie ,book .1950, music..Elmer Bernstein..etc are part of my DNA. Twice in my life I thought of doing what you guys did. I didn't have the nerve, and being alone, I would have died after being buried in a cave in.
I had the opportunity to visit Lüftstalag III when I was working in Poland. It’s located near the town of Zagan. The barracks are all gone now except for the concrete pads, with one modern-day reproduction for display purposes. The concrete pad where the cooler was had a memorial dedicated to The Cooler King, namely a baseball glove nailed to a post. I thought it was a fitting tribute to the fictional character played by Steve McQueen.
The former POW's who were actually there hated the film especially Steve McQueen's character and though it followed most of the details no American or non Common Wealth soldiers were in the real life escape. The camp did have other compounds for holding US and other nations personnel the Great Escape was almost entirely British operation and eventual tragedy portrayed in the film. The Camp's Commader was so outraged that he allowed a memorial to be built with the names of those executed after learning it happened and they were killed one by one with a shot to the back of the head. Their cremated remains were returned to their fellow prisoners in the camp and most were placed under the Memorial they raised afterwards. Indeed Hitler ordered all Allied POWs to be executed in the closing weeks of the war but they weren't followed because the Luftwaffe and other branches of the German military that held their respective counterparts often moved many so they couldn't be found/killed where they'd been held. Steve McQueen's motorcycle antics wasn't part of the script but were included at his insistence as he spent his off hours racing when not on set and it was easier not to say no than fight him on it. What rankled the camps former POWs was that the American characters were more bold/brave than the British ones and that they nearly made it to freedom where the rest didn't make past a town/train/bus they boarded just outside the camp. The real life story of the Great Escape is more heroic than the film and a recent documentary is worth watching as archeologists dug into the tunnels/shafts that were filled in with some of its surviving POWs attending even finding a stamp made from a rubber heel to forge Nazi eagle on the documents they made.
You are aware its a Movie telling a story for entertainment, an Not repeat Not a PhD level Documentary..an you watching won doesn't make you either a Historian or in fact a veteran of WW2, enjoy the movie...
@Antonio Bromelini Many motion pictures are produced with a version for the international markets and another that fits the sensibilities of the US market. In this case perhaps that would have been an acceptable compromise.
Oh...damn! I’m thinking of the movie, “Papillon!” But I did see this & my heart broke for the guys that didn’t make it to freedom! For a young girl...I watched a lot of war/escape films! I think I enjoyed the camaraderie in them. Either that...or I was in a war in another life! 😉😉
Funny that you mentioned the Magnificent Seven in this video because Steve McQueen and James Coburn who were in this movie we're two of the characters of The Magnificent Seven
Micheal Cane was very thrilled to be working with John Sturges . Only to be disappointed by sturges not caring about the movie or even showing up sometimes . He just wanted the paycheck .
Thanks for the talk about one of my all time favourite movies. One sticking point, however. It is no more accurate to call all Germans or all German soldiers from that time Nazis as it is to call all Americans Republicans.
That's hard to say for me. I've always seen myself as a "behind-the-scenes" kind of guy. You might notice me, and then again you might not. I might walk into a place looking like I belong there or I might say "heck, it isn't worth the trouble" and avoid the chance. But since I've always been great with the "gift of gab" who others seem to look to for a chance to talk, I'd try to be a the guy who quietly gets information from the Nazi guards like the Werner "The Ferret". Alas, I don't think there's one "main character" who simply had this role without being a lead member of the team.
James Coburn...Sedgwick 'Manufacturer' as he is supposed to be an Aussie... but a clear demonstration that American actors struggle when doing an aussie accent...
Wait! Are you telling me the movie is not 100% accurate!? Next you’ll be telling me there was no Private Ryan in Saving Private Ryan! ... well, if these movies aren’t 100% accurate, then I can’t enjoy them.
@@rossfryer3902 , I know what you mean. I mean, I saw a movie the other day where they referred to "pumping up" a Red Ryder BB gun. Of course, the Red Ryder is a lever action , spring powered rifle that can't be pumped up for more power. Still, I dug deep and just pretended I hadn't heard such foolishness as I went on with all the other 100% accurate things that made the movie perfectly believable. Just lucky that so many films stick to reality!
Not true. Hilts is USAAF, The scrounger is an American from the Liberty Squadron who joined the RAF prior to the U.S. Entry. In real life there were other U. S. Pilots in the camp. It was very much a joint effort.
@@danielcostello4041 until the germans moved them out to a newly built compound which was the reason they tried to hurry up and put all their efforts on tom because thats where tom was going to come out at. as i said in my comment above this was the reason dick was abandoned as an escape tunnel and was to hide stuff.
You mentioned Elmer Bernstein doing the score. But what you failed to mention was the fact that a lot of the musical motif used in The Magnificent 7 was also used in the The Great Escape. In particular , the motorcycle sequence used the same music as the Mexican bandits trying to flee the village. Compare the music of The Great Escape (10/11) Movie CLIP - Motorcycle Escape (1963) HD with that of The Magnificent Seven (9/12) Movie CLIP - Village Shootout (1960) HD.
SBOs did not attempt to escape, as that was not their role. The fact he was injured would have made him suitable as opposed to someone else of similar rank who was not injured!
What's awful is how badly it all went. Of 73 escapees only 3 reached freedom and most of the others were killed, including 50 who were summarily executed. I know we want to put a brave face on it but I can't see that it was worth it.
@Amy Sternheim Did it? Or is that just a justification now that we know how bad it went? I think they would have preferred to get out rather than be murdered.
I here the British film industry is in talks about doing a film about Midway and how Churchill sent Royal Navy Captains and Royal Navy Pilots to help the USN by showing them their naval tactics and war experience at sea as well as fighter tactics , the first carrier fighter attack ever, had been made by Brits at Taranto in Italy. Daniel Craig and Ewan McGregor playing the Pilots that discovered the IJN force, Tom Hardy as an ex Royal Navy officer having left the RN to become a gunnery officer on a US Carrier . Should be a great film. Dame Judi Dench is in talks to be the Wren (Womens Royayl Navy) Officer who is on loan from Bletchly Park ( enigma code breakers) specialises in code breaking Dont be offended by the Idea though it's only a film!! Really it doesnt make any difference at all. Well probably the Majority may think it's TRUE but those of us who actually know history know differently eh?
@Amy Sternheim Yes, soldiers threw themselves on grenades to save their buddies. But they didn't plan on it as a strategy. They wanted to live and planned on surviving. I reject the idea that The Great Escape was planned as a giant suicide mission.
In the weeks after the escape, over five million Germans were forced to devote time and energy to recapturing them. It was a great diversion of resources. The escaping men did not expect to be killed. That was only done because Hitler flew into a rage and threw out the Geneva Convention rules on how POWs are treated and punished.
I once read the sequel. Those executed were not shot down in a mass. They did manage to spilt up, and were captured 1 or 2 at a,time, and held, and murdered, at local Gestapo offices all over Germany. After the war, a good deal of effort was put into tracing the POW's movements, and identifying the Gestapo officers who killed them. They were charged with War Crimes, and many were subsequently hanged...
The title so nice you have to say it twice. Absolutely brilliant for turning the cold war on its head. Forget idiologies. People are inherently good. That's definitely something we've lost in this country.
At the rate of approximately ten movie mentions a video, you will have to make approximately 100,000 videos to get to that million mark. I love he idea/concept. But i just noticed this video is 3 years old and your subscribers numbers arent huge. When i first watched your videos sn hour ago on American graffiti and saw those numbers i assumed this was a brand new channel. I dont mean to put you down lol. Im rooting for you for sure. Keep it up because it is great content.
The McQueen character was basically added so that Hollywood would finance the film. Which is why he's a 1960s guy from California in the middle of 1940s Europe.
@@princeofcupspoc9073 $$$ is the root of great disgraces. For example, Spielberg's contemptible lie in $aving Private Ryan --- using an Irish name in a story about a German-American soldier, Fritz Niland. Ethnic disrespect or money-grubbing? I don't know or care. I just don't patronize Spielberg's junk.
The real story was that this escape was of British officers only. The producers had to put in american actors to make sure the film would be liked in america. Also, if Bronson had already dug 17 tunnels, don't you think he would have known he had claustrophobia before this one? Also Steve McQueen's character seems to be an amalgam of many people. What always gets me is when he reports back and tells them the tunnel is a few feet short of the forest, and then he smiles. It's a smile he uses in nearly every movie he's in.
This wonderful movie came out when I was in High School. My best friend Patty Vandercar and I saw it at least 20 times the year it came out in theaters. We even made up a 200 question quiz for it. PS The cast is breathtaking. A veritable catalogue of 60’s tv casts. The Man From Uncle, Maverick, Wanted Dead Or Alice, and Man With. Camera.
IN OWN BUSINESS: Just a suggestion could you do one of your torough and informative studies to THE THIRD MAN ( 1949 ) and FOUR IN A JEEP ( 1951) I have watched those movie with my mother because she had called them good examples how it was in Germany and Austria right after the War.
I understand that John Carpenter wanted Peter Cushing for t role of t shrink guy in Halloween but Cushing wasn't available or cost too much or something. So then someone suggested Donald Pleasance. However Carpenter didn't know who Pleasance was. And it was only after a fairly big rugamorow that Pleasance ended up w t part. When I heard that story my reaction was to wonder why t guy recommending Pleasance didn't say to Carpenter "The forger in t Great Escape that goes blind". I figured that surely t recommender and Carpenter must have seen this movie. Idk.
as we know, the americans were moved just before the escape. an american of noteworthiness here was this man. I heard him give an interview 15 years ago on local radio, he gave an amazing account of his war stories. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Jones
11:23 He gets in the air and unfortunately an engine blows up ... are you sure? I've watched this film dozens of times. From Garner's actions and so on, it appeared it was out of fuel! It was spluttering and probably hadn't been refuelled when it was in the airfield but I'll watch it again and check again as it's been some time since I last watched it. Fortunately I have it on DVD. :)
@@NickJay no it means fuel was not getting to the engine if anything. I think he also said the word "carberater" when Donald Palence asked what was wrong. I'm going to look it up on YOURUBE right now because it is bugging me. When the plane did crash it went on fire thou. So that could have been gas that caught fire.
I just checked it out on RU-vid. THE LINE JAMES GARNER USES IS " I DON'T KNOW, FUEL PUMP, CARBURETOR, WE'RE LOSING POWER"! In my own life experiences, I know what it is like to have a fuel pump go on you. Plus, I am old enough to have driven cars with carburetors and know the crappy experience of them vapor locking. And in those times I look at the fuel gauge and see I got PLENTY OF FUEL!!!
@@carlgreisheimer5278 Yeah thanks. Fair enough. I thought all cars had carboreters? Other than diesel of course. :) Must have been pretty darn scary whatever it was for those pilots who had to ditch in Germany.
One very small point of criticism which you didn't seem to notice, or are ignoring. *THE CAMP IS NOT RUN BY NAZIS,* but by the Luftwaffe. The Commandant does *NOT* wear a swastika. In fact, he has a scene where he states, emphatically, "Not The S.S.!!"
the earlier steve mcqueen escape where he and ives dug out by merely putting the dirt behind them was based on a real escape attempt, i think in the same camp. the two major differentances were that it was a 3 man escape and that they actually pulled it off although they were caught when they got on a train heading for berlin that was stopped when berlin was bombed and searched. the tunnel entrance used in the movie escape was in real life the entrance for the tunnel codenamed dick which was never found and never used because the germans built a new compond where it would have came out. the actuall harry entrance was the stove that they showed as toms entrance in the movie. the airplane escape didnt happen durning the great escape but happened a year earlier when two escaped pows` tried to steal a training plane from an airfield but failed because they couldnt get it to start. it should be noted that the year before the great escape in a different compound of stalag 3 there was another escape by 3 men who started their tunnel just short of the warning wire by covering up the entrance each day and using a pole vaulting horse to hide their activity. for that one check out both the book and the movie THE WOODEN HORSE
The tunnel named "Dick" became unusable when the new compound was built, so they used it to get rid of some of the dirt from "Harry," and also recycled the wooden boards. They rushed "Harry" very hard to get it finished and even made the escape in the winter with snow on the ground, because they were afraid the Germans would find it. Apparently the stove platform was getting warped and wouldn't have lasted much longer.
i may suggest that steve mcqueen was tacked on and not in the original movie shoot, he was never seen with the other actors but only in pick up scenes shot after the main shots were in the can, along in fashion with frank sinatra in the manchurian candidate, and elliot gould in capricorn one, there are alot more...
Personally, what fascinates me in terms of character analysis of "The Great Escape" was the pairing of Donald Pleasance's character "The Forger" with James Garner's character of "The Scrounger." On the one hand, you see a rather mousey and meek character who thinks less of himself than of others rooming with a brash and bold (perhaps even suave) macho guy who thinks what can he get for himself first that will also help others (if they request it). You couldn't see "The Forger" holding a nest of Nazis at bay with a machine gun, nor could you see "The Scrounger" pussyfooting it around the prison camp insecurely. But put them together and they help each other out. Of course, from a plot device, it wouldn't look good for Garner's character (and Garner's professional acting career) to be completely for himself and not think to help out his roommate. I consider myself quite knowledgeable on John Wayne films, as a former college film student, so if you ever want to post about John Wayne and/or John Ford and John Wayne, do let me know. I'm a big John Wayne film fan.
I can still enjoy the movie eventhough it's not historically accurate . One thing that bugs me is when Hilt's character is first confronted by VonLuger after he's crossed the "wire of death" gave the impression of speaking German . Later on when he's on the motorcycle and he's asked something by the German guard he seems not to understand and kicks the guard . Still sometimes I imagine Hilts makes the jump and gets away . Due to the tragic way McQueen would die 18 years later at 50 years old of mesothelioma cancer . From all accounts he died fighting and believed in God and his only begotten son Jesus . Terence Steven McQueen : 03/24/1930 - 11/07/1980
