40 Details About The Great Escape That Separate Fact From Fiction

The Great Escape, a non-fiction account of the 1944 jailbreak from German POW camp Stalag Luft III, was first published in 1950. Author Paul Brickhill was an actual prisoner in the camp, and he helped with the escape plans. Unfortunately, though, he didn’t take part in the final escape because he was too claustrophobic to go through the underground tunnels that led to freedom.

Many aspects of the escape plan in the movie were depicted accurately. The real prisoners did use the chocolate, cigarettes, and coffee they received in their Red Cross packages to bribe the German guards, for instance. But other elements had to remain classified. This included that the prisoners had dug a fourth tunnel, nicknamed “George.”

Casting Charles Bronson as a Polish POW with expertise in tunnel-digging, but also a crippling case of claustrophobia, was a masterstroke. Why? Well, because Bronson worked as a coal miner in his native Pennsylvania before becoming an actor, and he actually did suffer from claustrophobia. He was therefore able to give director John Sturges advice on how a tunneller would do his job.

The movie stayed true to reality in that of the 76 prisoners who escaped the camp, only three actually made it to Allied territory. The other 73 were recaptured by the Germans, and 50 of them were shot to death by the Gestapo. The movie does show this, although they weren’t really machine-gunned as a group – they were shot either in pairs or on their own. A sad end. 

On August 31, 1944, a bomber aircraft was shot down in Agenville, France. The crew was captured by the Germans and placed in the Stalag Luft I prison camp. But one captive reportedly staged plays to amuse his fellow prisoners and pursued acting after the war. This was, of course, the great Donald Pleasence, who played Colin Blythe in The Great Escape.

During The Great Escape’s shoot, United Artists became worried that there were no women in the picture. So they suggested that David McCallum’s character could be cradled by a sexy dame as he died. Even better than that, they could hold a “Miss Prison Camp” contest to find the most beautiful woman possible to cast in the role. Thankfully, John Sturges rejected the idea. 

Steve McQueen reportedly only agreed to make The Great Escape if he was given a chance to show what he could do on a motorbike. That’s because Hollywood had forced him to give up real-life racing to become a star. But he knew he could still get that adrenaline rush on film. It was therefore agreed to add in the climactic motorcycle chase, purely for McQueen’s benefit.

Steve McQueen was such a great motorcycle rider that, when shooting the incredible climactic chase, he outperformed the stuntmen who were chasing him. So director Sturges and his star hatched a cunning plan – they would disguise McQueen as one of the German soldiers chasing Hilts, and film those sequences separately. In the end, it meant that McQueen was effectively chasing himself. 

Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley, played by James Garner in The Great Escape, is the “scrounger” of the team. This means it’s his job to search for materials that can be used in the escape attempt. Like many other cast members, Garner reportedly drew on his real-life history to create the character – he was his military unit’s scrounger during the Korean War. 

During the movie’s exhilarating chase, Hilts crashes into the barbed wire fence surrounding the prison camp. Naturally, this wasn’t really barbed wire. The cast and crew were given five-inch strings of black rubber during downtime and told to knot them around other strings. It’s a great example of everyone pitching in to achieve a great Hollywood effect.

Richard Harris, star of Gladiator, Unforgiven, and Harry Potter, was originally cast in the role of Roger Bartlett. He wound up leaving when production ran long on his movie This Sporting Life, but he also read some Great Escape script re-writes that he wasn’t a fan of. Richard Attenborough stepped in, and in the end, things worked out okay for Harris – he scored an Oscar nomination for This Sporting Life!

Wally Floody was the real-life Tunnel King – the Canadian POW who made the plans for subterranean escape and dug the tunnels. The production employed him as an advisor for more than a year. After seeing the tunnel set, Floody reportedly remarked, “You must be getting something right, because I’m having terrible nightmares.”

Several sequences in the film involve trains and railway stations. These were shot in a variety of locations across Munich and Deisenhofen. But a railroad representative had to be on hand for a very important reason. It was their job to tell the production when to pull to the side to avoid crashing into real oncoming trains. Sounds hairy!

The incredible real-life escape took place on March 24, 1944, while the last snows of winter were still falling. The filmmakers took some license here, as they depicted the events happening at the height of summer. Yet March 24 was Steve McQueen’s birthday – he was celebrating turning 14 on the night of the escape. 

It’s common on a movie like The Great Escape for the cast and crew to bond. Everyone is working their hardest to make something special in tough conditions, and this tends to unite people. Not Steve McQueen, though – he reportedly barely mingled with any of his co-workers. He stayed in a chalet with his wife and was chauffeured to set every day in a limo. 

Sturges first read Brickhill’s memoir in the early 1950s and immediately envisioned making it as a film. But when he pitched the idea to mega-producer Samuel Goldwyn, the response was, “What the hell kind of escape is this? Nobody gets away!” It wasn’t until Sturges had a bona fide hit with The Magnificent Seven in 1960 that the movie finally got the green light.

The Great Escape’s screenplay was worked on by six writers over the course of two years. And two of the writers were novelists – James Clavell and W. R. Burnett. Clavell was specifically tasked with ensuring the British characters spoke and acted more authentically. Sturges still wasn’t 100 percent satisfied, though – even after 11 drafts – so tinkering with the script continued as the film was shot. 

Elmer Bernstein composed countless memorable scores in his long career – The Magnificent Seven, Ghostbusters, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Cape Fear were just a few. Arguably his most famous score, though, was The Great Escape. He was reportedly able to live off its royalties for the rest of his life and, given how it seeped into the public consciousness so completely, it’s easy to see why. 

In 2019 Henry Winkler, who played The Fonz in the iconic sitcom Happy Days, revealed a fascinating connection to the movie. He told The New York Post, “One of my favorite facts about Fonzie is that the bike I finally wound up with, the Triumph…was the bike that Steve McQueen used to jump the fence in The Great Escape.” So, yes, both Hilts and everyone’s favorite 1950s’ greaser rode the same motorcycle. 

Another real-life Prisoner of War who starred in the film was Til Kiwe, who played Frick. He was captured by U.S. forces in North Africa in 1943 and taken to a POW camp in Colorado. Incredibly, he made 17 escape attempts during his incarceration, using many of the same techniques displayed by the escapees in the movie.

Hannes Messemer is etched in people’s minds as the Commandant of the prison camp in The Great Escape. In real life, he served his country during WWII and became a POW when he was captured at Stalingrad. He was imprisoned in a Russian camp, but in 1945, he made his own great escape. In fact, he broke out and walked hundreds of miles home to Germany. Incredible.

Six hundred prisoners involved themselves in the escape plan in the year leading up to the fateful night. It was decided that 200 would attempt the breakout, with the first 100 being the men who had the best odds of surviving on the outside. This was due to their knowledge of the area and ability to speak German. The second 100 were decided upon purely by chance – a ballot was held a month before March 24.

If you are a Great Escape superfan, and you happen to find yourself in Zagan, Poland, then we’ve got just the thing for you! You can visit the Prisoner of War Camps Museum, which is situated in a building close to the original site of Stalag Luft III. There’s even a recreation of the “Harry” tunnel that you can walk around in. 

The Great Escape took some creative license with the truth. For instance, a number of the 76 escapees are American. But by the time the real escape plan was enacted, all but one of the American POWs had already been moved to a different camp. The only one who remained was John Dodge, and it was because he was enlisted in the British Army instead of the American. 

When Charles Bronson met David McCallum’s wife, Jill Ireland, during The Great Escape’s shoot, he was immediately smitten. So much so that he reportedly told McCallum, “I’m going to marry your wife.” It’s unclear whether he said it jokingly or not but, as fate would have it, he wound up making good on his word in 1968. He and Ireland would stay happily married until she died in 1990.

Steve McQueen had such a reputation for performing his own stunts, and the 60-foot fence jump in The Great Escape was so convincing, that the world believed he really did it. But when Johnny Carson tried to praise McQueen about it on The Tonight Show, the star said, “It wasn’t me. That was Bud Ekins.” The stuntman and McQueen became friends, all while continuing to work together on such classics as Bullitt.

The political thriller Seven Days in May was released in 1964, starring Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. Somewhere, though, there is a parallel universe in which the two legends starred in The Great Escape instead. Producer Walter Mirisch, you see, reportedly pushed to cast Douglas as Hilts and Lancaster as Hendley. Now, we simply can’t imagine anyone but Steve McQueen and James Garner in the roles.

For interior scenes in The Great Escape, John Sturges and his production team set up shop in the Bavaria Studios in Munich. Other classics filmed in this massive studio include The Sound of Music and Cabaret. The prison camp set was built nearby in Munich, while the exterior scenes were shot in the Rhine Country and Fussen, which lies on the Austrian border.

Steve McQueen liked fast cars and motorbikes. But he liked them so much that he was caught speeding near the movie set a number of times by the German police. Co-star David McCallum once revealed, “When he was pulled over, they’d say, ‘Herr McQueen, good morning, we’re delighted that once again you’ve won the special prize,’ and cart him off to the jail.”

The Great Escape built its prison camp set in the middle of a German forest. It meant trees had to be bulldozed to make room, and director John Sturges had to negotiate with the West German Minister of the Interior to get permission. He promised the production would reseed two trees for every one knocked down or damaged during the shoot. They kept their word – around 2,000 pine trees were reseeded.

There are people out there who wholeheartedly believe Harrison Ford’s first screen appearance was as a young German soldier in The Great Escape. We hate to break it to these eagle-eyed conspiracy theorists, but it’s not true. While the actor may look like Ford, the scene was filmed four years before his first credited screen appearance. It was also filmed in Germany, not Wisconsin, which is where Ford was attending school at the time.

Jud Taylor played Goff, one of the three American characters in the film, and he once told an anecdote that spoke to the authenticity of the production. One day he encountered a man walking his dog past the set – a man who became visibly upset at seeing the camp. When the actor explained they were just shooting a movie, the man’s relief was palpable. 

The Great Escape was one of the biggest movie money-makers of 1963, but its initial critical reception was mixed. As an old-fashioned Hollywood crowd-pleaser, some critics dubbed it juvenile and not in keeping with the more intimate, forward-thinking likes of Hud and Lilies of the Field. Over time, though, the movie has rightfully cemented its place as a beloved classic.

During the shoot Steve McQueen reportedly walked off set and refused to return until his role was beefed up in the script. You see, he was unhappy there was going to be a half hour section in the film with no Hilts. Director John Sturges was so fed up that he suggested writing Hilts out altogether, but the studio knew McQueen was the star and stopped this from happening.

Twenty-five years after the release of The Great Escape, a sequel was released. Well, kind of. The Great Escape II: The Untold Story wasn’t a sequel in the traditional sense. Instead, it was a two-part TV movie that retold the real-life story in a way that hewed closer to the actual facts. It starred Donald Pleasence again, only this time he played a different character – a villainous German doctor. Bizarre.

Over the years, The Great Escape has seen countless homages in popular culture. Our favorite example was when Maggie took on the Steve McQueen role in leading a baby escape from the Ayn Rand School for Tots in The Simpsons. But we also loved when the basic plot played out in Claymation form in 2000’s Chicken Run, with everyone reimagined as poultry escaping from a farm. 

Forty years after the movie hit screens, The Great Escape was given new life in a video game. It was released on Xbox, Playstation 2 and PC, and faithfully recreated the movie, right down to using actual audio clips of Steve McQueen. GameSpot’s verdict was, “The Great Escape may be fun for die-hard fans of the film, but if you’re just looking for a good stealth action game, you could do better.” Ouch.

When the English national soccer team played Poland at Wembley Stadium in 1996, the cheerful sounds of Elmer Bernstein’s Great Escape theme could be heard in the crowd. It was being played by the England Supporter’s Band and, over the next several decades, it became a fixture of every single England international match. 

In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s SFX team inserted Leonardo DiCaprio seamlessly into scenes from The Great Escape. It’s so weird to see him delivering lines we associate with Steve McQueen. As the fictional Rick Dalton, DiCaprio is superb, and his frustration over losing out on the role of Hilts is hilarious and heart-breaking in equal measure. All in all, it’s one of our favorite on-screen tributes to Sturges’ classic.

While they would go on to enjoy a friendship, the initial working relationship between Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen was strained. In 2005 Attenborough revealed, “Being with Steve was not peaceful. He was not combative, but you felt that if things were not as he would wish them to be, or believed that they ought to be, then he would let you know. He was not a pussycat.”

It’s clear now that McQueen wasn’t the easiest star to work with. But that didn‘t stop people from wanting to. Almost 20 years after the success of The Great Escape, McQueen was touted to take the leading role in The Cannonball Run. But after the legend’s passing in 1980, the studio was forced to take a different direction. Burt Reynolds came on board instead, and this led to a whole host of behind-the-scenes secrets...

It’s little wonder that Burt Reynolds was attracted to his role in the movie, given the seven-figure sum he earned for no more than a month’s work. Yes, The Cannonball Run’s leading man pocketed an astonishing $5 million for his performance in the 1981 original – achieving a particular milestone in the process. His salary officially made him the highest-earning star to grace Hollywood up until that period.

The Governor of Georgia was more than accommodating when producers asked for his help involving a key scene. Indeed, the official agreed to shut down one of his state’s small town centers entirely. And as a result, an airplane was able to touch down safely in the area which had been closed off by the police.

You wouldn’t expect The Cannonball Run to be grounded in any kind of reality. But, in fact, its outlaw national road race is based on an actual competition that was staged on four occasions throughout the 1970s. The race reportedly had just one rule, “All competitors will drive any vehicle of their choosing, over any route, at any speed they judge practical, between the starting point and destination. The competitor finishing with the lowest elapsed time is the winner.”

Reynolds certainly had to put in four weeks’ work to earn his bumper $5 million payday. But the majority of his co-stars pretty much left the movie’s set as soon as they arrived. Yes, with The Cannonball Run boasting such a big cast, most actors were only required to spend two or three days filming before being allowed to go home.

The Cannonball Run’s director almost rivals leading man Reynolds for screen time. Indeed, Hal Needham can be seen or heard on no less than four occasions throughout the film. He first appears as an EMT, before voicing the policeman during the speed trap scene and then portraying the trucker who speaks to Roger Moore via CB radio. He lastly shows up in the blooper reel which plays over the film’s end credits.

As you’d expect from such an action-packed, thrill-seeking movie, Burt Reynolds had a stand-in for the more elaborate stunts. But this lookalike also managed to get his own face in the movie. Yes, the man in question plays the highway patrol officer that stops Tara Buckman and Adrienne Barbeau’s characters.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Rat Pack legend Sammy Davis, Jr. playing Morris Fenderbaum. But studio bosses initially cast another famous face as the conman who, alongside Dean Martin’s Jamie Blake, poses as a Catholic priest. In fact, iconic comic Don Rickles was initially the choice to play Fenderbaum.

Mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw’s natural on-screen chemistry very nearly resulted in a new network sitcom. Indeed, the country singer and football star inspired producer Albert S. Ruddy and director Hal Needham to shop the idea of a spin-off featuring their characters. The head of ABC was keen to make it a reality but lost his job just 24 hours before a key meeting. The project was subsequently left on the shelf.

Burt Reynolds may well have been a footballing hero instead of a Hollywood movie star, had an injury not cut short his sporting career at Florida State University. And the actor gave a nod to his halfback beginnings when he christened one of The Cannonball Run’s characters. Dom DeLuise’s Victor Primzim was actually named in honor of Reynolds’ former teammate, Vic Prinzi.

Audiences couldn’t get enough of Burt Reynolds and co. back in 1981. Indeed, The Cannonball Run made back its $18 million budget an impressive five times, with its North American gross of $72 million making it the year’s sixth-biggest movie. Only Stripes, Arthur, Superman II, On Golden Pond and Raiders of the Lost Ark did better at the box office Stateside. This put it ahead of star Roger Moore’s other big screen outing that year, For Your Eyes Only.

“I Gotta Be Me” is one of the many songs that The Cannonball Run star Sammy Davis, Jr. made famous throughout his glittering career. And it can be heard in the film itself. Bert Convy actually sings the tune in the jaw-dropping scene in which he exits from an airplane on a motorcycle.

Jack Elam portrayed Frankenstein’s monster in 1979’s Struck by Lightning. He also plays a doctor, Nikolas Van Helsing, in The Cannonball Run, which nods to his TV past. Indeed, Burt Reynolds’ J.J. implores Dom DeLuise’s Victor before the race, “Get me Dr. Kildare. Get me Dr. Livingston. Get me Dr. Frankenstein. Just get me a doctor!”

There was a time when you could get a drink and a bite to eat in a place dedicated entirely to The Cannonball Run. The film’s screenwriter, Brock Yates, once owned an establishment in his Wyoming hometown that used to stage yearly reunions for the real-life race’s participants. But sadly, The Cannonball Run Pub has since close its doors for good.

The real-life race that The Cannonball Run is based on has a name that doesn’t quite trip off the tongue. Indeed, the original cross-country contest was titled The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. The race began at New York City’s Read Ball Garage on 31st Street and concluded at Redondo Beach’s Portofino Inn in California.

Hal Needham did his bit to help cut costs on the movie – several of the vehicles seen onscreen actually belonged to the director. Indeed, he really owned the Ferrari 308 that’s used in the race. And the ambulance that also pops up is actually the same vehicle that he and scriptwriter Brock Yates drove during the real-life contest the film is based on.

Brock Yates was obviously a man of many talents. Not only did he pen the script for The Cannonball Run and open up a pub themed around the film, but he also conceived of the original real-life race. Yes, Yates came up with the idea for the madcap competition while working as a journalist for Car and Driver. He also published a book about it named The Sunday Driver.

Jackie Chan was already a major star in his native Hong Kong by 1981. And he’d already appeared in a Hollywood movie, The Big Brawl. But his appearance as a Subaru driver in The Cannonball Run was the first time that most U.S. audiences became aware of his comic and action hero talents.

007 fans will no doubt have already spotted the multitude of nods to James Bond that are scattered throughout the film. As well as starring the legendary Roger Moore himself, the movie also sees his character driving the same vehicle as Sean Connery in Goldfinger, the Aston Martin DB5. James Bond’s producers later remarked that they should have sued The Cannonball Run’s director Hal Needham as a result.

Freddie Mercury is responsible for one of the most famous mustaches in showbiz history. And he also owned another. Yes, the late Queen frontman paid some $25,000 at a charity auction to get his hands on the facial hair that Burt Reynolds sported in The Cannonball Run. The winning bidder initially remained anonymous until bandmate Brian May let slip several years later.

In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Richard Kiel and Jackie Chan’s competitors see their vehicle transform into a submarine after driving it into a lake. The iconic score from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws plays over the sequence. And this music actually has a double meaning. Kiel portrayed the villainous Jaws in two 007 movies, Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me.

The Cannonball Run was one of the first Hollywood movies to show a bloopers reel during its end credits. And one of its stars liked the idea so much that they borrowed it for their later films. Jackie Chan was reportedly inspired for showing various on-set mishaps in his own martial arts movies.

The Cannonball Run may have given Chan a boost to his Hollywood career. But the action hero certainly wasn’t happy about one aspect of the film. Indeed, the Chinese star was reportedly a little dismayed after discovering that his Subaru driver character didn’t share the same country of origin and was, in fact, from Japan.

Following in the footsteps of his fellow Rat Packers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra joined The Cannonball Run series for its 1984 sequel. And the film would prove to be the last time that the iconic singer would appear on the big screen. Indeed, only his voice would be heard in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, while 1995’s Young at Heart was only ever screened on TV.

You wouldn’t expect turning down a role in The Cannonball Run II to be a major regret for a star of Roger Moore’s caliber. The legendary James Bond actor did appear in the 1981 original after all. But in his autobiography, Moore admits that after learning that the sequel had cast Frank Sinatra, he immediately rued his decision not to return to the series.

The Cannonball Run II might not be considered a typical Rat Pack movie. But it was the last film ever to feature three of the legendary group’s three biggest stars – Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra. Shirley MacLaine, once labelled a Rat Pack Mascot, also appeared in the 1984 sequel.

It’s fair to say that Frank Sinatra wasn’t the most sociable of actors while filming The Cannonball Run II. The swing legend turned up so early to film his parts that he ended up leaving the set before the rest of the cast had even arrived. Indeed, Sinatra shot the entirety of his office scene with doubles of the movie’s stars.

Following on from Farrah Fawcett’s appearance in The Cannonball Run, another Charlie’s Angel, Jaclyn Smith, was initially touted to play Veronica in the sequel. But for reasons unknown, the actress decided to pass on the role. Smith’s loss was Shirley MacLaine’s gain, as the veteran actress was hired as her replacement.

One of the most memorable scenes from The Cannonball Run II is its spoof of The Godfather. But did you know that three actors in this scene actually acted in the real thing? Indeed, Alex Rocco and Abe Vigoda both showed up in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 original, while Michael V. Gazzo enjoyed a part in the 1974 sequel.

One of the The Cannonball Run II s biggest critics was one of its biggest stars. Indeed, Frank Sinatra wasn’t particularly enamored with the film’s ending, in which his character emerges victorious. The legendary swing singer couldn’t comprehend how the fictional Frank could win when he only joined the race on its last leg.

You wouldn’t expect a star as big as Frank Sinatra to bring his own vehicle to a movie’s set. But that’s exactly what Ol’ Blue Eyes did while filming The Cannonball Run II. Indeed, the 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo that his character is seen behind the wheel of actually belonged to the singer himself.

The third film in the series appeared to suffer something of an identity crisis. In fact, it was released around the world under no less than four different names. Alongside the more familiar Speed Zone, it was also titled Cannonball Run III or Cannonball Fever in various countries. And to make matters even more confusing, the Japanese laserdisc was named The Cannonball Run III: Speed Zone.

Much of the original film’s cast returned for a second helping of cross-country racing. But the same can’t be said for the third film. In fact, only one actor can lay claim to appearing in each installment of the series. And that’s Jamie Farr, who played wealthy competitor Sheik Abdul ben Falafel. Reynolds passed on the chance to reprise his role due to concerns it would harm his serious acting ambitions.

Who knew that the third and final chapter of the racing movie series went surprisingly meta? Indeed, in one particular scene, John Candy’s parking valet Charles Cronan can be seen watching a movie in his office. And that particularly movie just happens to be the one and only original The Cannonball Run.

Best known for his role in The Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider briefly shows up as a Lamborghini driver in the third film’s opening scene. His character isn’t given a name, but it seems this slightly confused whoever was responsible for the end credits. Indeed, Schneider is listed as playing Donnato – but Donnato is an entirely separate character whose voice can be heard on the police station’s telephone.

Perhaps promoters wanted to fool audiences into thinking that Jackie Chan was returning for a third installment. Or perhaps it was a genuine mistake. But the black Mitsubishi that Chan drives in the 1984 sequel can quite clearly be seen in the Speed Zone poster. And yet neither the car nor Chan show up in the actual movie.

Speed Zone might not have been an official part of The Cannonball Run series but it still cleverly managed to bring things full circle. Indeed, the drivers in the film end their madcap race at the Santa Monica Pier. Of course, this is the starting point of the race in the 1976 original.

Speed Zone essentially doubled up as a SCTV reunion. Indeed, alongside Eugene Levy and John Candy, several other stars of the seminal Canadian sketch show also took parts in the film. However, one SCTV alumni, Rick Moranis, decided not to join his former colleagues, passing on the part of Whitman.

Speed Zone was produced by Orion Pictures but it was initially developed at another iconic, if now defunct, 1980s film studio. Famous for their low-budget action movies, Cannon Films first got their hands on the project. However, the company was forced to abandon their plans when it went into bankruptcy.

As unlikely as it seems, we might not have seen the last of The Cannonball Run franchise. Indeed, 35 years after the original made it into cinemas, Warner Bros bagged the rights to the series. Etan Cohen was initially touted to helm a remake, before Doug Liman’s name entered the frame alongside scriptwriters Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.