142 GREAT ESCAPE, THE
POWs duly or ga nize themselves into teams, each specializing in a dif fer ent aspect
of the escape attempt. Flight Lieutenant Robert Hendley ( James Garner) is “the
scrounger” who obtains needed materials. Australian Flying Officer Louis Sedg-
wick ( James Coburn), “the manufacturer,” makes tools for digging and bellows for
pumping air into the tunnels. Flight Lieutenants Danny Valinski (Charles Bron-
son) and William “Willie” Dickes ( John Leyton) are “the tunnel kings” in charge
of the actual digging. Flight Lieutenant Andrew MacDonald (Gordon Jackson) acts
as intelligence officer, and Bartlett’s second- in- command. Royal Navy Lt. Com-
mander Eric Ashley- Pitt (David McCallum) is in charge of dispersal, that is, spread-
ing the soil from the tunnels over the camp grounds, undetected. Flight Lieutenant
Griffith (Robert Desmond) acts as “the tailor,” creating civilian outfits out of mili-
tary uniforms. Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe (Donald Pleasence), in charge of
forging German identity documents, almost goes blind from the strain on his eyes
from all of his detailed work by candlelight (Hendley becomes Blythe’s guide). To
ensure a reasonable chance of success, the prisoners work on a trio of tunnels all at
once, naming them “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry.” USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts (Steve
McQueen), the “Cooler King,” persists in badgering the guards by trying to escape
again and again while displaying an uncooperative attitude. Hilts and RAF Flying
Officer Archibald Ives (Angus Lennie) devise a plan to flee through a shorter tunnel
near the edge of camp, one that Bartlett agrees to with the knowledge that he can’t
shoot down all individual escape attempts if he hopes for his grand scheme to suc-
ceed. Hilts and Ives are promptly caught and punished. When Hilt is released from
“the cooler,” Bartlett asks him to use his next escape attempt to reconnoiter the area
around the camp. Hilts turns Bartlett down, but helps the collective escape effort by
becoming a scrounger. Hendley becomes friendly with a German patrolman named
Werner (Robert Graf) and steals his ID documents in order to blackmail the hapless
guard into securing materials necessary to the prisoners’ escape. As “Tom” nears
completion, Bartlett shuts down “Dick” and “Harry.” While the POWs celebrate the
July Fourth holiday, the guards find “Tom”— a major, morale- crushing setback.
Ives, driven mad by isolation in “the cooler,” attempts to climb the camp’s barbed
wire fence in full view of the guards. He is killed as a result. Not to be deterred, the
POWs set back to work on “Harry.” Hilts agrees to do some reconnaissance outside
of the camp grounds, be recaptured, and then report on his findings so that the
group can make maps to guide escapees. The final section of the tunnel is fin-
ished on time, but it ends up being 20 feet short of the woods, which were meant
to provide cover. Bartlett proceeds with the escape, and Hilt devises a system for
signaling the prisoners so that they can leave the tunnel between patrol sweeps.
Danny, who has spent a lengthy amount of time in the tunnels, now suffers from
severe claustrophobia and almost refuses to leave. In all, 76 prisoners manage to
escape before the Germans catch on, but after attempts to reach neutral coun-
tries, almost all the POWs are recaptured or killed. Hendley and Blythe steal a
plane to fly over the Swiss border, but the engine fails and they crash. Hendley sur-
renders, but Blythe, now blind, does not put his hands up and is shot dead. Bartlett
is discovered at a busy railway station, but Ashely- Pitt overpowers the Gestapo
agent and shoots him, only to be killed while attempting his own escape. In the