This movie tells the story of Colditz Castle, the German POW camp (Oflag IV-C) for Allied officers who were escapees from other prisons during WW II. The Germans established Colditz as a maximum-security prison in 1939. It was supposed to be escape-proof. The guards outnumbered the prisoners. "The Colditz Story" is based on a book by British author Patrick Reid. He was one of 56 escapees who scored "home runs." They made it all the way back to their countries or Allied lines. The film condenses much of the book, and some of the characters are composites. But, all the events depicted in the film are true.
The town and castle by the same name are located about 25 miles southeast of Leipzig in eastern Germany. The prison was just 40 miles from the Czech border and about 100 miles from Poland. The prison was opened in 1939 to hold Polish prisoners. By 1940, it was converted into the Allied officers prison. Other POWs soon arrived from England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Belgium and France. Late in the war, inmates were primarily British, and a handful of Americans arrived near the very end.
Colditz was otherwise unusual for a German POW camp. It adhered strictly to the Geneva Convention in the treatment of prisoners. These were all officers who enjoyed comforts and privileges that no other prison camp afforded. The higher ranking officers actually had enlisted orderlies. This film barely touches on that. A later movie, "The Great Escape" told a greatly fictionalized story about the real escape from another POW camp, Stalag Luft III. That prison was run by the Luftwaffe (German air force) mostly for captured Allied pilots. It included a number who had escaped before. The conditions there were much inferior to those at Colditz. The first major film on German POW camp escapes, "Stalag 17" was made in 1953. It most accurately shows the conditions of the bulk of German POW camps and treatment of prisoners.
The Colditz story is so interesting because of the concentration of escape-minded officers from so many countries. Those men were the epitome of the Allied prisoner code for attempting to escape. They tied down more German forces to maintain the prison, and then to hunt down escapees. These were all units and men that were kept from the German front lines.
From its beginning until the liberation of Colditz by the U.S. Army in April 1945, POWs attempted about 320 escapes. That's about 60 per year. Of those, 130 made it out of the prison. And, an incredible 56 total were 'home runs." The French had the most successful escapes – 22. The Dutch had 15, the British 14 and the Poles had 5 prisoners who made it all the way to Allied lines. Colditz holds the record for most successful POW escapes in both world wars.
John Mills plays Reid, the author and the only character from the book whose real name is used in the film. The rest of the cast are amalgams of other prisoners. The first British home run was Lt. Airey Neave in January 1942. The movie shows Reid as the first British escapee, but he wasn't. He served as the British escape officer and helped with many other escape attempts, including that of Neave and Dutch Lt. Tony Lewtegn. Christopher Rhodes plays Mac McGill in the film, a friend of Reid's. His character resembles Capt. Michael Sinclair who was the master of all escape artists. The Germans called the red-headed Brit the Red Fox and distributed his picture across Germany. Sinclair escaped nine times, including two times from Colditz. He was the only POW at Colditz who was killed trying to escape. The film shows how it happened when Mac climbs a fence and heads toward the forest.
One other famous prisoner of Colditz isn't covered in the movie, and didn't succeed in an escape. But, Douglas Bader tried to escape and was there when the Americans liberated Colditz. Bader was a top British ace, with 23 scores. He was captured on Aug. 9, 1941, after a mid-air collision over France. He parachuted to the ground and his captors were amazed to see that Bader had no legs. Both of his artificial legs had been destroyed in his collision. After several attempts to escape from other locations, Bader was finally sent to Colditz.
Besides Mills and Rhodes, several; other actors gave excellent performances in this film. Most notable among these was Eric Portman as Col. Richmond. Denis Shaw was a very good German Capt. Priem. And, Lionel Jeffries and Bryan Forbes have very good roles as Harry Tyler and Jimmy Winslow, respectively. This is a highly entertaining film. More than one reviewer found the humor too much or out of place. But, I think it fit well and was very believable. After all, humor is a balm for difficulties in life and trying times. Especially in the situation the POWs had in Colditz Castle, I suspect that the humor was very much like what the film shows. I highly recommend this film, and note that it's suitable for the whole family. Something rare, I think, for a wartime film.
Viewers may also be interested to know that the first British Home Run from Colditz later served in Parliament. Airey Neave was an early friend, adviser and supporter of Margaret Thatcher. He was killed in a car bombing on March 30, 1979. A few weeks later, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of Great Britain.
The town and castle by the same name are located about 25 miles southeast of Leipzig in eastern Germany. The prison was just 40 miles from the Czech border and about 100 miles from Poland. The prison was opened in 1939 to hold Polish prisoners. By 1940, it was converted into the Allied officers prison. Other POWs soon arrived from England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Belgium and France. Late in the war, inmates were primarily British, and a handful of Americans arrived near the very end.
Colditz was otherwise unusual for a German POW camp. It adhered strictly to the Geneva Convention in the treatment of prisoners. These were all officers who enjoyed comforts and privileges that no other prison camp afforded. The higher ranking officers actually had enlisted orderlies. This film barely touches on that. A later movie, "The Great Escape" told a greatly fictionalized story about the real escape from another POW camp, Stalag Luft III. That prison was run by the Luftwaffe (German air force) mostly for captured Allied pilots. It included a number who had escaped before. The conditions there were much inferior to those at Colditz. The first major film on German POW camp escapes, "Stalag 17" was made in 1953. It most accurately shows the conditions of the bulk of German POW camps and treatment of prisoners.
The Colditz story is so interesting because of the concentration of escape-minded officers from so many countries. Those men were the epitome of the Allied prisoner code for attempting to escape. They tied down more German forces to maintain the prison, and then to hunt down escapees. These were all units and men that were kept from the German front lines.
From its beginning until the liberation of Colditz by the U.S. Army in April 1945, POWs attempted about 320 escapes. That's about 60 per year. Of those, 130 made it out of the prison. And, an incredible 56 total were 'home runs." The French had the most successful escapes – 22. The Dutch had 15, the British 14 and the Poles had 5 prisoners who made it all the way to Allied lines. Colditz holds the record for most successful POW escapes in both world wars.
John Mills plays Reid, the author and the only character from the book whose real name is used in the film. The rest of the cast are amalgams of other prisoners. The first British home run was Lt. Airey Neave in January 1942. The movie shows Reid as the first British escapee, but he wasn't. He served as the British escape officer and helped with many other escape attempts, including that of Neave and Dutch Lt. Tony Lewtegn. Christopher Rhodes plays Mac McGill in the film, a friend of Reid's. His character resembles Capt. Michael Sinclair who was the master of all escape artists. The Germans called the red-headed Brit the Red Fox and distributed his picture across Germany. Sinclair escaped nine times, including two times from Colditz. He was the only POW at Colditz who was killed trying to escape. The film shows how it happened when Mac climbs a fence and heads toward the forest.
One other famous prisoner of Colditz isn't covered in the movie, and didn't succeed in an escape. But, Douglas Bader tried to escape and was there when the Americans liberated Colditz. Bader was a top British ace, with 23 scores. He was captured on Aug. 9, 1941, after a mid-air collision over France. He parachuted to the ground and his captors were amazed to see that Bader had no legs. Both of his artificial legs had been destroyed in his collision. After several attempts to escape from other locations, Bader was finally sent to Colditz.
Besides Mills and Rhodes, several; other actors gave excellent performances in this film. Most notable among these was Eric Portman as Col. Richmond. Denis Shaw was a very good German Capt. Priem. And, Lionel Jeffries and Bryan Forbes have very good roles as Harry Tyler and Jimmy Winslow, respectively. This is a highly entertaining film. More than one reviewer found the humor too much or out of place. But, I think it fit well and was very believable. After all, humor is a balm for difficulties in life and trying times. Especially in the situation the POWs had in Colditz Castle, I suspect that the humor was very much like what the film shows. I highly recommend this film, and note that it's suitable for the whole family. Something rare, I think, for a wartime film.
Viewers may also be interested to know that the first British Home Run from Colditz later served in Parliament. Airey Neave was an early friend, adviser and supporter of Margaret Thatcher. He was killed in a car bombing on March 30, 1979. A few weeks later, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of Great Britain.