The Colditz Story (1955)

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

P.R. Reid (novel)
Guy Hamilton (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 February 1955 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

Allied prisoners of various nationalities pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from an "escape-proof" German POW camp housed in a Medieval castle.

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Guard | Barbed Wire | Senior Officer | Nazi Officer

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

John Mills	...	Pat Reid
Christopher Rhodes	...	'Mac' McGill
Lionel Jeffries	...	Harry Tyler
Bryan Forbes	...	Jimmy Winslow
Guido Lorraine	...	Polish officer
Witold Sikorski	...	Polish officer
A. Blichewicz	...	Polish officer
B. Dolinski	...	Polish officer
Anton Diffring	...	Fischer
Richard Wattis	...	Richard Gordon
Ian Carmichael	...	Robin Cartwright
Eric Portman	...	Colonel Richmond
Frederick Valk	...	Kommandant
Leo Bieber	...	German interpreter
Denis Shaw	...	Priem
Rudolph Offenbach	...	Dutch colonel
Theodore Bikel	...	Vandy
Keith Pyott	...	French colonel
Eugene Deckers	...	La Tour
Arthur Butcher	...	Polish colonel
David Yates	...	Dick
Douglas Argent	...	British officer
Terence Brook	...	British officer
Frank Coburn	...	British officer
Eric Corrie	...	British officer
John Corrie	...	British officer
Anthony Faramus	...	British officer
Eric Lander	...	British officer
Kenneth Midwood	...	British officer
Peter Myers	...	British officer
Claude Le Saché	...	French interpreter (as Claud Le Sache)
Zygmunt Rewkowski	...	Polish interpreter
Carl Duering	...	German officer
Ludwik Lawinski	...	Franz Josef
Peter Swanwick	...	Lutyens (as Peter Swannick)
John G. Heller	...	German guard (as John Heller)
Jean Driant	...	French orderly
Jean Bacon	...	French orderly
Frederick Schiller	...	German soldier
Guy Deghy	...	German soldier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arthur Mullard	...	Prisoner of War (uncredited)
Oscar Quitak	...	Prisoner of War (uncredited)

Directed by
Guy Hamilton

Writing credits
P.R. Reid		(novel "The Colditz Story")
Guy Hamilton		(adaptation and script) and
Ivan Foxwell		(adaptation and script)
William Douglas-Home		(dialogue) (as William Douglas Home)

Produced by
Ivan Foxwell	....	producer

Original Music by
Francis Chagrin

Cinematography by
Gordon Dines		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Mayhew

Art Direction by
Alex Vetchinsky		(as Vetchinsky)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bond	....	hairdressing
Eric Carter	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Thomas Clyde	....	production manager
F. Sherwin Green	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Manley	....	first assistant director
John D. Merriman	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Ted Sturgis	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Elven Webb	....	assistant art director
Allan Harris	....	draughtsman (uncredited)
Ted Marshall	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Mary Habberfield	....	sound editor
Red Law	....	sound recordist
Terry Poulton	....	sound editor
Bert Ross	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Wally Veevers	....	special processes (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Harold Haysom	....	camera operator (as Hal Haysom)
Peter Hall	....	focus puller (uncredited)
John Shinerock	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bill Walsh	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Terry Poulton	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Francis Chagrin	....	conductor

Other crew
Barbara Cole	....	continuity
P.R. Reid	....	technical advisor (as Major P.R. Reid, M.B.E., M.C.)

Production Companies

• Ivan Foxwell Productions

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1955) (UK) (theatrical)
• Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Studio Canal (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Thorn EMI Video (1980) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Goldsbrough Orchestra  music played by

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:U | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Colditz, Saxony, Germany

Company:

Ivan Foxwell Productions

Trivia:

According to the film, the first British soldier to escape from Colditz Castle was Lieutenant Colonel Airey Neave D.S.O OBE MC who made the British Home Run in January 1942.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: According to the calendar on the Kommandant's desk during his interview with Colonel Richmond about moving the Polish prisoner, the date is "Dienstag Oktober 4" (Tuesday October 4). October 4 did not fall on a Tuesday at all during WW2, although it did in 1955, the year of the film's release.

Quotes:

Colonel Richmond: [watching a particularly rough game of soccer in the excercise yard] Who was it said our ancestors were apes?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Belong to Colditz

Enjoyable and good humoured prisoner of war story?

This was bundled with 'Ice Cold in Alex', 'The Dam Busters' and one other British war movie. Of the four, I found this the least satisfying, probably due to the brilliance of the other three. There's a TV mini series on Colditz which is far more enjoyable, probably due to its attention to detail. The movie lacks those details, of course, as it's relatively short. Nevertheless, it's still good but John Mills rather underplays his character, unlike his outstanding performance in, for example, 'Ice Cold in Alex'.

It's all a little unreal, really, considering Colditz was reserved for the most troublesome of allied prisoners. You just won't believe that some of the characters shown created trouble for their captors in this version.

However, as mentioned, it's still good to watch and better than the majority of movies with a similar theme churned out after 1960.