Now Over 5500 Reviews and (near) Daily Updates!

WELCOME! Use the search engines on this site (or your own off-site engine of choice) to gain easy access to the complete MAKSQUIBS Archive; more than 5500 posts and counting. (New posts added every day or so.)

You can check on all our titles by typing the Title, Director, Actor or 'Keyword' you're looking for in the Search Engine of your choice (include the phrase MAKSQUIBS) or just use the BLOGSPOT.com Search Box at the top left corner of the page.

Feel free to place comments directly on any of the film posts and to test your film knowledge with the CONTESTS scattered here & there. (Hey! No Googling allowed. They're pretty easy.)

Send E-mails to MAKSQUIBS@yahoo.com . (Let us know if the TRANSLATE WIDGET works!) Or use the Profile Page or Comments link for contact.

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY (1957)

More points for effort than result in what ought to be a dandy fact-based WWII story of the only German Prisoner-of-War to escape and make it back to Berlin to fly & fight again after being held in Britain & Canada. Prolific director Roy Ward Baker keeps things simple on a tight budget, getting the most out of an excellent cast, including Alec McCowen in a sharp early turn as a not too gullible British officer, and a perfectly cast Hardy Krüger as the downed Nazi pilot. Determined & playfully arrogant, he trusts British love of routine & fair play to help him finagle his way past obstacles on land & sea, a slow-thinking army and any sharp-eyed locals. Change the uniform and he might be a precursor to Steve McQueen in THE GREAT ESCAPE/’63. Of course, rooting for Nazi flyers a bit of a leap, even more so in 1957, which is partly why we skip the last act of the story (possibly the most interesting part) where our adventurer returns to a hero’s welcome in Berlin before starting more bombing runs for the Third Reich. No doubt, the budget couldn’t make a go of it, but it’s something of a missed dramatic opportunity and a moral cop-out. Another chance for irony & suspense the filmmakers left on the table.

DOUBLE-BILL: Perhaps a splashier Hollywood remake could have dealt with some of the more uncomfortable elements, just as modest British P.O.W. pics like THE COLDITZ STORY/’55 and THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE/’62 expanded into THE GREAT ESCAPE.

No comments: