The Film ‘89 Podcast Episode 103 – The Great Escape (1963).

By Skye Wingfield in Film ‘89 Podcast Retrospectives August 12, 2023

On Episode 103 of The Film ‘89 Podcast, Skye is once again joined by seasoned podcaster, cinephile and expert on film scores and composers, Stephen Simpson to celebrate, for its 60th anniversary, one of the Film ‘89 team’s all-time favourite films, The Great Escape. Director John Sturges, hot off the success of 1960’s, The Magnificent Seven, once again assembles an epic international cast including Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Donald Pleasence, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and many more, in an adaptation of Paul Brickhill’s book of the same name. The story of the real life breakout of Allied officers from a German POW camp in WWII, Sturges’ film, aside from garnering considerable critical acclaim, would go on to become a perennial Sunday afternoon TV classic with a memorable Elmer Bernstein score, and moreover, go on to be regarded as one of the greatest war films ever made.