Stephen W

I would be interested to know where 2 of the later scenes were filmed, namely, the railway stations where Dirk Bogarde sets out from on his escape with Maria Perschy and, following that train journey, where he gets himself arrested - the latter is supposed to be Vienna I think but looks more like Waterloo!

Bob M.

I can't answer your questions, but the bit where the train crashes was filmed on the Midland Main line out of St Pancras, London. Where the Gateway services are on the M1 motorway was the old ash tip for the railway. (before the motorway was built) this is where the crashing goods train was filmed. Old railwaymen will tell you the engine is still buried there.???

"How about dat, a? How about dat?

Bob M.

As a No 1 fan of this movie I always wonder if a British P.O.W. in a German camp would have been allowed to go into the nearby town, without an escort,for his own business. Surely a British soldier in uniform wandering around a German town would have been impossible, unless, of course anyone knows different...

"How about dat, a? How about dat?

Gibbie

Wouldn't happen.

Steve Crook

As a No 1 fan of the movie have you ever wondered about the similarities between the final escape and The Great Escape - but that was from a POW camp for Officers only.

The film claims it is based on a true story - but a lot of "artistic license" crept in somewhere along the line.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Bob M.

Sgt. Major Charles Coward did write an account of his wartime escapades. I suppose the film must be based on this book?

"How about dat, a? How about dat?

Steve Crook

I don't doubt most of his escapades - but "other ranks" weren't involved in the Great Escape. That was officers only.

So either Sgt. Major Coward was in the officers camp (possible, but then he couldn't have done the other exploits with the other ranks and he isn't listed as one of those who got through the tunnel) or he or the film-makers merged his story with the Great Escape.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Bob M.

Have we got a link between Sgt. Major Coward and the Great Escape? The Great escapers were all officers, whereas a Sergeant Major is sometimes called a Warrent Officer it is still non-commissioned rank. As far as I am aware the only other ranks in officers camps were batmen, for any very senior officers that might be around.
I'm sure someone will put me right on this one!

"How about dat, a? How about dat?

Steve Crook

That's the trouble I have with Coward's story & the film.

If he was in an officers' camp then he couldn't have done all the other exploits which were done when he was on a work-gang (officer prisoners didn't go on work-gangs).

If he wasn't in the officers' camp then he couldn't have anything to do with the great escape.

Even if he was in the same camp (Stalag Luft III) and maybe even helped in preparing for the escape, he certainly wasn't one of the escapers. They are all known and none of them is called Coward.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Hackett

We have had this tread before. Read his book which is a lot more enlightening and harrowing than the film. The film copy that turns up on TCM a couple of times a month has been cut and leaves out the sketch's of the concentration camps Coward had to work in. The things he did to help the inmates of the death camps is the real story not the 'Boys Own' one on film. Charlie Coward was a very brave man and now might be a better time to tell his tale on film (or TV) than 1962.

MrDrakesDuck

Good info Hackett thumbs_u , it's like a comedy at some points of the film.

As for the cast, it' s funny to see Richard Marner playing a bungling German officer twenty years before 'Allo 'Allo. He appears as a German in several films, although he was born in Russia.

"I thought I had to shoot Germans, not chew 'em"

Steve Crook

Sorry, don't get me wrong. I'm not disputing that he did what he said in the book. It's the film I object to. It's presented as a "true story" but patently isn't. Your description of it as a "Boy's Own Adventure" is very apt.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

Bob M.

I think the film makes it all look like a bit of a jape. It does not really show the horror of the time. The final scenes make me smile, well not smile, but you know. The Germans are in full retreat, and after causing all sorts of mayhem, a column of German soldiers let a fire engine go through them with just two firemen in it. But for all it's faults I still enjoy this film once in a while.

"How about dat, a? How about dat?

arty-dave

Artistic licence was used - and the 'Boys Own Adventure' description is apposite.

bobs1900

Hi,

I don't know where Diek Bogarde get's on the train to begin his escape, but where he alights the train is Brighton. It was filmed in Sussex,
so that the the Southern Region as it was in those days.
The station bears no resembelance to the station now. It must have been very strange to see men dressed in German uniforms in 1962 for the people of Brighton.
I would suggest that the first station is also somewhere in Sussex.
I hope that this help's with your query.

bobs1900