The Great Escape II: The Untold Story

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The Great Escape II: The Untold Story
Theatrical release poster
Written by	Walter Halsey Davis
Directed by	Paul Wendkos Jud Taylor
Starring	Christopher Reeve Judd Hirsch Anthony Denison Ian McShane Charles Haid Donald Pleasence
Music by	Johnny Mandel
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Michael Jaffe
Producer	Jud Taylor
Production location	Yugoslavia
Cinematography	Dietrich Lohmann
Editors	Christopher Cooke Paul LaMastra
Running time	178 minutes
Production company	Michael Jaffe Films
Distributor	NBC
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Color
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	November 6 (1988-11-06) – November 7, 1988 (1988-11-07)

The Great Escape II: The Untold Story is a 1988 American made-for-television action-adventure drama film and a sequel to The Great Escape (1963). It stars Christopher Reeve, Judd Hirsch, Anthony Denison, Ian McShane, Charles Haid and Donald Pleasence in a supporting role (in the 1963 original Pleasence had played Flight-Lieutenant Colin Blythe, "The Forger"). The film was directed by Jud Taylor (in the 1963 original Taylor had played 2nd Lt. Goff). The Great Escape II premiered in two parts on NBC on November 6 and 7, 1988.

The Great Escape II is not a true sequel, as it dramatizes the escape itself just as the original film does, although mostly using the real names of the individuals involved (whereas the original film fictionalized them and used composite characters). The murder of the prisoners in this film is more accurate than in the 1963 original, with the POWs being shot individually or in pairs, but other portions of the film are fictional. It depicts the search for those responsible for the murder of the Allied officers, and the subsequent trials. The film features the exploits of Major Johnnie Dodge^[1] (played by Christopher Reeve), an American-born British Army officer and cousin of Winston Churchill, and largely follows his journey to freedom after the escape. The second half of the film is based on the post-war investigation into the murders of fifty of the escapees by the Gestapo, conducted by Dodge and two fictional Americans (whereas in fact it was conducted by the Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch).

Plot[]

A former POW leads a special task force to hunt down the culprits responsible for carrying out the orders to murder 50 of the 76 escapees from Stalag Luft III.

Cast[]

Reception[]

The film was nominated for the Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Special award at the Primetime Emmy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

Release[]

When released on VHS, nearly an hour and a half of footage was cut out of the film.^[2]

References[]

External links[]

• The Great Escape II: The Untold Story at IMDb
• DVD release

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