The Colditz Story (1955)

Featured Audience Ratings

• xGary X

  
  One of a rash of WWII escape stories from the fifties, this is the classic tale of stiffer upper lips headed by the ever reliable John Mills. It lacks the drama of Bridge Over The River Kwai and the action of The Great Escape, but it has a simple honesty that is probably the product… More
  One of a rash of WWII escape stories from the fifties, this is the classic tale of stiffer upper lips headed by the ever reliable John Mills. It lacks the drama of Bridge Over The River Kwai and the action of The Great Escape, but it has a simple honesty that is probably the product of it's roots as an adaptation of true life memoirs. It's also is happy to give screen time to the French, Dutch and Polish prisoners (something Hollywood would've been well served to take note of) and is even not entirely unsympathetic towards the German captors. A solid escape story all round.

• Walter M

  
  "The Colditz Story" starts with Reid(John Mills) and McGill(Christopher Rhodes) being shown their accommodations at a castle by German soldiers in 1940 after their vacation to the Swiss frontier was cut short when they were recaptured. There they are joined by two of their… More
  "The Colditz Story" starts with Reid(John Mills) and McGill(Christopher Rhodes) being shown their accommodations at a castle by German soldiers in 1940 after their vacation to the Swiss frontier was cut short when they were recaptured. There they are joined by two of their own countrymen, Tyler(Lionel Jeffries) and Winslow(Bryan Forbes), along with many other soldiers from France, Poland and the Netherlands. Even with Colonel Richmond(Eric Portman) relaying orders from the Kommandant(Frederick Valk) to not attempt escaping or else risk being shot, this does not stop Reid for a second. What does hold him up is the simultaneous efforts of soldiers from the other countries. So, Richmond holds a conference whereby he assigns escape officers, one of whom is Reid, to coordinate plans. "The Colditz Story" is an entertaining movie that focuses on the light side of escapology during wartime(almost like it's all fun until somebody gets hurt), avoiding the grimness of wartime for the most part. What's surprising about the movie is how well it works as a microcosm of the polyglot Allied war effort in World War II. Instead of the English simply taking charge until the Americans accepted their invitation to the dance, everybody has to find a way to work together. As based as this is on a true story, it is a little disappointing that the 2001 Doctor Who audio drama "Colditz" was more detailed, stating clearly that Colditz was a receptacle for the more escape prone, time paradox and all. And "The Great Escape" also framed POW escapes in the context of the greater war effort.