In the film, the Great Escape, who is your favourite character and why?

Question

Hilts is not an opition due to him being far too obvious!

Answer 1

Danny? I think Charles Bronson played the part. He did all that work while being claustrophobic. Long time since I saw that one. He was one of the ones that escaped too - Right?

Answer 2

Aside from Steve McQueen's performance as Hilts, my favorite's probably Charles Bronson as Danny, with James Coburn a close second.
Bronson's character is solid, strong, yet vulnerable. Ask yourself who you'd like to partner in a POW camp break and Danny'd be your man. A good friend.
Coburn's laconic exterior masks a quick-thinking, fast-moving, resourceful ally, able to "fit in", regardless of the weirdness of the situation.
I still enjoy the moment when, in the shower-room, a sudden inspection by the guards prompts a hasty shower by Danny to mask the tunnel entrance. When the guard asks Coburn why he's there, Coburn remarks, "I like to watch." Classic!
Let's not forget the sterling support of David Macallum, Gordon Jenkins, James Donald, and (probably the best acting of the picture) Richard Attenburrough as "Big X". Subtle, underplayed, conveying the soul of the leader who's planned and led escapes all through the war, been captured, tortured by the Gestapo, yet hasn't broken, still grimly determined to beat the German captors.
An all-star cast in every respect.

Answer 3

jimmy gardner the scrounger x he was a big softy at heart x helped donald pleasance the forger x they were like father/son figures even though they were probably the same age x the film is still a classic even though people tend to say "not the great escape again" when its repeated on tv x they still watch it x would also be interesting to found out just how many times its been on over christmas periods - i bet its not as many times as people seem to think x

Answer 4

Flight Lt. Colin Blythe "The Forger".

He was the one that was going blind and tried to persuade the committee to let him go by putting his pen on the floor at a measured spot from the wall...one of the others kicked it away but he was still fumbling around on the floor trying to find it.

The man just wanted to get home so badly, he would have stumbled around enemy territory even blind and this shows such courage and determination that I get upset when I see it!

Everyone goes for McQueen or Danny, but Donald Pleasance gives a great performance in this and is an integral part of the film. Even though they die later so close to freedom, the whole 'blind guy' part sticks in my mind when I think of this film. (Though if I had written it, I would have let these two get away!)

Answer 5

Flight Lt. Colin Blythe (Donald Pleasance) or Flight Lt. Hendley "The Scrounger" (James Garner) I enjoyed both roles on how The Scrounger looked after Blythe when his eyesight was gone. Great Movie!

Answer 6

Flight Lt. Colin Blythe ....played by Donald Pleasance i thought it was a fairly realistic portrayal of a clever prisoner at the time before i found out that Donald was actually a RAF POW in a stalag during the war.Also the way the forger worked on uniforms and passes etc was good and did actually happen ( i first came across it reading about Colditz).

Answer 7

James Coburn's character. I love how serene that scene is, where he and the other fellow hop into the rowboat, and head down the river. While everyone else is running for their lives, they take a nice relaxing trip to freedom.

Answer 8

The Scrounger because he could get anything they needed. It was fun to watch him blackmail and flatter the young German guard into getting hard to find items for him.

Answer 9

Ives was very amusing

Answer 10

Danny, cos he's sweet.