Escape to Victory

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Escape to Victory
Directed by	John Huston Robert Riger
Produced by	Mario Kassar Gordon McLendon Andrew G. Vajna
Written by	Jeff Maguire Djordje Milicevic Yabo Yablonsky
Starring	Sylvester Stallone Michael Caine Max Von Sydow Pelé
Music by	Bill Conti
Cinematography	Gerry Fisher
Editing by	Roberto Silvi
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (theatrical release) Warner Bros. (DVD)
Release date(s)	July 30, 1981
Running time	110 minutes.
Language	English

Escape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II. The film was directed by John Huston and stars Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Max von Sydow.

The film received great attention upon its theatrical release, as it also starred football superstars Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna and Pelé. Numerous Ipswich Town F.C. players were also in the film, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner and Kevin O'Callaghan. Further Ipswich Town players stood in for actors in the football scenes - Kevin Beattie for Michael Caine, and Paul Cooper for Sylvester Stallone. The script was written by Yabo Yablonsky.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Basis of the story 3 Actors and footballers 4 Selected cast 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Association Football plays an integral part of the film. The prisoners of war (POWs), coached and represented by John Colby (Michael Caine), who was a professional footballer for West Ham before the war, agree to play an exhibition match against a German team, only to find themselves involved in a German propaganda stunt. In the end, the POWs can leave the German camp only to play the match; they are to be imprisoned again following the match. During the game, despite the match officials being heavily biased towards the Germans, and the German team causing several deliberate injuries to the Allied players, a draw is achieved after great performances from Luis Fernandez (portrayed by Pelé), Carlos Rey (portrayed by Osvaldo Ardiles) and Arthur Hayes (portrayed by John Wark). American soldier Robert Hatch (Sylvester Stallone) plays the goalkeeping position, and makes excellent saves including one last save on a penalty kick as time expires to deny the Germans the win, drawing the game 4-4. Although, the POWs scored a goal which was disallowed by the referee, for a dubious offside decision, making the score 5-4 which prompted the crowd to shout "Victory!"

Some team members plan to escape at halftime (in an escape led by Hatch) but the rest of the team (led by Russell Osman saying "but we can win this") want to carry on with the game, despite being behind at halftime. They manage to escape at the end of the game, amidst the confusion caused by the crowd storming the field after Hatch preserves the draw.

V is used frequently in the film, particularly in the final match. This is a nod towards the title of the film (Escape to Victory, or simply Victory in some countries). As Pelé scores the fourth goal, equalising the match, his legs make a clear V-shape which is held in slow-motion. The V-shaped two-fingered salute of defiance popular in British culture is brandished by several spectators. The goal that is wrongly disallowed would have been the Allies fourth, and would have given them five goals overall, in Roman Numerals this is a V.

[edit] Basis of the story

The movie is based on the 1961 Hungarian film drama Két félidő a pokolban ("Two half-times in Hell"), which was directed by Zoltán Fábri and won the critics' award at the 1962 Boston Cinema Festival.^[1]

The film was inspired by the true story of Dynamo Kyiv's players, who defeated German soldiers while Ukraine was occupied by German troops in World War II. According to myth, as a result of their victory, the Ukrainians were all shot. The true story is considerably more complex, as the team played a series of matches against German teams, emerging victorious in all of them, before finally being sent to prison camps by the Gestapo. Most of the team were killed there, but a few survived.

[edit] Actors and footballers

Escape to Victory featured a great many professional footballers as both the POW team and the German team. Many of the footballers came from the Ipswich Town squad, who were at the time one of the most successful teams in Europe. Despite not appearing on screen, English World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks was closely involved in the film, working with Sylvester Stallone. Sports Illustrated magazine said "the game is marvelously photographed by Gerry Fisher, under second unit director Robert Riger.^[2]

[edit] Selected cast

Actors
Michael Caine	Captain John Colby
Sylvester Stallone	Captain Robert Hatch
Max von Sydow	Major Karl von Steiner
Anton Diffring	Radio announcer
Carole Laure	Renée
Gary Waldhorn	Mueller
Benoît Ferreux	Jean Paul
Clive Merrison	The Forger
Maurice Roëves	Pyrie
Michael Cochrane	Farrell
Zoltán Gera	Victor
Tim Pigott-Smith	Rose
Daniel Massey	Colonel Waldron
Jean-François Stévenin	Claude

Footballers
Pelé	Corporal Luis Fernandez	World Cup Winner
Bobby Moore	Terry Brady	World Cup Winner
John Wark	Arthur Hayes
Osvaldo Ardiles	Carlos Rey	World Cup Winner
Kazimierz Deyna	Paul Wolchek
Søren Lindsted	Erik Ball
Paul Van Himst	Michel Fileu
Werner Roth	Baumann (German team captain)
Mike Summerbee	Sid Harmor
Hallvar Thoresen	Gunnar Hilsson
Russell Osman	Doug Clure
Kevin O'Callaghan	Tony Lewis
Co Prins	Pieter Van Beck
Laurie Sivell	Schmidt (German goalkeeper)
Robin Turner	German Player
Kevin Beattie	Stand-in for Michael Caine
Paul Cooper	Stand-in for Sylvester Stallone

Les Shannon, the ex-Burnley player, choreographed the actual game presented in the film. The movie also credits Pelé as the designer of plays. Gordon Banks, World Cup winning goalkeeper, coached Sylvester Stallone. The game was filmed in the Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium in Budapest, Hungary.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Escape to Victory at the Internet Movie Database
• Escape to Victory at Allmovie
• Escape to Victory - Greatest Football Film of all time
• Escape To Victory Website
• The Game of Death — Australian National Centre for History Education, concerning the events this film was based on.
• Escape To Victory - Photos
• "Victory" at Allmovieguide

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