The Great Escape II: The Untold Story
| THe Great Escape II: The Untold Story | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Written by | Walter Halsey Davis |
| Directed by |
Paul Wendkos Jud Taylor |
| Starring |
Christopher Reeve Judd Hirsch Donald Pleasence Charles Haid Ian McShane Tony Denison Andrew Bicknell |
| Theme music composer | Johnny Mandel |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jud Taylor |
| Cinematography | Dietrich Lohmann |
| Editor(s) |
Christopher Cooke Paul LaMastra |
| Running time | 178 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Michael Jaffe Films |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | November 6, 1988 |
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) starring Christopher Reeve, Judd Hirsch, Anthony Denison, Ian McShane, Charles Haid and Donald Pleasence (who appeared as an escapee in the original), this time as a Gestapo officer.
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). It 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 itself. 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).
Cast
- Christopher Reeve - Major John Dodge
- Judd Hirsch - Captain David Matthews
- Anthony Denison - Lieutenant Mike Corery
- Charles Haid - Sergeant MacKenzie
- Michael Nader - Burchardt
- Ian McShane - Roger Bushell
- Donald Pleasence - Dr. Absalon
- Derek de Lint - Dr. Thost
- Andrew Bicknell - Wings Day
- Karlheinz Lemken - Herr Schmidt
- Ron Donachie - Al Hake
- Peter Dennis - Group Captain Massey
- Geoffrey Beevers - Jim Kitteridge
- Christopher Neame - Kiowski
- Dominic Gould - Jules
- Brian Pettifer - Kirby-Green
- Ian Redford - Willie
- Bill Wallis - Schatz
Awards
The film was nominated for the Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Special award at the Primetime Emmy Awards