Escape to Victory

Infobox Film | name = Victory

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caption =
director = John Huston
producer = Mario Kassar
Gordon McLendon
Andrew G. Vajna
writer = Jeff Maguire
Djordje Milicevic
Yabo Yablonsky
starring = Sylvester Stallone
Michael Caine
Max Von Sydow
Pelé
music = Bill Conti
cinematography = Gerry Fisher
editing = Roberto Silvi
distributor = Paramount Pictures
Warner Bros. (DVD)
released = July 30, 1981
runtime = 110 minutes.
language = English
rating =
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:52391
imdb_id = 0083284

"Escape to Victory" is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II. It was directed by John Huston and stars Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone and Max von Sydow. The film received great attention, 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. In some locations, such as the United States, the film is known as "Victory".

Plot

Football (soccer) 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.

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. [ [http://www.filmtortenet.hu/object.9fda2701-c1f6-49f5-9c96-7ebdd8036b53.ivy] ]

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.

Actors and footballers

"Escape to Victory" was unusual in that it featured a great many professional footballers as both the POW team and the German team. Many of the less famous footballers came from the Ipswich Town squad, who were at the time one of the more 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.

Selected cast, characters and clubs

{| class="wikitable"
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Footballers
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flagicon|Brazil Pelé
Corporal Luis Fernandez
Santos FC, New York Cosmos retired
World Cup Winner
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flagicon|United Kingdom Bobby Moore
Terry Brady
West Ham United, Fulham FC retired
World Cup Winner
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flagicon|United Kingdom John Wark
Arthur Hayes
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|Argentina Osvaldo Ardiles
Carlos Rey
Tottenham Hotspur
World Cup Winner
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flagicon|Poland Kazimierz Deyna
Paul Wolchek
Manchester City , Legia Warsaw
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flagicon|Denmark Søren Lindsted
Erik Ball
FC Twente
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flagicon|Belgium Paul Van Himst
Michel Fileu
Anderlecht retired
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flagicon|United States Werner Roth
Baumann (German team captain)
New York Cosmos retired
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flagicon|United Kingdom Mike Summerbee
Sid Harmor
Manchester City retired
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flagicon|Norway Hallvar Thoresen
Gunnar Hilsson
FC Twente
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flagicon|United Kingdom Russell Osman
Doug Clure
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|Ireland Kevin O'Callaghan
Tony Lewis
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|Netherlands Co Prins
Pieter Van Beck
Ajax retired
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flagicon|United Kingdom Laurie Sivell
Schmidt (German goalkeeper)
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|United Kingdom Robin Turner
German Player
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|United Kingdom Kevin Beattie
Stand-in for Michael Caine
Ipswich Town
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flagicon|United Kingdom Paul Cooper
Stand-in for Sylvester Stallone
Ipswich Town
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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.

External links

*imdb title|id=0083284|title=Escape to Victory
* [http://www.escapetovictory.spodrum.co.uk/escape/pages/content/victpoll.htm "Escape to Victory" - Greatest Football Film of all time]
* [http://www.escapetovictory.spodrum.co.uk/news.php "Escape To Victory" Website]
* [http://www.hyperhistory.org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=714&op=page The Game of Death] — Australian National Centre for History Education, concerning the events this film was based on.
* [http://caine-home.narod.ru/80-04/80-04.html "Escape To Victory" - Photos]