The Great Escape

Other mistake: When Hilts and Ives are taken down to the cooler for the very first time, just after arriving at the camp, watch the wall as the door is closed by the guard behind Ives - it very obviously moves as the door slams shut.

Other mistake: Ramsay sports on his tunic the ribbons for the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross, either the 1914 or 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Unfortunately, the ribbon bar for the last three has been sewn onto his tunic upside-down - it reads, left to right as seen, VM, BWM, Star, when it should read Star, BWM, VM.

Other mistake: When the three Americans invite the British to join their 4th of July celebration, Hilts plays the flute with his right hand the wrong way round on the instrument.

Other mistake: When Steve McQueen first comes to the camp he voluntarily gives up a pair of wire cutters. No POW would have done that. Tools of that nature were too hard to come by.

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Mistakes

Factual error: Why is Hilts not wearing a uniform? A serving officer captured behind enemy lines in civilian clothing risked being shot as a spy. If a prisoner's uniform was too worn or damaged to wear, it was routine for the German authorities to replace it - a P.O.W. in civilian clothes is an obvious escape risk. He is wearing a pair of tan chinos, a cut off sloppy Joe sweatshirt, both ridiculously anachronistic - Sixties hipster fashions - and nowhere even close to a World War 2 uniform. He is also wearing Army Type III Service boots - something that would never have been issued to a fighter pilot.

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Suggested correction: Hilts was a POW for some years before being transferred to this camp. His current clothing likely changed from when he was originally captured in his uniform, so he would not be considered a spy. After multiple escape attempts, his uniform could have been ruined. The Geneva Convention required that POWs receive shelter, food, clothing, medical care, etc. The Red Cross delivered care packages to POW camps containing food, miscellaneous apparel, and other essentials. Sweatshirts have existed since the 1920s and changed little. Also, chino pants have been around since the late 19th century. Hilts was an American, and light-colored chino/khaki trousers were standard-issue uniform for some U.S. military branches, along with leather bomber jackets for U.S. Air Force pilots.

raywest ★

And none of them would have been available to a prisoner in a German POW camp in Poland in the mid 1940s. Not one single item of hipster fashion would have found its way into the camp. Even if it did, do you really think the German authorities would allow a prisoner to lounge about in civilian clothing? Talk about an escape risk.

Other than the sweatshirt, Hilts does appear to wear military clothing - a pilot's leather bomber jacket and U.S. Air Force khaki trousers. So not "hipster" '60s civilian clothing. The sweatshirt could be military appropriate and something Hilts had or acquired. It appears to be his only shirt. He and two other POWs are the only Americans and have different uniforms. The camp commandant, who apparently disdained Hitler and his Nazi minions, would decide what POWs were allowed to wear.

raywest ★

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Quotes

Col. Von Luger: Group Captain Ramsey, in the past four years the Reich has been forced to spend an enormous amount of time, energy, manpower and equipment hunting down prisoner of war officers.
Group Capt. Ramsey: At least it's rather nice to know you're wanted, isn't it?

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Trivia

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Questions

Question: How come Hilts could not answer the German at the end of the movie when he said he could speak German to Colonel von Luger?

Answer: .And, just to add to the previous answer: even if he could speak conversational German, he would likely do so with a very strong American accent (as he does when he speaks the few words to the Commandant earlier), so the guard would have picked up on that right away, anyway.

Answer: He could have only known a small amount of German, enough to answer a question or two, but not enough to carry on a full conversation. Also, the German seemed to be wanting to have a full conversation with him. He was on the run and didn't have time to talk. He was most likely being a smart ass saying he knew German.

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