They escape! Well, there wouldn't be a film if they didn't, I suppose. Apparently Colditz, the supposedly inescapable POW camp, suffered about 340 escape attempts, which sounds like something out of Monty Python and probably inspired Michael Palin and Terry Jones' Ripping Yarns episode Escape from Stalag Luft 112b.John Mills plays Major P.R. Reid, who was one of the first POWs to successfully escape, and this film is based on his book that details the numerous attempts to do a runner. The story actually has some tragic moments but is played for humour as much as drama - the "Appell" scene where the Germans routinely offer special privileges to anyone who will work for the Reich economy has a hilarious gag when a French Officer volunteers. I won't spoil it. Actually the French staged the most successful number of escapes, us Brits managing 14.When I was a kid I played Escape From Coldtiz an awful lot - great fun, and I'm getting the republished board game for x-mas this year again! It's nice to be reminded occasionally of the astonishing bravery shown by the POWS in this remarkable story. And yep, it's a British film with Nazis so Anton Diffring is in it! He must have spent half his career in similar roles! Ironically Diffring was an ardent anti Nazi during war, something which took some bravery. Very good film, then. Lips very much stiff-upper!

The Colditz Story, as one might expect, tells the tale of arguable the most 'famous' prisoner of war camps during the Second World War and those who tried to escape from it. Naturally, being a British film, it focuses on us 'good ol' Tommies,' but never does it make out that WWII is only a British affair, as it always includes the Dutch, French and Polish.If you're looking for either a prison movie, or a Second World War movie, you can't get much better than this. It's near perfect for what it is, combining the drudgery of life in a P.O.W. camp, with the highs, lows and bravery of those trying to get out, not to mention some 'gallows' humour in there to lighten the mood when it's needed.However, its only flaw - sadly - is how well it will be received in this day and age. Although I can see anyone interested in the history of the time period and conflict enjoying it, I can't see it picking up many new followers in today's youth.If you're looking for some nostalgia and classic film-making, The Colditz Story is for you. If you're looking for 3D cinema, the latest computer generated special effects as directed by Michael Bay, you might just want to skip to whichever Spiderman reboot is taking place this week.

People who watch The Colditz Story have probably seen The Great Escape as well and should bear in mind the fact that that camp where Steve McQueen, James Garner, and the rest was built to house all the big escape artists. Those really persistent offenders got incarcerated at the castle called Colditz. Those that is that didn't get summarily executed by the Gestapo as we well remember from The Great Escape.What an incredible waste of manpower, but those guards had to be lucky because they could be at the Russian front. In The Colditz Story there are more guards than prisoners. When you think about it, it would have been easier for the Nazis to let this bunch be exchanged.The protagonist of the story is later historian Pat Reid and he's played here by John Mills. Mills's character is the official British escape officer, there are French, Dutch, and Polish officers among those nationalities. Getting international cooperation here is about as easy as the alliance that defeated Nazi Germany with all the cracks and fraying in that endeavor. There are two other standout characters, the senior British officer Eric Portman and Scot's Guard Christopher Rhodes. Rhodes had an interesting career, he and Stanley Baker probably were up for a lot of the same parts in British cinema. He played some very rough characters on film, some outright villains. Here he's just an incorrigible prisoner who's very rebelliousness endangers the escape plans of many. His is the best performance in The Colditz Story.Made over 50 years ago, The Colditz Story holds up very well for today's audience. No flamboyant heroics like in The Great Escape, but some real situations in a story told simply and well.

This was bundled with 'Ice Cold in Alex', 'The Dam Busters' and one other British war movie. Of the four, I found this the least satisfying, probably due to the brilliance of the other three. There's a TV mini series on Colditz which is far more enjoyable, probably due to its attention to detail. The movie lacks those details, of course, as it's relatively short. Nevertheless, it's still good but John Mills rather underplays his character, unlike his outstanding performance in, for example, 'Ice Cold in Alex'.It's all a little unreal, really, considering Colditz was reserved for the most troublesome of allied prisoners. You just won't believe that some of the characters shown created trouble for their captors in this version.However, as mentioned, it's still good to watch and better than the majority of movies with a similar theme churned out after 1960.