AWARDS AND HONORS

Ferris Webster received an Academy Award® nomination for his editing on The Great Escape.

The film was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Dramatic Picture.

The Great Escape and Steve McQueen received second place in the Golden Laurel Awards presented by motion picture distributors. James Garner was also nominated.

McQueen was chosen Best Actor at the Moscow International Film Festival, and John Sturges was nominated.

James Clavell and W.R. Burnett were nominated for Best Written American Drama by the Writers Guild of America.

The Great Escape was named Best Picture of the Year by the Madras (India) Parents' Association.

The Critics Corner: THE GREAT ESCAPE

"There are some exceptional performances-histrionic and cinematic. Probably the most provocative single impression is made by Steve McQueen.... McQueen has a style, an individuality, that is rare on the contemporary scene. He is a throwback to the personalities of an earlier screen era. He is the possessor of the kind of unique star quality with which such performers as Cagney and Bogart captured the public imagination.
– Variety, April 17, 1963

"Here, as in all [Sturges's] best films, we become involved with and concerned for the escapees, and in this instance to root for them. Their capture and execution-which we don't expect-is quite shattering and moving, while we are genuinely heartened and uplifted by the success of those who do make it, and by the dauntlessness of the cocky American played by Steve McQueen, who we know will try again."
– DuPre Jones, Films and Filming, February 1974

"A first-rate adventure film, fascinating in its detail, suspenseful in its plot, stirring in its climax and excellent in performance. ... Steve McQueen takes the honors." – Judith Crist, New York Herald Tribune, 1963

"Nobody is going to con me-at least not the director, John Sturges-into believing that the spirit of defiance in any prisoner-of-war camp anywhere was as arrogant, romantic and Rover Boyish as it is made to appear in this film. And nobody's going to induce me, with shameless Hollywood cliffhanging tricks designed to stretch the tension until you holler and with a thumping Elmer Bernstein musical score, to surrender my reason and my emotions to the sort of fiction fabricated here. ... It's strictly a mechanical adventure with make-believe men."
– Bosley Crowther, New York Times, August 8, 1963

"Uneven but entertaining World War II escape drama, which even when it first appeared seemed very old-fashioned...Coburn is totally miscast as an Australian, yet turns in an amusing performance. Worth seeing for the last half hour, if nothing else, for one of the best stunt sequences in years: McQueen's motor-cycle bid for freedom."
- Chris Petit, TimeOut Film Guide

"...this is almost certainly his [Sturges] finest achievement, as he manages to keep a potentially plodding and downbeat story exciting and interesting throughout. Daringly, he delays the actual escape until nearly two-thirds of the way through the film; while the thought of two hours of planning and digging might sound dull as ditchwater, Sturges, with the aid of James Clavell and WR Burnett's strong script, concentrates as much on character development as the various escape preparations; there's also a generous dash of humour throughout that makes the characters more likeable than the stereotypes often seen in films like this."
- Alexander Larman, DVD Times

"McQueen's motorcycle ride has long been the stuff of cinematic legend, but the movie is packed with countless memorable episodes of this caliber. John Sturges directs with verve, with Elmer Bernstein contributing a sensational score that clearly should have taken that year's Oscar."
– Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing (Charlotte, NC), June 2, 2004

Compiled by Rob Nixon