''The One That Got Away'' is a 1957 Second World War film starring

Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger (; born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger; 12 April 1928 – 19 January 2022) was a German actor and author, who appeared in more than 60 films from 1944 onwards. After becoming a film star in Germany in the 1950s, Krüger increa ...

and featuring

Michael Goodliffe Lawrence Michael Andrew Goodliffe (1 October 1914 – 20 March 1976) was an English actor known for playing suave roles such as doctors, lawyers and army officers. He was also sometimes cast in working-class parts. Biography Goodliffe was ...

Jack Gwillim Jack William Frederick Gwillim (15 December 1909 – 2 July 2001) was an English character actor. Career Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and served for over twenty years, becoming one of the youngest men ever to ...

and

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dance ...

. The film was directed by

Roy Ward Baker Roy Ward Baker (born Roy Horace Baker; 19 December 1916 – 5 October 2010) was an English film director. His best known film is '' A Night to Remember'' (1958) which won a Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film in 1959. His later ...

with a screenplay written by Howard Clewes, based on the 1956 book of the same name by Kendal Burt and James Leasor. The film chronicles the true exploits of Oberleutnant

Franz von Werra Franz Xaver Baron von Werra (13 July 1914 – 25 October 1941) was a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain and captured. He was the only Axis prisoner of war to escape from Canadian custody and ...

, a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

pilot shot down over Britain in 1940. He initially tried to escape while captive in England, but was later successful during transfer to a Canadian POW camp. Von Werra was the only Axis POW to succeed in escaping and make it home during the war.

Plot

Luftwaffe fighter pilot

is shot down during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended ...

and captured. At the 'London Cage', the military intelligence POW reception centre, he wagers with his RAF interrogator that he will escape within six months. At Trent Park House outside London von Werra is placed with other officers and their conversations are bugged, but von Werra is too cautious to give much away. Initially, von Werra is sent to No 1 prisoner-of-war camp Grizedale Hall in the

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vil ...

area of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

. During a group walk, he drops over a wall he is lying on and escapes into the hills. It takes an intense manhunt by troops and police to recapture him. Subsequently, von Werra is sent to a more secure POW camp (based on the Hayes Conference Centre) near Swanwick, Derbyshire. During a German air raid, he and four others escape through a tunnel. The others pair up, but von Werra goes it alone. Reaching Codnor Park railway station, he impersonates a Dutch pilot and claims his

Wellington bomber The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its g ...

had crashed while on a secret mission. The station master telephones the police to take him to the nearest airfield, RAF Hucknall. Von Werra tricks the RAF duty officer into sending a car. The police arrive first, but with much bravado he delays them until the RAF car arrives. He gets to the airfield and spots a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

. When his story starts to fray, von Werra creeps away and tries to steal an experimental Hawker Hurricane, getting as far as sitting in it and starting the engine before being caught. Along with many other POWs, von Werra is then sent by ship to Canada, arriving at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. On the train ride across the country, while the guards are distracted, he escapes near

Smiths Falls, Ontario Smiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada, southwest of Ottawa. As of the 2021 census it has a population of 9,254. It is in the Census division for Lanark County, but is separated from the county. The Rideau Canal waterway passes ...

, by jumping from a window. Making his way south hitching rides, von Werra finds the St. Lawrence River not as frozen solid as he has been led to believe, He then steals a rowing boat and pushes it over the ice until he reaches the free-flowing section. He reaches the still-neutral United States almost frozen to death. Back in the United Kingdom the RAF interrogator receives a postcard from von Werra, featuring a photograph of the Statue of Liberty, informing him that he has lost his bet. The

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring c ...

states:

Despite the efforts of the
Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the Corporation sole#The Crown, corporation sole, assuming distinct ro ...
to obtain his return, and of the United States Authorities to hold him, Von Werra crossed the border into
Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. Travelling by way of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Spain, he reached
Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
on 18 April 1941. On October 25th of the same year, while on patrol, his plane was seen to dive into the sea. No trace of Von Werra was found.

Cast

as RAF Interrogator *

Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a ...

as Army Interrogator *

as duty officer, Hucknall * Terence Alexander as RAF intelligence officer *

as Commandant, Grizedale *

Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Fauld ...

as Lieutenant, Grizedale * Julian Somers as booking clerk *Harry Lockart as German prisoner *Robert Crewdson as German prisoner * George Mikell as German prisoner * George Roubicek as German prisoner * John Van Eyssen as German prisoner * Frederick Jaeger as German prisoner *

Richard Marner Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for h ...

as German prisoner * Paul Hansard as German prisoner * Edward Cast as duty driver, Hucknall (uncredited) * Cyril Chamberlain as Sergeant 'Later' (uncredited) * Reed De Rouen as Canadian truck driver (uncredited) * Michael Golden as First detective (uncredited) *

Glyn Houston Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston. Early life Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorg ...

as Harry, the aircraft fitter working on the Hurricane fighter (uncredited) * Stratford Johns as Second detective (uncredited) * Charles Morgan as Workshop manager, Hucknall (uncredited) *

Al Mulock Alfred Mulock Rogers (June 30, 1926 – May 1968), better known as Al Mulock or Al Mulloch, was a Canadian character actor. Early life Alfred Mulock Rogers was born on June 30, 1926 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the only child of Adèle ...

as American patrolman at Ogdensburg (uncredited) *

Michael Ripper Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor. He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gou ...

as Corporal of group with cook (uncredited) * Anthony Sagar as Cook who captures von Werra in Kent (uncredited) *

Norman Rossington Norman Rossington (24 December 1928 – 21 May 1999) was an English actor best remembered for his roles in '' The Army Game'', the ''Carry On'' films and the Beatles' film '' A Hard Day's Night''. Early life Born in Liverpool, Lancashire ...

as Sergeant, Swanwick (uncredited) * Ben Williams as Policeman, Hucknall (uncredited) * Frank Williams as Station porter (uncredited)

Production

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More, CBE (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English film and stage actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this peri ...

says he was approached to play the lead role but turned it down as he had just played another real-life POW,

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared p ...

in ''

Reach for the Sky ''Reach for the Sky'' is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for ...

'' (1956). John Davis, head of the Rank organisation, wanted

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Orga ...

. Director Roy Baker insisted on a German.''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference'' by Sue Harper, Vincent Porter Oxford University Press, 2003 p 47
/ref> O.W. Fischer was reportedly considered for the lead, then disregarded as he was too old. Rank's overseas distribution manager then suggested Hardy Krüger. A

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

and

were featured in the production. , the Hawker Hurricane IIc (serial number LF363) is still in existence, flying with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Reception

''The One That Got Away'' was generally well received by audiences and critics; Howard H. Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' noted its "... restrained, well-knit scenario."Thompson, Howard H
"The One That Got Away (1957): Escape Drama Opens."
''The New York Times,'' 23 April 1958. The film was popular in Britain and did extremely well in West Germany, making over £3 million. It made a comfortable profit. This prompted producer Julian Wintle to form his own production company and he made two films with German protagonists, '' Bachelor of Hearts'' (also starring Krüger) and ''

Tiger Bay Tiger Bay ( cy, Bae Teigr) was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is refe ...

''.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * More, Kenneth. ''More or Less''. London: Hodder & Staughton, 1978. .

External links

* * *
The One That Got Away (book)
by James Leasor, 1956, 2011.
The One That Got Away (film)
Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:One That Got Away, The 1957 films 1957 war films American black-and-white films British war films British aviation films American aviation films Battle of Britain films Films about shot-down aviators Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Roy Ward Baker Films set in Canada Films shot at Pinewood Studios World War II prisoner of war films World War II films based on actual events Films set in 1940 Films set in 1941 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1950s British films