''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,

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 with a screenplay written by Howard Clewes, based on the 1956 book of the same name by Kendal Burt and

James Leasor James Leasor (20 December 1923 – 10 September 2007) was a prolific British author, who wrote historical books and thrillers. A number of Leasor's works were made into films, including his 1978 book, ''Boarding Party'', about an incident from ...

. The film chronicles the true exploits of

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Tr ...

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 ret ...

, 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 defende ...

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 vill ...

area of

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

. 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 had crashed while on a secret mission. The station master telephones the police to take him to the nearest airfield,

RAF Hucknall Hucknall, formerly Hucknall Torkard, is a market town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies 7 miles north of Nottingham, 7 miles south-east of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, 9 miles from Mansfield and 10 miles south of Sutton-in- ...

. 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 Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. Th ...

. 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 thr ...

, 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 The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, ...

, informing him that he has lost his bet. The

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from 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 closure to the ...

states:

Despite the efforts of the
Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...
to obtain his return, and of the United States Authorities to hold him, Von Werra crossed the border into
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. Travelling by way of Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Spain, he reached
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
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

* Michael Goodliffe 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 Terence Joseph Alexander (11 March 1923 – 28 May 2009) was an English film and television actor, best known for his role as Charlie Hungerford in the British TV drama ''Bergerac (TV series), Bergerac'', which ran for nine series on BBC One be ...

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 John Julian Somers (12 November 1903 – 11 November 1976), known as Julian Somers, was a prolific English stage and screen actor. Career By 1934, Somers was appearing in rep at Croydon. In 1937, he was on stage in Jeffrey Dell's play ''Night Al ...

as booking clerk *Harry Lockart as German prisoner *Robert Crewdson as German prisoner * George Mikell as German prisoner *

George Roubicek George Roubicek (born 25 May 1935) is an Austrian actor, and a dialogue director and script adaptor for English-language versions of foreign films and television shows. Born in Austria, Roubicek appeared in a number of small roles throughout the ...

as German prisoner * John Van Eyssen as German prisoner *

Frederick Jaeger Manfred Frederick Jaeger (9 May 1928 – 18 June 2004) was a German-born British film, television, theatre and radio character actor. Biography Jaeger was born in Berlin, Germany, but moved to England following Adolf Hitler's rise to power. H ...

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 Paul Hansard (12 January 1922 – 28 January 2013) was a German-born British actor on both television and film. He was also a puppeteer. On several of his television appearances on both ''The Buccaneers'' and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ...

as German prisoner *

Edward Cast Edward Raymond Cast (1925–1994) was a British stage, film and television actor. Selected filmography * '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) - Crew Member (uncredited) * ''Private's Progress'' (1956) - Intelligence Officer (uncredited) * '' The One That ...

as duty driver, Hucknall (uncredited) *

Cyril Chamberlain Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early ''Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films. Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and died ...

as Sergeant 'Later' (uncredited) *

Reed De Rouen Reed De Rouen (10 June 1917 – 11 June 1986) was an American actor and screenwriter who worked mostly in the British film and television industry. He appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Gunfighters'' in 1966 as Pa Clanton, as well as writ ...

as Canadian truck driver (uncredited) * Michael Golden as First detective (uncredited) * Glyn Houston 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 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 Gough ...

as Corporal of group with cook (uncredited) *

Anthony Sagar Anthony Sagar (19 June 1920 – 24 January 1973) was an English character actor and a member of the National Theatre. He was prolific screen performer and appeared in many films (including seven of the ''Carry On'' series) and television series ...

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, Lancashi ...

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 per ...

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 fo ...

'' (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 Org ...

. 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''.

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

, 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

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links