The Great Escape (1963)

John Leyton: Willie 'Tunnel King'

Photos 

Quotes 

• Bartlett : Gentlemen, no doubt you've heard the immortal words of our new commandant: devote your energies to things other than escape, and sit out the war as comfortably as possible.

  Sedgwick : [derisively]  Ha!

  Bartlett : Well, that's exactly what we're going to do. We're going to devote our energies to sports and gardening, all the cultural pursuits as far as they're concerned. In fact, we're going to put the goons to sleep. Meanwhile, we dig. Now, even a superficial look at the compound shows us that Huts 104 and 5 are closest to the woods. The first tunnel goes out from 105, directly east under the vorlager, the cooler, and the wire.

  Willie : But that's over three hundred feet, Roger!

  Bartlett : Did you make a survey, Dennis?

  Cavendish : Only a temporary one, sir. I make it just over three hundred and thirty-five feet.

  Bartlett : Let me know when you've got an exact one. Willie, this time we'll dig straight down thirty feet before we go horizontal. That'll rule out any question of sound detection or probing.

  Willie : All right, Roger. But did you say "the first tunnel"?

  Bartlett : I did. There will be three. We'll call them Tom, Dick, and Harry. Tom, as I said, goes out directly east from 104. Dick goes north from the kitchen, and Harry goes out parallel to Tom from 105. If the goons find one, we'll move into the other.

  MacDonald : How many men do you plan to take out, Roger?

  Bartlett : Two hundred and fifty.

  [Shocked stares] 

  Bartlett : There will be no half-measures this time, gentlemen. There will be identification papers and documents for everyone. And Griff, we'll need outfits for the lot.

  Griffith : Two hundred and fifty?

  Bartlett : Mostly civilian clothes.

  Griffith : Yes, but, um... okay, Roger.

  Bartlett : Mac. Maps, blankets, rations, compasses for all the walkers, and timetables for every train.

  MacDonald : Right, Roger.

  [Blythe enters] 

  Colin : Sorry I'm late, Roger.

  Bartlett : It's all right, Colin. Sit down. We're going to tunnel.

  Colin : Splendid.

  Bartlett : Willie, you and Danny will be tunnel kings. Danny, you'll be in charge of traps, and I'll work out the exact location with you tomorrow.

  Danny : Good.

  Bartlett : Sedgwick, manufacturer. Griffith, I said, tailor. Nimmo and Hayes, diversions. Mac, of course, will take care of intelligence. Hendley? We haven't met. Scrounger?

• Willie : [arriving at Stalag Luft III]  How far are the trees, Danny?

  Danny : Over... two hundred feet.

  Willie : Yeah, I'd say three hundred.

  Danny : Long ways to dig.

  Willie : We'll get Cavendish to make a survey. I wish Big X were here.

  Danny : Willy, you think X got away?

  Willie : Well, he'd have sent us word somehow if he had.

  Danny : Gestapo, you think?

  Willie : Either that or he's dead.

• Willie : This is the dirt from the compound.

  Danny : This is from the tunnel.

  [Mac takes a handful of tunnel dirt and sprinkles it onto the mound from the compound] 

  MacDonald : Wherever we put it, they're going to spot it a mile away.

  Willie : Well, maybe we could put it under the huts. The dirt's dark there.

  MacDonald : Nah. No, it's the first place the ferrets would look. I saw one measuring the height under a hut yesterday.

  Willie : Well, maybe we could dry it out the same color.

  Danny : We'll have fifty tons of it.

  Willie : Well, I was just thinking out loud.

  Bartlett : If you must think, for God's sake, think clearly. Where the devil is Ashley-Pitt?

  MacDonald : We can't destroy the dirt, and we can't eat it. The only thing left to do is... camouflage it. That's as far as my thinking takes me.

  [Ashley-Pitt enters] 

  Bartlett : Didn't they teach you promptness in the R.N.?

  Ashley-Pitt : You'll never believe it, but I think I have the solution. The problem is somehow to get rid of this tunnel dirt over the compound.

  Bartlett : Well, of course.

  Ashley-Pitt : Would you mind?

  [Eric hands Danny and Willie a blanket, which they set on the floor, while Eric gets his contraption ready] 

  Ashley-Pitt : Now... you fill these bags with the dirt from the tunnel. Then, wearing them *inside* your trousers, you wander out into the compound, where you pull these strings in your pockets. Out come the pins...

  [Eric pulls the pins out to demonstrate] 

  Danny : Eric, it's good.

  Ashley-Pitt : All you have to do is... kick it in. Unless you're a complete fool, the ferrets will never see a thing.

  MacDonald : It's indecently brilliant. What do you think, Roger?

  Bartlett : We'll try it first thing tomorrow.

  Ashley-Pitt : I already have. It works.

• Danny : Willie, since I was a boy, I hate and fear little rooms, closets, caves.

  Willie : But Danny, you've dug seventeen tunnels. Over seventeen!

  Danny : Because I must get out! I hide the fear, and I dig. Tomorrow night in the tunnel with all those men... I'm afraid maybe this time I will lose my head and ruin the escape for everybody.

• Hendley : Well, what do you think, Navy?

  Ashley-Pitt : I must say it's an interesting first twenty minutes.

  Willie : I'd say we made fools of ourselves.