The Birdmen | |
---|---|
Screenplay by | David Kidd |
Directed by | Philip Leacock |
Starring | Doug McClure |
Narrated by | Charles Aidman |
Music by | David Rose |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Harve Bennett Harry Tatelman |
Cinematography | Jack A. Marta |
Editors | Robert F. Shugrue Gene Palmer |
Running time | 74 min. |
Production company | Universal Pictures |
Distributor | ABC NBCUniversal Television Distribution (syndication) |
Release | |
Original release | September 18, 1971 |
The Birdmen, also known as Escape of the Birdmen and Colditz: Escape of the Birdmen, is a 1971 television film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Doug McClure and René Auberjonois. It was a fictionalized account based on a proposed scheme for prisoners of war to escape from Colditz Castle by a clandestinely constructed glider christened the Colditz Cock. The film appeared on the ABC Movie of the Week on September 18, 1971. [1] The film was shot at Universal Studios Hollywood and released theatrically in several countries.
O.S.S. agent Major Cook is assigned to take Halden Brevik, a Norwegian scientist with knowledge about the atomic bomb, out of occupied Europe to the Allies. The pair are captured, but their cover story, that they are escaped Allied air force prisoners of war, is believed by the Germans, and they are sent to the "escape-proof" Beckstadt Castle. Cook plots escape, while keeping the scientist's true identity from both the Germans and his fellow prisoners.
Cook comes up with an escape plan to fly out of the castle all the way to nearby Switzerland. A glider is built in secret in an attic, which will be able to take two men out. With the Germans closing in, Cook has to reveal Brevik's true identity and importance to the other prisoners in order that Brevik be one of the escapees. The other P.O.W.'s suspect Cook of lying to them, but fortunately one of them turns out to be a commando who had been captured (and also blinded) during the failed attempt to extract Brevik from Norway; he confirms Brevik's identity. Cook gets injured and cannot fly the glider, so he gives up his seat to Colonel Crawford, his strongest doubter, who hitherto he has had a strained relationship with. The prisoners knock out a wall and, with Crawford piloting, successfully launch the glider.
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast run for an American television series inspired by that war.
Castle Colditz is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the river Zwickauer Mulde, a tributary of the River Elbe. It had the first wildlife park in Germany when, during 1523, the castle park was converted into one of the largest menageries in Europe. The castle gained international infamy as the site of Oflag IV-C, a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for "incorrigible" Allied officers who had repeatedly attempted to escape from other camps.
Giles Samuel Bertram Romilly was a journalist, Second World War POW, brother of Esmond Romilly, and nephew of Winston Churchill through his wife Clementine Churchill.
Operation Freshman was the codename given to a British airborne operation conducted in November 1942 during World War II. It was the first British airborne operation conducted using Airspeed Horsa gliders, and its target was the Vemork Norsk Hydro chemical plant in Telemark, Norway which produced heavy water for Nazi Germany.
The Colditz Story is a 1955 British prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton. It is based on the book written by Pat Reid, a British army officer who was imprisoned in Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle, in Germany during the Second World War and who was the Escape Officer for British POWs within the castle.
Lieutenant Albert Michael Sinclair, DSO, known as the Red Fox, was a British prisoner at Colditz Castle during World War II. He was involved in a number of escape attempts and was recognised within the camp for his determination to escape. Sinclair was the only person to be killed while attempting to escape Colditz.
Patrick Robert Reid, was a British Army officer and author of history. As a British prisoner of war during the Second World War, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into neutral Switzerland in late 1942. After the war Reid was a diplomat and administrator before eventually returning to his prewar career in civil engineering. He also wrote about his experiences in two best-selling books, which became the basis of a film, TV series, and even a board game.
Colditz is a British television drama series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974.
Bibliography of Colditz Castle is a list of works about Colditz Castle, its history as POW camp Oflag IV-C, the attempts to escape Oflag IV-C and many prisoners memoirs.
Colditz is a city in Saxony, Germany.
Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers' camp".
Prisoner of War is a 2002 third-person stealth video game developed by Wide Games and published by Codemasters. It follows the story of Captain Lewis Stone, a downed American pilot who must escape numerous prisoner of war camps and return home.
Peter David Tunstall was a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and a prisoner of war (POW) held at Colditz Castle. He holds the record for the most time spent by an Allied POW in solitary confinement.
Patrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch,, known as Lorne Welch, was a British engineer, pilot and Colditz prisoner of war.
Prisoners made numerous attempts to escape from Oflag IV-C, one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. Between 30 and 36 men succeeded in their attempts - exact numbers differ between German and Allied sources. The camp was in Colditz Castle, perched on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz in Saxony.
Captain Michael Clive Burn, MC was an English journalist, commando, writer and poet.
The Colditz Cock was a glider built by British prisoners of war for an escape attempt from Oflag IV-C in Germany.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Bolton Littledale DSO was a British Army officer who became a prisoner of war and successfully escaped from Colditz Castle during the Second World War but was killed in action on 1 September 1944.
Oflag IX-A was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located in Spangenberg Castle in the small town of Spangenberg in northeastern Hesse, Germany.
Dominic Bruce, was a British Royal Air Force officer, known as the "Medium Sized Man." He has been described as "the most ingenious escaper" of the Second World War. He made seventeen attempts at escaping from POW camps, including several attempts to escape from Colditz Castle, a castle that housed prisoners of war "deemed incorrigible".