This is an excellent film with added historical value. The script, cinematography, musical score, direction and acting of "Escape" are all outstanding. It would score a "10" but for the studio set "feel" of the Alpine scenes at times. I agree with those who think Robert Taylor's performance was his best. I have enjoyed Taylor in many of his movies, but never thought of him as much of an actor from his later work. He was always the calm, reassured or easy going good guy. But in this film, he shows the emotions of someone who found himself in an unbelievable, frustrating and frightening situation.
In the early scenes, I found myself saying, "Wake up Taylor! How naïve can you be?" Then it occurred to me that since WWII we have had the advantage of hindsight about the cruelty, barbarism and atrocities of the Nazis. Of course, Taylor's character would be dismayed by his mother's disappearance. Of course, he would be angry and show disbelief in finding out she was imprisoned for selling her home and transferring the money to a bank in New York. So, the film scores highly for bringing me, and many other viewers, into the drama in this way.
Norma Shearer, Conrad Veidt and the rest of the cast are all excellent. Perhaps some of the sense of reality of this film comes across from the portrayals by four actors in this film who fled Nazi Germany after Hitler's rise to power. All were film or stage actors in Germany before Hitler's time. Conrad Veidt, who played the general, is the biggest of these names. He fled Germany with his Jewish wife in 1933. Felix Bressart, who played Fritz, left Germany in 1936. And Albert Bassermann, aka Dr. Henning, fled Germany in 1939 with his Jewish wife Elsa. She played his wife, Mrs. Henning, in this film.
Some reviewers have noted that the term "Nazi" isn't even used in the script; nor is there reference to Hitler by name. That surely reflects the cautiousness of Hollywood and the U.S. at the time. Today, we should remember that right up until the December 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, the strongest U.S. sentiment was pacifist. Most Americans did not want us to go to war, even on the side of the Allies. "Escape" came out in theaters in September, 1940. Although it was still 15 months before Pearl Harbor, it was a year after the blatant and unmitigated invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union. The book on which the film is based, was published in 1939. The author, Grace Zaring Stone, used a pen-name, Ethel Vance, out of concern for her daughter who was still living in Europe at the time.
The movie opens with a short script of a scene: "Outskirts of a town in the Bavarian Alps, 1936." Hitler took power in January, 1933, and soon began to establish concentration camps for "political" prisoners. These included people who disagreed with, criticized, or posed a threat to the Nazi party and regime. Thousands of German clergy, educators, and other individuals were imprisoned and died in those camps. Within a few years, they began to receive prisoners from other countries and Jews, before the Jewish extermination camps were opened.
The very first such camp was Dachau in Bavaria – just 10 miles northwest of Munich. I visited that site while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, in 1963 – before it was opened as a memorial. I saw the crematorium ovens and the mass graves. So, the actors who fled the Nazis and who were in the cast of this film, all knew about Dachau and its likes. And, the world too, knew about the oppression and barbarism of the Nazis, well before the start of World War II.
Why is that significant with this film? Because I think the production of "Escape" by MGM showed some grit and courage to inform the public about the truth of what was happening under Nazi Germany. Especially when public opinion – and that of our government and civic leaders – was so divided. There can be little doubt that "Escape" is also propaganda. It is clearly aimed at influencing the viewing public against the Nazi regime of Hitler. Can anyone argue that that's not the way it should have been – with the truth and reality of what the propaganda shows and tells?
"Escape" is one of the few films made about Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It has historical value for that reason, as well as for its showcasing the life and fears of the German people in the early years of Nazism. Besides, it's an interesting, intriguing and entertaining film overall.
In the early scenes, I found myself saying, "Wake up Taylor! How naïve can you be?" Then it occurred to me that since WWII we have had the advantage of hindsight about the cruelty, barbarism and atrocities of the Nazis. Of course, Taylor's character would be dismayed by his mother's disappearance. Of course, he would be angry and show disbelief in finding out she was imprisoned for selling her home and transferring the money to a bank in New York. So, the film scores highly for bringing me, and many other viewers, into the drama in this way.
Norma Shearer, Conrad Veidt and the rest of the cast are all excellent. Perhaps some of the sense of reality of this film comes across from the portrayals by four actors in this film who fled Nazi Germany after Hitler's rise to power. All were film or stage actors in Germany before Hitler's time. Conrad Veidt, who played the general, is the biggest of these names. He fled Germany with his Jewish wife in 1933. Felix Bressart, who played Fritz, left Germany in 1936. And Albert Bassermann, aka Dr. Henning, fled Germany in 1939 with his Jewish wife Elsa. She played his wife, Mrs. Henning, in this film.
Some reviewers have noted that the term "Nazi" isn't even used in the script; nor is there reference to Hitler by name. That surely reflects the cautiousness of Hollywood and the U.S. at the time. Today, we should remember that right up until the December 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor, the strongest U.S. sentiment was pacifist. Most Americans did not want us to go to war, even on the side of the Allies. "Escape" came out in theaters in September, 1940. Although it was still 15 months before Pearl Harbor, it was a year after the blatant and unmitigated invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union. The book on which the film is based, was published in 1939. The author, Grace Zaring Stone, used a pen-name, Ethel Vance, out of concern for her daughter who was still living in Europe at the time.
The movie opens with a short script of a scene: "Outskirts of a town in the Bavarian Alps, 1936." Hitler took power in January, 1933, and soon began to establish concentration camps for "political" prisoners. These included people who disagreed with, criticized, or posed a threat to the Nazi party and regime. Thousands of German clergy, educators, and other individuals were imprisoned and died in those camps. Within a few years, they began to receive prisoners from other countries and Jews, before the Jewish extermination camps were opened.
The very first such camp was Dachau in Bavaria – just 10 miles northwest of Munich. I visited that site while serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, in 1963 – before it was opened as a memorial. I saw the crematorium ovens and the mass graves. So, the actors who fled the Nazis and who were in the cast of this film, all knew about Dachau and its likes. And, the world too, knew about the oppression and barbarism of the Nazis, well before the start of World War II.
Why is that significant with this film? Because I think the production of "Escape" by MGM showed some grit and courage to inform the public about the truth of what was happening under Nazi Germany. Especially when public opinion – and that of our government and civic leaders – was so divided. There can be little doubt that "Escape" is also propaganda. It is clearly aimed at influencing the viewing public against the Nazi regime of Hitler. Can anyone argue that that's not the way it should have been – with the truth and reality of what the propaganda shows and tells?
"Escape" is one of the few films made about Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It has historical value for that reason, as well as for its showcasing the life and fears of the German people in the early years of Nazism. Besides, it's an interesting, intriguing and entertaining film overall.