John Huston/Victory, dud or better
Posted: February 8th, 2008, 12:12 pm
Sorry i was of line for a while. i've just changed servers and had teething problems.
Spoiler Alert
one of John Huston's last films was the British made POW comedy drama Escape To Victory. a lot of people reckon it was a dud, though i thought it had lots going for it.
the main theme of the plot was German Officer Max Von Sydow challenging one time footballer Michael Caine to a game between the POWs and German soldiers. however, the whole thing gets out of hand when Germany field their National team and Caine as player manager manages to get access of other Pows from other camps, including Eastern Europeans, who officially don't exsist.
one of the things i like about is that unlike most POW films, it shows the class barrier between Officers and the men, as their kept in seperate camps. Caine at the begining tells Max that if the match is confined to Officers then he's not playing 'I want a decent team, i want the lads.'
this too became apparent when senior British officer Daniel Massey wanted the team to escape on route to the match. this annoyed Caine who said he didn't want his team involved in some upper class game.
from a footballing aspect i wonder how Caine's goal-keeping co-star Sly Stallone felt about appearing with players he wouldn't know to much about, but where nonetheless legends in their on field. men like the Brazilain Pele, rated by many the greatest footballer of all time, Bobby Moore the England captain who lifted the 1966 World Cup and Ossie Ardilies, who played for Argentina's winning side in 1978
Spoiler Alert
one of John Huston's last films was the British made POW comedy drama Escape To Victory. a lot of people reckon it was a dud, though i thought it had lots going for it.
the main theme of the plot was German Officer Max Von Sydow challenging one time footballer Michael Caine to a game between the POWs and German soldiers. however, the whole thing gets out of hand when Germany field their National team and Caine as player manager manages to get access of other Pows from other camps, including Eastern Europeans, who officially don't exsist.
one of the things i like about is that unlike most POW films, it shows the class barrier between Officers and the men, as their kept in seperate camps. Caine at the begining tells Max that if the match is confined to Officers then he's not playing 'I want a decent team, i want the lads.'
this too became apparent when senior British officer Daniel Massey wanted the team to escape on route to the match. this annoyed Caine who said he didn't want his team involved in some upper class game.
from a footballing aspect i wonder how Caine's goal-keeping co-star Sly Stallone felt about appearing with players he wouldn't know to much about, but where nonetheless legends in their on field. men like the Brazilain Pele, rated by many the greatest footballer of all time, Bobby Moore the England captain who lifted the 1966 World Cup and Ossie Ardilies, who played for Argentina's winning side in 1978