The Birdmen

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(s) English
Production
Producer(s) Harve Bennett
Harry Tatelman
Cinematography Jack A. Marta
Editor(s) Robert F. Shugrue
Gene Palmer
Running time 74 min.
Production company(s) Universal Pictures
Distributor ABC
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 fictionalised 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 movie 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.

Plot

O.S.S. Agent Major Cook is sent to Occupied Europe to bring Halden Brevik, a Norwegian scientist working on the atomic bomb, to the Allies. The pair are captured, but are mistaken for escaped Allied airmen prisoners of war and sent to the "escape proof" Beckstadt Castle for Prisoners of War. Cook plots escape, while keeping the scientist's true identity from both the Germans and his fellow prisoners.

A glider is built in secret in an attic. With the Germans closing in, Cook has to reveal Brevik's true identity and importance to the other prisoners in order to appropriate the now-completed glider. The others suspect Cook of scamming them, but one of them turns out to be a commando who was captured (and blinded) during a failed prior attempt to extract Brevik. When Cook is injured, he gives up his seat to his strongest doubter, knowing his fate at the hands of the Germans. The prisoners knock out a wall and successfully launch the glider.

Cast

Soundtrack

Notes

  1. ↑ pp. 54 Karol, Michael The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: A Loving Tribute to the Classic Series iUniverse, 2008

References


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