Escape to Victory

Escape to Victory
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Huston
Screenplay by
Story by
Based onTwo Half Times in Hell
by Zoltán Fábri
Produced byFreddie Fields
Starring
CinematographyGerry Fisher
Edited byRoberto Silvi
Music byBill Conti
Production
companies
  • Lorimar
  • Victory Company
  • New Gold Entertainment
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 30, 1981 (1981-07-30) (United States)
Running time
117 minutes
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million[2]
Box office$27.5 million[4][5]

Escape to Victory (or simply Victory) is a 1981 sports war film[3] directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team.

The film received great attention upon its theatrical release, as it starred professional footballers Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen, Werner Roth and Pelé. Numerous Ipswich Town players were also in the film, including John Wark, Russell Osman, Laurie Sivell, Robin Turner and Kevin O'Callaghan. Other Ipswich Town players stood in for actors in the football scenes – Kevin Beattie for Michael Caine, and Paul Cooper for Sylvester Stallone. Yabo Yablonsky wrote the script and the film was entered into the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.[6]

  1. ^ "Victory (1981)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Escape to Victory at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  3. ^ a b c d "Menekülés a győzelembe - Budapesti Klasszikus Film Maraton". Nemzeti Filmintézet – Filmarchívum. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "Victory (1981)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  5. ^ "Victory (1981) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  6. ^ "12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981)". MIFF. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.