IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.2K
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In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.In 1936, a young man arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his missing German mother, and finds she is pending execution at a concentration camp.
- Awards
- 1 win
Alla Nazimova
- Emmy Ritter
- (as Nazimova)
Edit Angold
- Hilda - Ditten's Housekeeper
- (uncredited)
Walter Bonn
- Concentration Camp Guard
- (uncredited)
Albert D'Arno
- Elevator Operator
- (uncredited)
Helmut Dantine
- Porter
- (uncredited)
Kay Deslys
- Beer Garden Waitress
- (uncredited)
Ernst Deutsch
- Baron von Reiber
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the article "Hollywood's friends and foes" by Colin Shindler in the film history tome 'The Movie', this film " . . . though set largely inside a concentration camp . . . managed to avoid the mention of the words 'German' or 'Nazi' " throughout the whole movie.
- GoofsWhen Countess Ruby gets up after sitting next to General Kolb while he was playing piano, she picks up her white gloves. But on the next cut, she is now holding her hat which earlier she had placed on the mirror bureau on the other side of the room.
- Quotes
Mark Preysing: She knows nothing about international politics, she has the mind of an artist, she sees people as general humanity, not as separate races.
- Crazy creditsIn the opening credits, the actual book is shown being taken off a library book shelf, turned and its cover shown as the title page.
- ConnectionsEdited into Mr. Blabbermouth! (1942)
- SoundtracksLiebestod
(1865) (uncredited)
from "Tristan und Isolde"
Written by Richard Wagner
Played on piano by Conrad Veidt
Played at a concert and as background
Featured review
Countdown to the Creeps
In 1936 Germany, handsome American traveler Robert Taylor (as Mark Preysing) arrives to search for his mysteriously disappearing mother Alla Nazimova (as Emmy Ritter), an actress who has been sentenced to death after breaking property laws and harboring German refugees. Taylor learns Ms. Nazimova is being held in a Nazi concentration camp. Like his mother, Mr. Taylor finds the country Germany has succumb to the authoritarian rule of a brutal Adolf Hitler
Taylor receives little help from frightened Germans, but has better luck with finishing school headmistress Norma Shearer (as Ruby von Treck), the attractive American widow of a German Count. The two are mutually attracted, but she is also being courted by Nazi General Conrad Veidt (as Kurt von Kolb). The two are practically married. Ms. Shearer joins Taylor in a dangerous plot to get mother Nazimova out of the country before her scheduled execution
Spiteful of some skittish plot points, "Escape" creeps up on you
It's one of the better Hollywood-produced World War II dramas, with MGM and director Mervyn LeRoy capturing the horrific accentuation of Nazi consciousness over Germany with remarkable accuracy. Mr. LeRoy paces it accordingly; slow-starting suspense parallels the film's encroaching danger. Credit must be awarded novelist Grace Zaring Stone (writing as "Ethel Vance" to protect her own German relation), plus adapters Arch Oboler and Marguerite Roberts.
Highlighted by his tearful reading of a "farewell" letter, Taylor performs exceptionally; this is one of his best roles. In her last great film, Shearer is appropriately regal, classy and misty-eyed. The supporting cast is so good, it's strange to see Mr. Veidt and Nazimova did not receive "Academy Award" nominations for their work. Absent from films since 1925, "silent" screen actress Nazimova stages an especially noteworthy comeback. Like she, the film is a sleeper.
******** Escape (10/31/40) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Robert Taylor, Norma Shearer, Conrad Veidt, Nazimova
Taylor receives little help from frightened Germans, but has better luck with finishing school headmistress Norma Shearer (as Ruby von Treck), the attractive American widow of a German Count. The two are mutually attracted, but she is also being courted by Nazi General Conrad Veidt (as Kurt von Kolb). The two are practically married. Ms. Shearer joins Taylor in a dangerous plot to get mother Nazimova out of the country before her scheduled execution
Spiteful of some skittish plot points, "Escape" creeps up on you
It's one of the better Hollywood-produced World War II dramas, with MGM and director Mervyn LeRoy capturing the horrific accentuation of Nazi consciousness over Germany with remarkable accuracy. Mr. LeRoy paces it accordingly; slow-starting suspense parallels the film's encroaching danger. Credit must be awarded novelist Grace Zaring Stone (writing as "Ethel Vance" to protect her own German relation), plus adapters Arch Oboler and Marguerite Roberts.
Highlighted by his tearful reading of a "farewell" letter, Taylor performs exceptionally; this is one of his best roles. In her last great film, Shearer is appropriately regal, classy and misty-eyed. The supporting cast is so good, it's strange to see Mr. Veidt and Nazimova did not receive "Academy Award" nominations for their work. Absent from films since 1925, "silent" screen actress Nazimova stages an especially noteworthy comeback. Like she, the film is a sleeper.
******** Escape (10/31/40) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Robert Taylor, Norma Shearer, Conrad Veidt, Nazimova
helpful•81
- wes-connors
- Feb 10, 2011
- How long is Escape?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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