The Great Escape Film Poster – Frank McCarthy – 1963

Poster: The Great Escape Film Poster – Frank McCarthy – 1963

This vintage film poster for the 1963 movie The Great Escape was produced for the US re-release of the film. The poster uses the incredible artwork of the great Frank McCarthy. The film stars the iconic actor Steve McQueen, featured on the poster artwork in his role as ‘Hilts’, attempting to escape by jumping the barbed wire fence on his Triumph TR6 motorcycle. It is one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

For several years, the validity of this version of The Great Escape poster with the motorcycle jump has been in question. Some people believe that it was never officially released and that the poster is a fake. If so, it would be a shame because it is genuinely one of the best poster designs available for this movie. If they are fake then they are fooling, high-end auction houses, online poster stores and poster collectors throughout the world. Fake or not, a poster is worth what somebody will pay for it. The dozen or so known copies known to exist appear for sale very rarely and currently (2020) command a price tag in the region of $15,000-$16,000. For those that cannot source a copy, or can’t afford an original at that kind of price can add our quality reproduction to their walls for just  £14 for a 50×70 print.

The film also stars James Garner, Gordon Jackson, David McCallum, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance and James Coburn amongst others.

The film is loosely based on the real-life events of Allied prisoners of war’s plans for several hundred of their number to escape from Stalag Luft III, a German POW camp in Sagan, Poland. The film is based on Paul Brickhill’s 1950 non-fiction book of the same name. It depicts a heavily fictionalized version of the escape, with numerous compromises for its commercial appeal.

The Great Escape emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of the year, winning McQueen the award for Best Actor at the Moscow International Film Festival. It is now considered a classic.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.