Heritage Playhouse: FILM SHOWING: The Great Escaper

UK, 2023, 96 min, Biography, Drama, War
Director: Oliver Parker

Starring: Michael Caine, Glenda Jackson

In the summer of 2014 — the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings — octogenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy. It was a story that captured the imagination of the world.

Bernie’s journey spanning a mere 48 hours also marked the culmination of his sixty-year marriage to Irene (Glenda Jackson). Their story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation.

This film is the last film made by both Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson. Jackson passed away not long after the film was completed.