In 1962, a group of East Berliners escapes to West Berlin through a tunnel dug from the basement of a house located near the Berlin Wall.In 1962, a group of East Berliners escapes to West Berlin through a tunnel dug from the basement of a house located near the Berlin Wall.In 1962, a group of East Berliners escapes to West Berlin through a tunnel dug from the basement of a house located near the Berlin Wall.
Hans Waldemar Anders
- Junkman
- (uncredited)
Alfred Balthoff
- Klussendorf - a Neighbor
- (uncredited)
Erwin Becker
- NVA-Grenzbeamter
- (uncredited)
Christian Böttcher
- Fritz - West Berliner
- (uncredited)
Klaus Dahlen
- Mechanic
- (uncredited)
Ronald Dehne
- Helmut Schröder
- (uncredited)
Claus Eberth
- Policeman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEast German police on patrol boats tried to disrupt filming by shining searchlights at the cameras. Director Robert Siodmak assembled a decoy crew to distract the East Germans and filmed the scene along the canal a short distance away.
- GoofsMany of the escapees had suitcases and personal item, like dishes, as if they were going on vacation or moving. People escaping like this would go with the clothes on their backs.
- Quotes
Uncle Albrecht: Off to band practice. We are marching in the celebration parade. I don't know what we're celebrating, but we are marching.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Der Tunnel (1999)
Featured review
Freedom
This is a film about the essential value of freedom. It tells the story of how 28 people run away from East Germany to West by digging a tunnel under the Belin wall. Filmed shortly after the wall was built, the move succeeds not only in showing the oppressive, almost claustrophobic everyday life in Eastern Germany but also in telling a story in an interesting, almost noir way. As the story begins, we see how Walter Brunner (Werner Klemperer) tries to escape from East Berlin to West by crashing his truck against the wall. We also see how Kurt Schröder (Don Murray) tries to convince him not to do it. He feels fine in east Berlin (at least that's what he says) as he has a comfortable job working as a chauffeur to an east German officer. As the movie goes on we can see how people live in East Berlin (as American point of view). I have found some interesting points in this film that appear in a quite imperceptible and yet poignantly way. People is not only afraid of being controlled or spied by the government itself but also by their neighbors. Although this is not major developed, we can clearly seen how Schröder's neighbor watches almost every movement they make, or how fear the family is when Marga (Maria Tober) speaks with two German soldiers and the family thinks she is reporting them. When the Spanish civil war ended another civil war began: neighbors reporting neighbors to be republican to obtain a gain or simply because they hated them. Human beings at their worst but also at their best, which we can see by helping others and giving them the chance to escape. Having been left apart from Hollywood industry due to communist accusations, Siodmak did not want to make a political film and that's why he made it an intrigue one as well. And he hit it. Surprisingly (or maybe not so) the film was considered a minor one and not a success nor in Western German (where it was found too soft) nor in France (where it was found too propagandistic) but it was in the U.S.A.
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- MegaSuperstar
- Feb 23, 2016
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Tunnel 28
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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By what name was Escape from East Berlin (1962) officially released in India in English?
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