Escape

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Escape

1940

1h 45m

Drama

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

60%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

After discovering that his mother, a renowned German actress (Nazimova), is being held in a Nazi concentration camp, her American son, Mark Preysing (Robert Taylor), heads to Germany to track her down. While Mark initially finds little help, he is eventually aided by the empathetic American expatriate Countess Ruby von Treck (Norma Shearer) and a German doctor (Philip Dorn), and a bold plan evolves to smuggle his mother out of the camp and to the United States.

Variety Staff

Variety

It is excellent, suspenseful material and director Mervyn LeRoy succeeds admirably in sustaining throughout the picture a tense atmosphere of impending danger to the lives and limbs of his actors.

Feb 23, 2012

Full Review

George Orwell

Time and Tide

It makes play, fairly effectively, with the horror of the Gestapo, but as to why the Gestapo exists, how Hitler reached his present position, what he is trying to achieve, it utters not a word.

Oct 2, 2023

Full Review

John Kinloch

California Eagle

The film effectively proves the following: (1) Conrad Veidt is one of the world's finest actors; (2) Robert Taylor is industriously learning how to act.

Oct 31, 2019

Full Review

Francisco J. Ariza

Cine-Mundial

The picture is of a convincing realism. [Full review in Spanish]

Sep 16, 2019

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Glossy and sentimental Holocaust story.

Rated: C+

Jan 18, 2014

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Steve D

Melodramatic and unconvincing.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/25/23

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andy f

This film was only released in 1940 yet it articulately shows the horrors of the Nazi regime. It's a macabre and atmospheric piece, but it does fade quite a bit in the last third.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

ashley h

Escape is a decent film. It is about a young man who arrives in Hitler's Germany, frantically seeking information about his German mother in 1938. Norma Shearer and Robert Taylor give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Mervyn LeRoy did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

good chemistry between Taylor & Shearer

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

A fine overlooked film one of Norma Shearer's last and best. Studio bound but still an interesting story. Bonita Granville plays her part as a vicious and evil little viper well.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

underated, has a casablanca feel to it, was made before it though, and very suspenseful. involves strict nazi germany.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

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Mervyn LeRoy

Director

Norma Shearer

Countess Ruby von Treck

Robert Taylor

Mark Preysing

Conrad Veidt

General Kurt von Kolb

Alla Nazimova

Emmy Ritter

Felix Bressart

Fritz Keller

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Synopsis

After discovering that his mother, a renowned German actress (Nazimova), is being held in a Nazi concentration camp, her American son, Mark Preysing (Robert Taylor), heads to Germany to track her down. While Mark initially finds little help, he is eventually aided by the empathetic American expatriate Countess Ruby von Treck (Norma Shearer) and a German doctor (Philip Dorn), and a bold plan evolves to smuggle his mother out of the camp and to the United States.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Producer: Mervyn LeRoy, Lawrence Weingarten
Screenwriter: Arch Oboler, Marguerite Roberts
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 45m