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      The Wooden Horse

      1950 1h 41m War List
      Reviews 80% Audience Score 250+ Ratings Three British POW officers (Leo Genn, Anthony Steel, David Tomlinson) escape from a stalag by tunneling under an outdoor gym horse. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Manny P Corny old fayre. It's the forerunner of the Great Escape, but nowhere near the quality. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 05/28/22 Full Review Audience Member 'The Wooden Horse' has a very strong first half considering its lo budget production value thanks to its committed actors and its screenplay. However, the film suffers from a second half that not only fails to live up to the pace and excitement of the first half, but also ends on an abrupt note. We want to see if these characters totally escaped from danger! Don't leave us guessing what their fates will be, show us some more! As is, this is a passable P.O.W. film in a sea of P.O.W. films because its first half is just good enough to overcome its awful second half. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Finely told POW escape movie, with lots of tension both before and after the tunnel escape. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Intriguing WW 2 POW movie. Set in a German POW camp, Stalag Luft III, in 1943, the story of a daring escape attempt. The British POWs, mostly airmen, have been searching for a way to tunnel out of the camp. Their huts are too far from the perimeter for the conventional methods. They hit upon the idea of setting up a wooden vaulting horse in the middle of camp, ostensibly for exercise, but in reality as a starting point for a tunnel... Quite interesting and exciting story. The use of the wooden horse is a bit far-fetched so it helps to suspend disbelief. Is quite an ingenious idea though and the planning, building, scrounging and subterfuge that goes on around it is quite engaging. The best part however is what happens once they're out - very suspenseful. However, The Wooden Horse will always be compared to The Great Escape, and this doesn't help The Wooden Horse. The Great Escape has more action, bigger names, the coolness of Steve McQueen and is based on a true story and has better production values. This all said, The Wooden Horse must claim some, if not all, credit for The Great Escape being made, as it started the POW escape genre and The Great Escape, 13 years later, was the high point of it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Blimming good book, brilliant film, well directed right down to exact details of this impressive true story of the 1950's. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Nothing to get too excited about but there are some good scenes. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      The Wooden Horse

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Three British POW officers (Leo Genn, Anthony Steel, David Tomlinson) escape from a stalag by tunneling under an outdoor gym horse.
      Director
      Jack Lee
      Screenwriter
      Eric Williams
      Genre
      War
      Original Language
      English
      Runtime
      1h 41m