Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Leofwine_draca
THE WOODEN HORSE is another decent WW2 prisoner-of-war movie, this time set in an internment camp for British officers run by the German air force. Once again it has the hook of being a true story to make it completely irresistible for viewers, and once again there's very little to dislike about this picture: it's well shot, well acted, and generally entertaining.The story is about a group of prisoners who decide to escape by digging a tunnel beneath the exercise ground of their internment camp. Their cover will be the titular item, a horse used for vaulting by the exercising prisoners. What follows is laden with suspense and decent performances with the likes of Leo Genn, Anthony Steel, and David Tomlinson doing their bit as the prisoners determined to escape. While the story does lose some of the momentum in the latter section, it remains engaging right up until the closing credits. It's not quite ALBERT, R.N., but it's watchable all the same.
chrissso
I wished I had known better ... those British WW2 films (1940-1955) are often pretty bad yet there are exceptions. Certainly this film has historical context … it's based on a true story as told by Eric Williams … it takes place at the infamous Stalag-Luft III German prison camp which was featured in the film "The Great Escape" … and the premise seemed interesting … but the sad reality is this film's shelf life expired and she needs to be thrown out! Yup this is one boring film … it has a boring cast … its camera work is horrible by 1970standards … its soundtrack is horrible (talk about a film that needs subtitles). More so who wants to watch sequences of men digging in holes and jumping over a palma horse. Today's movie standards have left this one in the dust! 4/10 stars for historical context
Prismark10
The Wooden Horse was one of the daring Prisoner of War escape films. It features the true story of Eric Williams and two others in their escape from Stalag-Lufft III in October of 1943. This was the same POW camp where the Great Escape took place as well and which also got turned into a more famous film.The connection with the more grander film is important as you watch this film you see the prisoners trying to obtain permission from the escape committee with their plans which also occurs in The Great Escape as well.In this film two British prisoners of war decide not to have the usual tunnel escape but build a wooden vaulting horse which could be placed near the wire fence thus reducing the distance they would have to tunnel from this starting point to escape.The first half of the movie is more exciting as they carry out their daring plan with one or two prisoners hiding inside the vault and then digging the tunnel.The second half of the film is once they have escaped they try to get to the safety of Sweden. Here David Tomlinson who plays one of the escapees disappears from the film as we concentrate on Leo Gen and Anthony Steel. This part of the film feels dull, long and oddly lacks tension especially compared to The Great Escape which made this part more thrilling.I always had childhood memories of The Wooden Horse and the escape part. Its nice to be reacquainted with the film again. There are some nice unstated performances, an early appearance by future Oscar winner Peter Finch and parts for some British film stalwarts such as Bryan Forbes.Its just a shame that the latter part of the film lets it down.
richard-meredith27
In 1943, a group of RAF Officers, including Eric Wiiliams, decide to escape from a POW camp using a Gymnastic Vaulting Horse in the courtyard. In 1950, it was decided to film his account, and it kick-started a peculiar British Film Genre- the Military Prison Camp story that reached its apogee in Danger Within (1959).The Wooden Horse is one of the quietest films I have ever watched. There are no great dramatic moments, but a steady storyline eventually builds to a climax that has more tension because the story doesn't give way for unlikely drama, jump cuts or jacked up (somethings about to happen!) music. It is utterly of its time and works beautifully.Leo Glenn, Anthony Steel and David Tomlinson lead a curiously low key cast of extras and (I suspect) non-actors. Without exception, all are constantly mono-tonal and quiet. They keep emotion out of their roles. As so many were, until recently, ex-service, I suspect they recreated their war time roles as 'Officers and Gentlemen'.This unemotional approach does not detract from any dramatic tension. On the contrary, unlike most Wartime Escape Films, the story doesn't end at the barbed wire: and that fact alone keeps me glued to the end.
