The One That Got Away (Rank Film Distributors of America) (1957)

PUBLICITY “WHO WOULD BE AN ACTOR?” ASKS HARDY KRUGER STAR OF “THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY” (Feature) With a sudden convulsive shudder, Hardy Kruger let himself topple into four feet of snow. Like an iceberg, he was nine-tenths submerged. He lay for a moment, Director Roy Baker, with a look of alert approval, watched. In snow-bound Northern Sweden work had started on sequences showing Franz von Werra’s incredible escape across Canada for the film of the bestselling book “The One That Got Away,” opening on ........ at the Theatre. And this was the ordeal of the 29-year-old actor from Germany who re-enacts von Werra’s escape story for the screen. This was movie-making stripped of all glamour. From dawn to dusk each day Kruger was out in sub-zero temperatures — wearing a deliberately frozen overcoat. (The coat had been soaked in water, then hung out to freeze stiff.) For six days Kruger tramped across miles of snow. He stumbled, fell, picked himself up and walked on. The hunted looks over his shoulder were acting. The weariness wasn’t. “Years ago,’ said Kruger, “my father warned me not to become an actor. He said there was no glamour — only hard work. I ignored his advice.” A shower of snow was scattered over his head. He rolled in snow to get his coat covered. He winced, shivered. “I think maybe my father was right,” he said. In real life Franz von Werra tramped across snow-bound country to the point of exhaustion—and the American side of the St. Lawrence River. Almost as real was Kruger’s film repetition of his exploit. Von Werra’s final escape took him across the frozen St. Lawrence—at night. In the refrigerated night the scene was to be filmed on an ice-bound lake. Special teams of rescuers were standing by with ropes and tackle in case anyone fell through the thinning ice at the center of the lake. The only man to go right to the center: Hardy Kruger. Said he on the eve of the ice scenes: “What a part...” He smiled in a way that said that, really, he enjoyed it. As the sun set on a white landscape the shadows lengthened. There was mile after mile of snow... . It looked like a Christmas card. But there was no yule-tide charm in the knifesharp air. As Roy Baker watched, Kruger tumbled into a snow filled ditch. Baker said: “That’s fine . we'll shoot it.” Kruger leaned on his elbow, snow clinging to his face. Said he: “Perhaps my father was right . . Who’d be an ACtOn or. s = HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A POW CAMP IN FIVE EASY LESSONS (Interview ) ene (As told by Hardy Kruger, who plays the Luftwaffe Pilot, Franz von Werra, in “The One That “Got Away”—now playing the p 1. Duplicating von Werra’s most spectacular bid for freedom, I jumped from a fastmoving Canadian train, rolling down the railway embankment. And then began the frost-bitten trek towards the frozen St. Lawrence river—and possibly freedom in the United States. 2. When I reached the river it was covered with snow. I dug a hole in the snow to make sure it was a river because over the river was freedom. This is a most exciting moment. 3. Halfway over the river the ice was broken and although I was already frozen and exhausted I had to go back to the riverbank to find a boat. Then I had to struggle to push the boat over the ice to open water. Looks exhausting and it was. 4. IT had to do in a few minutes (for the camera) what von Werra in real life took hours to do. I learned quickly how tough it must have been for him and I thought the director would never say “cut.” I have to admit that while it was cold, terribly cold when I did, it was twice as cold when von Werra did it and his life was at stake. Only my reputation was at stake. 5. Once over the river and on dry land ‘again, I rolled over a wall which seemed a hundred feet high at the time but was only high enough for a man in good physical trim to scale in a moment. For me this was one of the most impressive and exciting moments in the whole film; for this is exactly the wall over which von Werra escaped in real life 17 years ago. We found the spot, to the actual stone. Theatre). Capturing Cook Burly, good natured Anthony Sagar, currently appearing in the Rank Organization’s film “The One That Got Away,” portrays an army cook who captured the title character, Franz von Werra, portrayed by Germany’s ace star, Hardy Kruger. The film: now at the. «cee. Theatre is a Rank Organization production. In real life Sagar’s hobby is cooking. His part comes during the early part of the film when he sees the Messerschmitt crash land in a nearby field. Arming himself with a meat chopper he is first to reach the pilot, and the prisoner is his. A telegrapher in the Royal Navy during the war, he confessed ruefully that he didn’t capture any Germans himself. Asked how real life compares with his screen role he admits he doesn’t use a meat chopper. Actor Makes Bow George Roubicek, Vienneseborn Australian from Toowoomba won his first film part as a German war prisoner in “The One That Got Away.” Within days of landing came _ break number 2, a part in the play “Tea and Sympathy.” His work is now on the screen of the Theatre where the Rank Organization film opened) On Fenn)... with Hardy Kruger starring. Roubicek’s compatriots in Australia had such confidence in him that they raised a sum for a public scholarship to send him to Britain for study. shivering. Then he turned over, his face buried in snow. Hurricane Fighter Plane Stars Once Again A veteran Battle ef Britain Hurricane fighter plane makes its second appearance on the screen in the Rank Organization production “The One That Got Away,” starring Hardy Kruger. The film is now playing the ose Theatre. Lent to the movie company by the British Air Ministry, it is the only remaining air-worthy member of the famous Force that helped save the world for Democracy. Each year it is flown at the head of the Battle of Britain flypast. Now it has the star part in “The One That Got Away” which tells the story of the three escape attempts of the intrepid Luftwaffe pilot, Franz von Werra. On one of these attempts he brazenly talked his way onto an airfield and into the cockpit of a Hurricane. So great was his assurance, that he almost had the engine turning before his plan failed. No Glamor for Film Director “ Director Roy Baker takes a dim view of film-making when anybody uses the word glamor. His current film is “The One That Got Away,’ now at the Sa es ir Theatre. Hardy Kruger stars in the Rank Organization production. Baker’s first film was “Inferno,” made in the parching heat of the New Mexico desert. Then came Engilish-made ‘“Passage Home.” A more recent picture was “Tiger in the Smoke,” made in the midst of artificial fog; the current film ‘The One That Got Away” was made partly in Sweden where he and the company spent a fortnight in knee-deep snow with temperatures that touched 24 below zero. Other parts of the film were made in the Lake district, “ankle deep,” he said “in glamorous mud.” This scene from “The One That Got Away,” shows Hardy Kruger in the role of the real life Franz von Werra facing a group of British interrogators after his third and successful escape attempt. The picture, a Rank Organization release is now playing the Theatre. es a ere wehe. ©. 6:0 6 86 e118 © MOVIE STAR HARDY KRUGER HAS RULE FOR DOMESTIC BLISS (Women’s Page Feature) From behind the cream-smooth charm of German screen idol Hardy Kruger come words to rattle a million women. This is Kruger speaking—with the easy smile, the so-soft voice, the hand-kissing Continental charm: “J would never,” he says, “dream of helping my wife to wash the dishes.” With a determined nod of his handsome head, he adds: “And I would never offer to help in the house.” And then come words to burst like a bombshell in the kitchens of Britain: “We have in Germany a saying, with which I agree completely: A wife and the oven belong in the home.” Kruger—happily married with an 11-year-old daughter—is starring in “The One That Got Away,” Rank Organization production now playing at the Theatre. Back home, with 22 films to his credit, he is one of the top-five stars—with squads of loyal fans. But there is one kitchen in which his words would have no impact at all—his own. “My wife,” says Kruger, “would never ask me to wash the dishes. “We believe that it is the husband’s job to protect the wife and earn the living. I would work endlessly to pay for 15 servants or buy my wife a golden house. But I would never help in the kitchen!” “T am always surprised,” he says, “when I go into an English or American house and see the husband wash the dishes while his wife relaxes in an easy-chair. “T support the idea that a woman’s place is in the home.” Exceptions in the Kruger outlook on domestic bliss are few. A young couple starting a home may share the chores. Or a couple where the wife has a career—as distinct from just a job. But even careers are frowned upon. “My wife, says Kruger, “had a career on the stage before we were married. She gave it up as soon as I could afford to keep her properly.” But he adds: “Which is the proper way of doing things is for every couple to decide for themselves.” One thing is certain: even if he kissed the hand of an English or American housewife before telling her that she and the oven go together he would have to run for it. He’d be the one that got away—with a rolling pin in pursuit...! Visitor Lands Role Eight weeks after he came to Britain from Australia, 27 year old George Mikell landed a part in the major Rank Organization film, “The One That Got Away,” starring Hardy Kruger in the suspenseful film now at the .... .... Theatre. For the actor, that completed a round-the-world migration. Born in Lithuania, Mikell went to Germany when he was 12. That was in 1941. After dramatic training, he went to Australia where, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane he worked as an actor, a laborer and factory hand. In 1955 he won a series of parts in the Old Vic Australian tour that starred Katharine Hepburn and Robert Helpmann. It was about this time that Mikell became an Australian citizen. Back once more in Europe, he visited his family in Oldenburg, Germany, and went on to England to step into German army uniform and a part as a fellow prisoner of Franz von Werra, on whose exploits the film is based. ‘Cameraman On Ice Eric Cross whose camera tech German From Erin nique was seen in “The Kidnappers” and “High Tide at Noon” brings a new film experience to patrons Of The 5 26.565 Theatre where “The One That Got Away” is now showing. The Rank Organization film is based on the best-seller which in turn is an account of Franz von Werra, German’s ace pilot who escaped from prison camps in England and Canada. In the Rank Organization’s suspense film, “The One That GOtmAWaya salemiel Ge ee .ckess. < Theatre, an actor named Gerald Onn appears. Everybody in the studio thought he was a German, but it seems Gerald is an Irishman from Killarney. “It was not a piece of Irish blarney,” he explained, “just a ,case of mistaken identity.” RS a es ee tL R= a ee Kruger In World Poll Top Ten In a world film-star popularity poll taken in Germany, 29-yearold Hardy Kruger was voted among the top ten. The poll included international names like Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck and William Holden. Kruger has the key role in the Rank Organization’s ‘The One That Got Away.” He plays prisoner-on-the-run Franz von Werra. It is his first British film. In Germany, lean, fair-haired Kruger has made 22 films. For eight years, he has rated fourth in popularity polls including only German star names. en nee 4 Page Five