Escape from East Berlin

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Escape from East Berlin
Directed by	Robert Siodmak
Produced by	Walter Wood
Written by	Gabrielle Upton (also story) Peter Berneis (also story) Millard Lampell
Starring	Don Murray
Music by	Hans-Martin Majewski
Cinematography	Georg Krause
Editing by	Maurice Wright
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	October 22, 1962
Running time	89 min
Country	USA/West Germany
Language	English
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IMDb profile

Escape from East Berlin is a 1962 film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Don Murray.

[edit] Plot

The story occurs in East Berlin soon after the Berlin Wall is built, and is based on an actual escape on January 28, 1962. Kurt Schröder is a chauffeur to East German Major Eckhardt and his seductive wife Heidi, and lives within sight of the Wall. One night he sees a friend, Günther Jurgens, who also works at the garage, drive his truck into the wall, and get killed trying to escape. Gunter's sister, Erika, comes looking for Günther when he doesn't return, and is told that Kurt saw him last night. She then goes to Kurt's house, where he lives with his mother, Uncle Albert (a musician), sister Ingeborg and kid brother Helmut. Erika is intent on escaping to West Berlin, thinking that her brother made it, while Kurt is reasonably satisfied with his life. Erika then looks out beyond the barbed wire, but Kurt catches her as she tries to crawl under, and they pretend to be lovers to hide her intentions from suspicious guards. Kurt then hides her in his house. A piece of Eirka's clothing is caught in the barbed wire, and the guards track her to the Schröder's house. She hides in a room without a floor, and narrowly escapes the guards after they conclude that she could not be in the room.

The Schröders and their neighbours, including Marga, whose husband has already escaped to the west, want to escape East Germany, and Kurt comes up with the idea of building a tunnel under the wall, through which they can escape to West Berlin. They drill through the basement wall using Uncle Albert's band as a cover. One member of the family keeps watch while the others After they start digging the tunnel, they are joined by Walter Brunner, to whom Kurt's mother has promised to rent a room. All the while, Kurt is falling in love with Erika, and he eventually summons the courage to tell her that her brother is dead. One night, the tunnel is completed when just before dawn Kurt reaches the other side, and the breakout is planned for the following night.

However, Marga tells Erika's parents the news of their daughter, and Erika's father, a professor who favours the Communist regime, betrays the escape plan to the authorities. Kurt learns of the betrayal and the resultant price on his head from Heidi, and he hurries home. When he arrives home, Kurt learns that his family have invited more people to join the escape, bringing the number of escapees to 28. Kurt tells them of the betrayal, and that they must make their escape ahead of schedule. As the police besiege their house, the Schröders, their friends and Erika make their escape, with Kurt bringing up the rear. He is wounded when a soldier fires, and struggles to make his way through the tunnel as it collapses behind him, but Erika comes back to find and help him. Together they make their way to the exit, where the others have already emerged to live in freedom.