L'évadé

An innocent man , Jay Wagner (Robert Duval) is set-up , betrayed , blamed and sent to prison in Mexico . A bush pilot called Nick Colton (Charles Bronson) is hired by a wife called Ann (Jill Ireland) whose husband is imprisoned . As Nick for fifty thousand dollars to go to Mexico to free the prisoner wrongly framed and held captive at an impregnable Mexican prison . And thanks to the abundant reward Colton is all to eager to do it . But the nasty people (John Huston , Paul Mantee) who accused Jay will do what they have to make sure he doesn't break out . Only two things can get him out - A lot of money and Charles Bronson! No prison is strong enough to hold Bronson! Impossible? Not for Bronson! .Charles Bronson in action in BREAKOUT ¡

The producers of this action movie use an initial foreword to tell us that the prison getaway method shown in the film has actually been used . Enjoyable and stirring screenplay , though there are a lot of implausibilites in the plot , which gets by on the moving action sequences . Of course , highlight of the movie results to be the thrilling and exciting escape , plenty of nail-biting tension , suspense and noisy action . This is a Charles Bronson show , playing in his usual style , here as devil-may-care bush pilot to execute an extremely dangerous assignment . While not exactly Bronson at his best , this thriller does have its moments as the star carries out the risked mission by flying a helicopter throughout the attractive landscapes and into the penitentiary . And his real life wife Jill Ireland gives an acceptable acting as inmate's spouse who attempts to get him out . Support cast is pretty good with a variety of notorious secondaries , many of them playing in all in light-hearted vein , such as : Randy Quaid attempting to convince the prison guards he's a girl in spite of his weighs 200 pounds and more six feet , John Huston as the villain grandfather , Paul Mantee as a heinous henchman , Alan Vint , Alejandro Rey , José María Caffarel , Luis Prendes , Roy Jenson and special mention for Robert Duval as the prisoner sentenced to 28 years in prison for a crime he never committed and Shree North in a comical/serious role as a ploy to free the inmate.

Superbly photographed by Lucien Ballard on impressive outdoors , this cameraman when he's given the chance is awesome . Being shot on various locations from Spain and Mexico and the prison fortress was filmed in the Pyrenees in the south of France , there , on a mountaintop near Perpignan, sits the grim pile known as the "Fort de Bellegarde". Kudos for the rousing as well as spectacular musical score by maestro Jerry Goldsmith , composed in his peculiar style . Goldsmith charging along to some of the best film soundtracks has ever written . The motion picture was professionally directed by Tom Gries , though hard to tell at times . Tom replaced Michael Ritchie as filmmaker early during production , he was an expert director of Western as ¨Breakheart pass¨ also titled ¨Nevada Express¨ , ¨100 Rifles¨ , and ¨Will Penny¨ that is the best work ever made ; Gries also directed other successes as ¨Breakout¨, ¨The glass house¨ , ¨Helter Skelter¨ and TV series as ¨QBVII¨ , but he also made some real duds . His later output in other genres was routine and flopped in theatres.

Charles Bronson gets the rare chance to exercise his comic chops in this relatively lighthearted role (I've never seen him smile and joke so much before). Apart from that, "Breakout" is nothing special, there is very little action, and after all the anticipation the actual ecsape sequence is totally unbelievable. The only other notable part of the movie is the eye-popping (no pun intended) finish to the plane field fight. **1/2 out of 4.

Tom Gries("Will Penny") directs this thin drama that casts Charles Bronson as independent pilot Nick Colton, enlisted by a desperate wife(Jill Ireland) who wants him to fly into a Mexican prison to rescue her husband(Robert Duvall) who she insists was framed by the mafia. Colton agrees for $50,000, though of course the plan doesn't go as smoothly as they had hoped...

Though this has a good cast, there is little else about this film that is memorable, and credibility isn't that high either. Some goofy comedy involving costar Randy Quaid dressed as a woman doesn't help! Tom Gries did far better with "Will Penny"; perhaps his heart just wasn't in this?

The movie "Breakout" was based on a true story by Joel Kaplan, the man who actually broke out of a Mexican prison, after being framed for murder. He wrote the book, and I dated his sister. It was actually his sister who arranged his escape, not his fictional Hollywood wife. Hollywood greatly exaggerated the true story. Even the Mexican Attorney General admitted this was the greatest escape in Mexican prison history! The New York Times backs my story in about 1972. Jack Sandy

Robert Duvall must have felt like the Count Of Monte Cristo in Breakout. Not sharing in his wealthy grandfather's right-wing business type politics, Duvall is framed for a murder in Mexico while he's in Chile flown back and sentenced to a Mexican prison for 28 years. Only the fact that he's grandfather John Huston's blood saves him from execution. Or more than likely he would have been executed forthwith with all the problems he's causing.

The thought that his own family could be responsible does not even factor into Duvall's wife Jill Ireland trying to free him. For that she goes to commercial pilot Charles Bronsonto get the job done. Bronson's good for a dishonest dollar if you have enough of them. He and assistant Randy Quaid will do what they have to and in Quaid's case it involves one attempt with Quaid in drag.

Bronson proves to have a droll sense of humor in this film. The drag business with Randy Quaid is one example, another is his use of Sheree North who is married to deputy sheriff Roy Jenson and the girl needs some spending loot. Sheree has some of the best scenes in Breakout.

Charles Bronson fans should be very happy with Breakout at how he beats some considerable odds stacked against him.