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Gender!Swap Cast: The Great Escape
Apparently my mind has gotten so entrenched in gender!swap that I have actually started dreaming about it.
As some of you have heard, the other night I dreamed that I was gender!swap casting The Great Escape--I even dreamed who I'd cast as Hilts. When I woke up, I realized that I had to actually do this (and yes, the lady I cast as Hilts is the same one from my dream--who's to argue with the brilliance of my subconscious?).
The Great Escape is one of my favorite films of all time. I grew up on it, and it's instant happy-making. It's got fun characters, ridiculously enjoyable actors, funny dialogue, adventure, and one of the greatest soundtracks ever written for film. The only thing it doesn't have is women. There's not a single woman with a speaking role in this film (the only ladies who show up are extras). And honestly, this is one of the rare occasions when this makes sense: the film takes place in a German POW camp during WWII, a location that wouldn't be exactly crawling with women, besides Red Cross nurses who might visit from time to time. But what could be more fun than imagining a group of women playing these roles?
A quick summary for those of you haven't seen the movie, provided by imdb: Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist type prisoners of war are all put in an 'escape proof' camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe.
I'm not a well man. My teeth. I could tell you stories about my teeth that would make your hair stand on end.
Five gold rings. Four calling birds - bloody singing, I've never worked so hard in all my life.
I'd like to see one of you under similar circumstances.
Danny, I'll see you through the tunnel. I'll look after you. I'll stick with you all the way.
Why didn't anyone think of that before? It's so stupid, it's positively brilliant!
I must say, it's an interesting first twenty minutes.
We have in effect put all our rotten eggs in one basket. And we intend to watch this basket carefully.
It's all right. It's all right, mate. We're just having a friendly little argument.
Afraid this tea's pathetic. Must have used these wretched leaves about twenty times. It's not that I mind so much. But tea without milk is so uncivilized.
This tunnel is mine as much as anybody. I dug it. I built it. I was buried many times. I go when I want.
Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.
One has to ask some very strange things in the job I have.
Come on, Roger. We all know the score here, at least... most of us do. Your idea of this escape is to... start another front, to foul up the Germans behind the lines. All right, that's fine, that's fine. But once we get passed that barbed wire, once we have them looking all over Germany for us, that mission is accomplished. Afterwards, we have some ideas of our own.
I haven't seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over.
As some of you have heard, the other night I dreamed that I was gender!swap casting The Great Escape--I even dreamed who I'd cast as Hilts. When I woke up, I realized that I had to actually do this (and yes, the lady I cast as Hilts is the same one from my dream--who's to argue with the brilliance of my subconscious?).
The Great Escape is one of my favorite films of all time. I grew up on it, and it's instant happy-making. It's got fun characters, ridiculously enjoyable actors, funny dialogue, adventure, and one of the greatest soundtracks ever written for film. The only thing it doesn't have is women. There's not a single woman with a speaking role in this film (the only ladies who show up are extras). And honestly, this is one of the rare occasions when this makes sense: the film takes place in a German POW camp during WWII, a location that wouldn't be exactly crawling with women, besides Red Cross nurses who might visit from time to time. But what could be more fun than imagining a group of women playing these roles?
A quick summary for those of you haven't seen the movie, provided by imdb: Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist type prisoners of war are all put in an 'escape proof' camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe.
I'm not a well man. My teeth. I could tell you stories about my teeth that would make your hair stand on end.
Five gold rings. Four calling birds - bloody singing, I've never worked so hard in all my life.
I'd like to see one of you under similar circumstances.
Danny, I'll see you through the tunnel. I'll look after you. I'll stick with you all the way.
Why didn't anyone think of that before? It's so stupid, it's positively brilliant!
I must say, it's an interesting first twenty minutes.
We have in effect put all our rotten eggs in one basket. And we intend to watch this basket carefully.
It's all right. It's all right, mate. We're just having a friendly little argument.
Afraid this tea's pathetic. Must have used these wretched leaves about twenty times. It's not that I mind so much. But tea without milk is so uncivilized.
This tunnel is mine as much as anybody. I dug it. I built it. I was buried many times. I go when I want.
Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.
One has to ask some very strange things in the job I have.
Come on, Roger. We all know the score here, at least... most of us do. Your idea of this escape is to... start another front, to foul up the Germans behind the lines. All right, that's fine, that's fine. But once we get passed that barbed wire, once we have them looking all over Germany for us, that mission is accomplished. Afterwards, we have some ideas of our own.
I haven't seen Berlin yet, from the ground or from the air, and I plan on doing both before the war is over.
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IS THE BEST
as is Jennifer Ehle. ♥
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Jennifer Ehle should be in more of the things. Seriously.
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(She would have been Harry Lloyd's sister! *cries*)
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Hahaha, yes, I am so predictable!
I feel like the Lannisters are going to be flawless on screen, too. I'm really excited about it because: awesome characters. Really, really awesome, even if I don't stan them the way you do. Just the little clips we've seen have made me think it's going to be perfect.
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LENA. And the guy they got for Jaime is just—I don't know if my ridiculous reaction to him (one part "you are a perfect creation!"; one part "IN BED") is in part an effect of having in my head, but unf, dude is perfection. MOST AMAZING COCKY BODY LANGUAGE EVERYWHERE.
Basically, all the choices are the best choices. Need this show in front of my face already.
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(I think you mean Gillian Jacobs, though? Either that, or I'm really terrible at recognizing Gillian Anderson.)
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(HAHAHAHAHA YES THAT'S WHAT I MEANT. BRAIN FART.)
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oh man. i think i might have to track this down online. it's been ages since i saw it.
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I just rewatched it and fell in love all over again. Oh movie! ♥
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It suddenly occurs to me that Jennifer Ehle and Mary McDonnell have rather similar cheekbones.
One of these days, I do need to actually watch all of The Great Escape. I've seen just a very little bit of the end, which was very action-oriented, and I had no idea there were funny parts in it.
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Huh. I think you're right! Though I hadn't noticed it before. Cheekbones!
You should! The first half is very funny and competence-porn-y with everyone doing their jobs very, very well; the second half turns into ACTION MOVIE! I think you'd definitely enjoy it.
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the witchAdmiral Cain is dead. So, we've just started the second half of S2.no subject
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Is that Gaius Baltar with facial hair in your icon above? Or is it just shadow?
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HAHAHA YES. Full beard. Looks like Jesus. It's kind of glorious. What a ridiculous man.
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But yeah, I think the show needs him. The show takes itself too seriously aside from him. It's so over-the-top grim. Which makes sense--I mean, humanity's just been almost annihilated and they're on the run. But still.
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Your choices are AWESOME. I especially love Big X, the SBO, the forger, and Cavendish.
I'll confess I've been thinking about this since you said you were going to do it and I came up with a couple of my own as well. I picked Angelina Jolie for Hendley and Melanie Laurant for Hilts. And I like to picture Elizabeth Moss as a tunnel king.
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