Escape to Victory Escape to Victory Escape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 American film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during the Second World War who play an exhibition match of football against a German team. The film was directed by John Huston and starred Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, and Daniel Massey. The film received great attention upon its theatrical release, as it also starred professional footballers Bobby Moore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Kazimierz Deyna, Paul Van Himst, Mike Summerbee, Hallvar Thoresen, Werner Roth and Pelé. Numerous
Directed by John Ford of the film clips used came across as "a little long and lugubrious", and he was unhappy that the film did not go into sufficient depth when exploring certain aspects of Ford's personal life, which were either unknown at the time the film was made or too controversial to include during Ford's lifetime. The original version of "Directed by John Ford" was shown at the 1999 Telluride Film Festival, garnering a strong positive reaction, and this success led Bogdanovich to believe that a re-edited version might be a viable option. He delivered a pitch to producer Frank Marshall, an old