Papillon (1973) USA
Papillon Image Cover
Additional Images
Director:Franklin J. Schaffner
Studio:Warner Home Video
Producer:Franklin J. Schaffner, Robert Dorfmann, Robert O. Kaplan, Ted Richmond
Writer:Henri Charrière, Dalton Trumbo
Rating:4.5
Rated:R
Date Added:2006-03-27
ASIN:B0000399WC
UPC:0012569083226
Price:$19.98
Awards:Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination
Genre:Biography
Release:2005-05-30
IMDb:0070511
Duration:150
Picture Format:Widescreen
Aspect Ratio:2.35:1
Sound:Dolby Digital 5.1
Languages:English, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:English, French
Features:Anamorphic
Franklin J. Schaffner  ...  (Director)
Henri Charrière, Dalton Trumbo  ...  (Writer)
 
Steve McQueen  ...  Henri 'Papillon' Charriere
Dustin Hoffman  ...  Louis Dega
Victor Jory  ...  Indian chief
Don Gordon  ...  Julot
Anthony Zerbe  ...  Toussaint Leper Colony chief
Robert Deman  ...  Maturette
Woodrow Parfrey  ...  Clusiot
Bill Mumy  ...  Lariot
George Coulouris  ...  Dr. Chatal
Ratna Assan  ...  Zoraima
William Smithers  ...  Warden Barrot
Val Avery  ...  Pascal
Gregory Sierra  ...  Antonio
Vic Tayback  ...  Sergeant (as Victor Tayback)
Mills Watson  ...  Guard
Comments: The greatest adventure of escape ever filmed!

Summary: Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton) directs this true story of Henri Charriere (better known as "Papillon" or "the butterfly"), a prisoner so determined to escape the notorious Devil's Island, he attempted it multiple times until he reached old age. Steve McQueen plays Charriere, and Dustin Hoffman is very good as the hero's anxious, defenseless friend. Based on Charriere's own memoir and uncompromisingly adapted by screenwriters Dalton Trumbo (Johnny Got His Gun) and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (Three Days of the Condor), the film is tough going (it is set, after all, on Devil's Island) but not gratuitously violent. There are sequences that stay with one for a long time, such as Papillon's brief stay at a leper colony and the long periods of starvation and solitary confinement he endures after each attempted flight. --Tom Keogh