Remembrance Day documentaries on TVO

 

TVO will be showing an evening of documentaries telling stories from the two world wars, and the period in between the wars, on Sunday, November 11, 2012.

 

8:00 pm  The Last Day of World War One

The explosive and emotional story of one of the most important days in history: over 11,000 casualties occurred during the final hours of the First World War – many after the Armistice had actually been  signed. Travelling to the battlefields in  France and Belgium, Michael Palin visits the places where American, British, French, Canadian and German troops were fighting as the war came to an end.

9:00 pm  The Great Escape: The Reckoning

On the evening of March 24, 1944, 76 airmen broke out of a German prison camp in a dramatic bid for freedom.  Over the next few days, 50 were recaptured and murdered by the Gestapo on the orders of a vengeful Adolf Hitler.  This is the untold story of the postwar investigation to hunt down the Gestapo officers responsible.

10:00 pm  Paris 1919

For six months, Paris was the capital of the world. The last shots had just been fired in the most devastating war of all time, and the old global order lay in tatters. Delegations from over 30 nations descended upon Paris for the most ambitious peace talks in history. Inspired by Margaret Macmillan’s book,  Paris 1919 captures the atmosphere, characters and the dramatic cut-and-thrust of diplomacy and territorial ambition as political leaders
redraw the map of the world after the First World War.

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The night before Remembrance Day, TVO is showing the Hollywood version of the Great Escape story as part of Saturday Night at the Movies:

Saturday November 10th, 2012

8:00 pm

The Great Escape (1963)

Based on a true story, the film follows the remarkable escape of Allied POWs from a German Nazi prison camp during World War II. Directed by John Sturges, the all-star cast includes James Garner, Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen.