'An Ideal Husband' director Oliver Parker, who will helm this biographical drama from a script by William Ivory, calls the casting of the two iconic actors a 'cherry on the cake.'
- Feb 20, 2021
AceShowbiz - Acclaimed British actors Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson are reuniting onscreen to star in biographical drama "The Great Escaper".
The movie centers on World War II veteran Bernard Jordan, played by Caine, who breaks out of his care home to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France in 2014. In order to commemorate their fallen comrades, he then staged a "great escape" from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy.
"It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable," a plot description reads. "The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart. Bernie’s adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Irene (Jackson). The story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we might all learn from the Greatest Generation."
"An Ideal Husband"'s Oliver Parker will direct the project from a script by William Ivory, with principal photography scheduled to begin in June 2021.
In a statement, Parker said, "No one can resist a script that makes people both laugh and cry - I loved Billy [William]'s writing and the story itself, so inspirational and so moving, seemed to speak to our times and our need for heroes on a human scale, whether people like Bernard Jordan or our doctors and nurses."
"And now to have Michael and Glenda - two iconic actors - agree to honor this story with their brilliance, it's the cherry on the cake!"
The film won't be the first time the Oscar winners have worked together - they previously played husband and wife in "The Romantic Englishwoman" back in 1975.
