The colditz story is an outstanding factual prisoner of war film directed by guy hamilton, starring john mills ice cold in alex as officer pat reid and eric portman the 49th parallel as colonel richmond. It is based on the book written by pat reid, a british army officer who was imprisoned in oflag iv c, colditz castle, in germany during the second world war and who was the escape officer for british pows within the castle.colditz castle in the heart of saxony, was the fortress to which the german high command sent officers who had attempted to escape from conventional prison camps. They regarded it as impregnable yet they threatened the death penalty for anyone attempting to break out. British officer pat reid leads an escape through one of the castle's subterranean tunnels. Only three of the prisoners survive the next step is to get out of germany itself.special featuresnew and exclusive documentary colditz revealed life inside the colditz castlerestoration comparison