Papillon (1973) Movie Overview

Papillon is a 1973 film based on a novel by French ex-convict Henri Charrière. The film was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starred Steve McQueen as Henri Charrière (”Papillon“) and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Due to the exotic locations, the film was considered as very expensive at the time of shooting ($12M), but earned more than double that in its first year of release . This film was rated PG by the MPAA. A man makes friends with a fellow in-mate while they are serving sentence on a notorious island prison and he plots his hellish escape. The petty criminal known as Papillon is unjustly convicted of murder in the 1930s and sentenced to life imprisonment in a French penitentiary on Devil’s Island in French Guiana. He tries several escapes which result in many punishments but after a decade he eventually succeeds. Papillon was filmed at various locations in Spain and Jamaica, with the cave scenes filmed beneath what is now the Xtabi hotel on the cliffs of Negril. While the penal colony scenes for Papillon were filmed in Falmouth, and the swamp scenes were shot near Ferris Cross, Steve McQueen’s famous cliff jumping scene, near the end of the movie, took place on the X… Source

• Papillon Movie Details
• Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
• Official Sites: Official site
• Tagline: The greatest adventure of escape ever filmed!
• Country: USA , France
• Run Time: 151 min
• Genre: Adventure , Biography , Crime , Drama

• Cast Overview
• Steve McQueen as Henri 'Papillon' Charriere
• Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega
• Victor Jory as Indian Chief
• Don Gordon as Julot
• Anthony Zerbe as Toussaint
• Robert Deman as Maturette

Papillon Movie Overview – Yahoo Movies

Papillon (1973): Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, a petty criminal known as quot;Papillonquot; (butterfly). Wrongly convicted of murder in the 1930s and sentenced to life in a penal colony in French Guiana, Papillon attempted many escapes and subsequent punishments before succeeding. Source

Papillon Movie Review from New York Times

The autobiography of Henri Charriere, one of the few people to successfully escape from the notorious French penal colony of Devil’s Island, served as the basis for Papillon. Steve McQueen plays the pugnacious Charriere (known as “Papillon,” or “butterfly,” because of a prominent tatoo), incarcerated–wrongly, he claims–for murdering a pimp. He sa… Source

Papillon Movie Details from Imdb

Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, also known as Papillon, which is French for ‘butterfly’ (the character even sports a large tattoo of a butterfly). A petty criminal, Papillon is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in a French penal colony in ‘Guiane’ (French Guiana, South America). Papillon is determined to escape but attem… Source

Papillon (1973) from YouTube