Based on a true story, Papillon tells the story of Henri Charriere, also known as Papillon, which is French for - butterfly -, because he sports a large tattoo of a butterfly.
Papillon, a petty criminal, is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in the French penal colony in Guyana (South America).
Papillon is determined to escape but his first attempts result in eventual recapture, despite reaching such locales as an Indian paradise and a lepers colony.
As punishment, he is sent to Devils Island, a prison within the Guyana prison, from which no one has ever escaped. He continues his attempts to escape despite incarcerations in solitary confinement as punishment. --IMDb
Cast: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe, Robert Deman, Woodrow Parfrey, Bill Mumy, George Coulouris, Ratna Assan, William Smithers, Val Avery, Gregory Sierra, Vic Tayback, Mills Watson, Ron Soble, Barbara Morrison, Don Hanmer, E.J. André, Richard Angarola, Jack Denbo, Len Lesser, John Quade, Fred Sadoff, Allen Jaffe, Liam Dunn
About this movie
Title: Papillon (1973)
Directed by: FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER
Date of birth: 30 May 1920, Tokyo, Japan
Date of death: 2 July 1989, Santa Monica, California, USA
Writing credits: Dalton Trumbo, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Henri Charrière (story)
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Year: 1973
Country: United States
Language: English
Color: Color
Runtime: 150 mins.