Sir Michael Caine in new film about veteran who 'escaped' care home to mark D-Day anniversary

Actor Sir Michael Caine has been shooting scenes for a new film which portrays the real-life story of Second World War veteran Bernard Jordan who was so determined to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings eight years ago, he staged a 'great escape' from his care home to join comrades in Normandy.

Sir Michael has teamed up with fellow Oscar winner Glenda Jackson, who stars as Bernard's wife Irene, for the film The Great Escaper to tell the story of the octogenarian veteran's so-called escape.

The veteran sneaked out of his care home in Hove, West Sussex, before catching a train from Brighton to Portsmouth to catch a ferry – sparking concerned calls to police from the staff at the care home to report him missing.

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The principal photography for the film is being shot in Camber Sands in East Sussex where Sir Michael has been spotted in character, sporting military medals and using a walking frame as he plays the part of Bernard in the dramatised account of the story.

Sir Michael is well known to military audiences for his role in the 1964 classic film Zulu about the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift between the British Army and Zulus, as well as numerous other war films including Victory, The Eagle Has Landed and A Bridge Too Far to name but a few.

The Great Escaper depicts Bernard's spirited adventure, which made global headlines in the summer of 2014, downgrading the news agendas of world leaders from the top news slots, as people around the world warmed to his bold determination to attend the D-Day commemorations to remember fallen comrades.

Care home staff at The Pines nursing home had earlier reportedly tried to book him on a Royal British Legion-organised trip to attend the remembrance events in Normandy but when he learned that they had not managed to secure him a place, he single-mindedly resolved to take matters into his own hands, and subsequently disappeared from the care home, without alerting staff, to make his own way to France.

War hero Bernard, who passed away a year later in 2015, aged 90, followed by the death of his wife, aged 88, days afterwards, had been a Royal Navy officer during Operation Overlord, the successful World War Two Allied operation to liberate German-occupied France and Western Europe in June 1944.

He refused to accept that he would miss such an important milestone in the commemorations of D-Day.

Film production and distribution company Pathé, which announced the feature film last year, said it was a story that captured the imagination of the world, adding: "Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, 'can-do' spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing."

The filmmakers added that the jaunt from the care home itself was not the whole story, saying: "It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. 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 – the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we might all learn from the Greatest Generation."

The film, which is an Ecosse Films production for Pathé, BBC Film and Ingenious Media, will be directed by BAFTA nominee Oliver Parker, who wrote 1999 film An Ideal Husband, from a script by BAFTA nominee William Ivory, who wrote Made in Dagenham.

Parker, in a statement from Pathé, said: “No-one can resist a script that makes people both laugh and cry – I loved Billy'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 honour this story with their brilliance, it's the cherry on the cake!"

Bernard's disappearance from the care home triggered a nationwide appeal to find him but, by the time staff had reported him missing to Sussex Police, the veteran had already checked into a hotel room in Ouistreham in Normandy.

Police later called off their search after the care home took a call from another veteran who had met Bernard during his travels and revealed to relieved staff that the veteran was safe and well.

In interviews following his successful mission to attend the D-Day commemorations, the veteran told how he had expected to return to England to a 'ticking off' by the care home staff, but instead came home to a hero's welcome as the nation, and people around the world, applauded his bravado, with his story making news headlines all over.

Bernard was treated as a national treasure and even had a bus named after him months after his exploits in his home city of Brighton and Hove.

The Great Escaper, which pairs Sir Michael and Glenda Jackson alongside each other in a film role for the first time in 47 years, is tipped for release in 2023.