The Escape (Spanish: La fuga) is a 1944 Mexican historical adventure film directed by Norman Foster and starring Esther Fernandez, Ricardo Montalbán, and Carlos Orellana. It is based on the 1880 Guy de Maupassant short story Boule de suif. The sets were designed by the art director José Rodríguez Granada. The film is set during the French Intervention in Mexico. As the Republican forces of Benito Juarez close in on Mexico City, a group of pro-Imperial supporters flee on a stagecoach to the port city of Veracruz. Following the plot of the Maupassant story, the French lieutenant (Montalbán) demands sex from one of the passengers, a young Mexican prostitute (Fernández), in exchange for allowing the stagecoach to continue its journey. He tries to court her while her fellow passengers pressure her to accept. The ending of the film departs from the Maupassant story and makes the leads fall in love to form a tragic romantic couple. The film reunited ()