Stalag 17 (1953)

Stalag 17 (1953)

starring William Holden

directed by Billy Wilder

Dec 1944 - Two of the US sergeants quartered in Barracks 4 of Stalag 17 attempt to escape. They don't get very far. They only make it just outside the gate when they are shot by a trio of German soldiers.

Life goes on in Barracks 4. The Americans sense that someone in their barracks must be giving information to the Germans but they aren't sure who it is. This fact is confirmed, 35 minutes into the movie, but their identity is not revealed at that time.

J.J. Sefton (William Holden) doesn't get along with most of his colleagues. He trades in cigarettes. He bet against his two dead compatriots making it very far. He becomes very unpopular after a secret radio is found by the Germans. Sefton was no where to be found at the time.

Sefton's colleagues break into his foot locker and find all kinds of goodies. They learn that he bribed his way into a visit with some Russian women prisoners at the time the radio was stolen. They are convinced that he is the informant. More circumstantial evidence leads them to believe they are correct about Sefton. They beat him up, take his stuff, but Sefton continues to insist that he isn't the informant.

Thoughts

I saw this movie once before. I think it was probably in the mid to late-1980s but I don't have a record of when it was exactly. I have one recollection of mentioning it to someone whom I knew back then and his reaction. He died around 1990 so it must have been back then when I first saw it. I don't recall if I have watched it since then.

This was a play before it was made into a movie. It was first performed on Broadway in 1951. It was rewritten by Billy Wilder and co-writer Edwin Blum for film. There are a number of scenes in the movie which would not have been possible in the stage version. There's a fair amount of humor in the movie but at its heart it is a drama.

There's a twist in this tale. I remembered what it was but I didn't remember all the details. It was interesting to see it again knowing how things would turn out. I think it held up to my memory of it but there were some moments where I rolled my eyes and shrugged my shoulders a bit.

Notes

This movie received three Academy Award nominations. Billy Wilder was nominated for Best Director, William Holden was nominated for Best Actor, and Robert Strauss was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. William Holden won for Best Actor but the others did not. 

Stanislas "Animal" Kuzawa was played by Robert Strauss. He played the same part in the Broadway version of Stalag 17. He was in one episode of The Phil Silvers Show: 2.03 Bilko Goes to College.

Harry Shapiro, one of the other characters living in Barracks 4, is played by Harvey Lembeck. He is probably best known for playing Corporal Barbella on The Phil Silvers Show. He also played Harry Shapiro in the Broadway version of Stalag 17.

Sergeant Schulz, a German character, is played by Sig Ruman, an American actor who frequently played German characters. He was in a few Marx Brothers movies including A Night at the Opera, (1935), A Day at the Races (1937), and A Night in Casablanca (1946). He was in the original version of To Be or Not to Be (1942), a Jack Benny movie, which was remade by Mel Brook in the 1980s.

Price, another character who lives in Barracks 4, is played by Peter Graves. I know him best from Mission Impossible and the Airplane movies. He also made a cameo appearance in Addams Family Values (1993).

The commandant of Stalag 17 is played by Otto Preminger. He was one of three actors to play the part of Mr. Freeze in the 1966 Batman TV show.