Stalag 17 (1953)

Stalag 17
Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum from a play by Donald Bevin and Edmund Trzcinski
1953/USA
Paramount Pictures
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

Sgt. Schulz: How do you expect to win the war with an army of clowns?
Lt. James Skylar Dunbar: We sort of hope you’d laugh yourselves to death.

Billy Wilder wise-cracks his way through life in a POW camp.

The action takes place at about the time of the Battle of the Bulge in a camp housing US sergeants.  The men make their lives bearable through joking and various improvised games.  Sgt, J. J. Sefton (William Holden) is the organizer of many of these activities.  As the story begins, two of the men make an escape attempt.  Sefton takes bets from one and all that the men will not make it.  They are killed and Sefton wins his bet.  The men become convinced that one of their number is an informer.  Attention focuses on Sefton, who is thoroughly cynical and always seems to have the best of everything.

One day, a couple of new POWs who are officers arrive.  One of them boasts that he blew up a train depot in Frankfurt even after he was captured.  Soon the officer is being questioned by camp commandant Col. Scherbach.  The men are more and more convinced that Sefton is the rat.  I think I will leave it at that.  With Sig Ruman as a prison guard and Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Don Taylor and Peter Graves as prisoners.

The last time I watched this movie the Oscar-nominated performance of Robert Strauss as “Animal” irritated the hell out of me.  This time it didn’t bother me at all.  Holden is always Holden.  I find him appealing and enjoyed his performance.  It was fun to see Preminger as a Nazi.  Worth a watch.

William Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor.  The film was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Strauss) and Best Director.

Re-release trailer