Stalag 17 (1953)

When two escaping American World War II prisoners are killed, the German P.O.W. camp barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (written for the screen by), Edwin Blum (written for the screen by)

Stars:

William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Holden	...	Sgt. J.J. Sefton
Don Taylor	...	Lt. James Dunbar
Otto Preminger	...	Oberst von Scherbach
Robert Strauss	...	Sgt. Stanislaus 'Animal' Kuzawa
Harvey Lembeck	...	Sgt. Harry Shapiro
Richard Erdman	...	Sgt. 'Hoffy' Hoffman
Peter Graves	...	Sgt. Frank Price
Neville Brand	...	Duke
Sig Ruman	...	Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz
Michael Moore	...	Sgt. Manfredi
Peter Baldwin	...	Sgt. Johnson
Robinson Stone	...	Joey
Robert Shawley	...	Sgt. 'Blondie' Peterson
William Pierson	...	Marko the Mailman
Gil Stratton	...	Sgt. Clarence Harvey 'Cookie' Cook (as Gil Stratton Jr.)

Storyline

It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17. For the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem - there seems to be a security leak. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious: J.J. Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have. Sefton denies giving the Germans any information and makes it quite clear that he has no intention of ever trying to escape. He plans to ride out the war in what little comfort he can arrange, but it doesn't extend to spying for the Germans. As tensions mount and a mob mentality takes root, it becomes obvious that Sefton will have to find the real snitch if he is to have any peace and avoid the beatings Duke and ...

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Plot Keywords:

german | barracks | traitor | escape | spy | 

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Taglines:

Hilarious, heart-tugging! You'll laugh...you'll cry...you'll cheer William Holden in his great Academy Award role! (from reissue print ad)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Russian

Release Date:

10 August 1953 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Infierno en la tierra

Filming Locations:

John Show Ranch, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,661,530 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,000,000, 31 January 1955

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The authors of Stalag 17 sued the creators of the TV series Hogan's Heroes (1965) for plagiarism, as they had submitted a proposal for a TV show based on their play in 1963 to CBS. The case was closed with an undisclosed settlement.

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Goofs

When Harry Shapiro pulls the teabag out of his pocket to dunk it into Lt. Dunbar and Sgt. Bagradian's tea cups, you can see the pocket is wet from previous takes.

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Quotes

Duke: Come on, Trader Horn, let's hear it. What'd you give the krauts for that egg?
Sefton: 45 cigarettes. Price has gone up.
Duke: They wouldn't be the cigarettes you took us for last night?
Sefton: What was I gonna do with them? I only smoke cigars.
Duke: Niiice guy. The krauts shoot Manfredi and Johnson last night, and today he's out trading with them.
Sefton: Look. This may be my last hot breakfast on account of they're going to take that stove out of here, so would you let me eat it in peace?
Animal: Now ain't that too bad? Tomorrow ...
[...]

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Connections

References The Farmer's Daughter (1940)

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Soundtracks

Adeste Fideles
(1782) (uncredited)
Music by John Francis Wade
English lyrics "Come, All Ye Faithful" by Frederick Oakeley (1852)
Sung a cappella in English by the prisoners of war

User Reviews

the perennial 'feel-good' American POW movie

Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 relies on folds of comedy and a cynical attitude to elevate a story that seems out of a crime novel. Here we have a cast of characters, and the undercurrent is 'who's the rat?' in a bunker as the secrets shuffled around (i.e. that there's a tunnel for escape) and the Germans know right away. There's fun in that, and in being able to 2nd guess who the informant really is- at one point I thought the old adage "it's the quiet ones you got to watch" would come forward- but Wilder is brilliant at transforming this as some solid suspense and dramatic tension while ALSO making a really snappy (sometimes) dark comedy. It's a movie about personality, despite the plot being somewhat important, and with the actors themselves delivering a lot for the characters' sakes.

William Holden is the first given attribute as the star, playing the sort who, for a conventional movie-goer audience, seems easy to peg: too full of himself, sneaky, has the motive to be the informant. But as the layers come into focus, he's more than meets the eye, and Holden (against his better instincts, as he didn't want the role originally) fills it in with his subtle swagger and great sarcastic touch carried over from Sunset Blvd. Then there's Otto Premminger, a big surprise as he is mostly known as a director, as the Commandant, taking up and stealing every scene he's in (only Erich von Stroheim in Grand Illusion beats him out as tour-de-force Commandants). Then there's supporting work from the desperate 'clowns' (Robert Strauss's Betty Grable obsessed Animal and Harvey Lembeck's Shapiro), and the cool Don Talyer in a turn as Dunbar. They're all at their best.

While it almost appears to be more entertaining than it perhaps should- considering, as Cookie's opening narration says, movies about the army have been glamorized and this story is different- it's kind of like the Hollywood 50s answer to something like A Man Escaped. Bresson's film is cold and detached and immediate in dramatic impact, while Stalag 17 wants to be a big hit. There's a lot of humor, some unexpected, some that are meant to be big laughs (i.e. Animal and Shapiro's scheme to get into the Russian prison), and they all connect. It's simply a really entertaining movie that has transcended its period, thanks to Wilder's faith in (and more than likely proponent of) an ironic, witty sensibility to otherwise dark and gloomy cinematic terrain.