Stalag 17 (1953)

Magnum PI's Favorite Movie
Thomas Magnum said that this movie had everything, comedy -drama ... it was his favorite movie.

That's good enough for me ! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Another great Billy Wilder film. So what else is new?
Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953)

Billy Wilder was a great director no matter what decade you look at, but there's no argument that he was in his directorial prime during the fifties. He started out the decade with three of his greatest films-- universally acclaimed noir masterpiece Sunset Blvd., the underrated (but recently rediscovered) cynical drama Ace in the Hole, and then-- a comedy about a prison camp? Yep. Stalag 17 hit theaters in 1953, nine years after the fictional events of the movie took place. One would think that a little too close to history, but it worked; the film was nominated for three Oscars (William Holden, who won for Best Actor; Best Director; and Robert Strauss, who got robbed for Best Supporting Actor) and was, for its time, a box office smash, clearing ten million in 1950s dinero. (Remember, you could see a double feature for a quarter back then.)

In case you never saw Hogan's Heroes (which, actually, was not based on the film; Paramount sued the creators of Hogan's for copyright defamation and lost), the plot: a barracks full of sergeants at the German prison camp Stalag 17 have a mole in their midst. Everyone thinks it's Sefton (Holden). Except Sefton, that is, who's trying to figure out who the real mole is. Things get more immediate when a Lieutenant (Don Taylor) is captured and brought in.

While it's hard to deny that Holden and Strauss, who plays the lovable lug Animal, steal the show, this is a great ensemble cast, including director Otto Preminger as the head of the camp and, among others, the great Neville Brand as one of the other sergeants. (I am rapidly becoming convinced that Neville Brand was America's most underrated actor between WW2 and Vietnam.) There are a few false notes (it's pretty obvious Taylor was mandated by the studio, one of the many clashes between Paramount and Wilder over this film that caused him to head for fairer shores soon after its completion), but not many-- impressive in a movie where so many cast members are given so much screen time. Wilder's comic sense comes through here perhaps better than in any other film he made, ranging from the outlandish to the subtle, touches here and there that add to the film's overall air of affability. It is this air that makes the moments of suspense work as well as they do.

A thoroughly satisfying movie in every respect. Well worth the time. ****

BE BEHOLDEN TO HOLDEN
Classic 1953 movie gave Holden a well deserved Oscar.As director of all inside "resources" at Stalag 17, Holden controls gambling, cigarettes etc. and isn't the least bit shy about taking advantage of it. Many of his comrades hate him, others think he's a Nazi spy. There's a spy loose inside all right, but it isn't he. After nearly getting killed by his own men,Holden comes upon a secret communications device which exposes the traitor and "turns the tables". As Holden leads an escape party out of camp, the Nazi "plant" is struck down by his own men, at the feet of Preminger, a well cast commandant. Do not consider this film as being a forerunner to the comedic "Hogan's Heroes" of the 1960's, even though many ideas may have been borrowed from it. This is a first rate production from all star director, Wilder, from whom you usually got the best.