A surprising feel-good movie filmed less than a decade post-World War II, Stalag 17 sees American POWs holed up in a German camp where there’s unquestionably a spy in their midst. Black marketeer William Holden, with his excess of cigarettes, wine and relative freedom of movement, is the prime suspect. As tensions rise, he needs to prove otherwise.
A precursor to the likes of M*A*S*H and Hogan’s Heroes, it’s a classic Billy Wilder of razor sharp wit focussing on bored soldiers looking to survive. With the two main German characters treated as dangerous buffoons, a true ensemble cast with Holden and Robert Strauss as droopy-eyed Animal (the Klinger character of M*A*S*H) the standouts, Holden surprisingly won the best actor Oscar. It may not be in the same league as Wilder’s standouts (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity), but Stalag 17 remains a superior piece of filmmaking.
Nominated for 3 Oscars in 1954 (Holden, Strauss and Wilder) – won 1 (Holden).
Rating: 63%
Director: Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot)
Writer: Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot), Edwin Blum (The Canterville Ghost, Kidnapped) – based on the stage play by Donald Bevan & Edmund Trzcinski
Main cast: William Holden (Sunset Boulevard, Network), Robert Strauss (The Seven Year Itch, The Man With the Golden Arm), Don Taylor (Battleground, Father of the Bride)
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