OK entertainment, not sure of the "classic" status

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2001)

I really wanted to appreciate this film as a classic but it came off a bit goofy in my opinion. I give it an 8 out of 10; good solid entertainment but not in the legendary, classic status you would think from it's IMDB rank of being the top #153 of all time.
I could overlook the obvious jingoism and "Germans bad, Americans good" since it's a product of its times, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. But overall, as a war movie, I thought it was an insult to people in real prison camps! I guess it's hard to take something too seriously which turned into "Hogan's Heroes." Don't get me wrong, there are funny bits and the "whodunit" story interwoven with the comic stuff is pretty good. I especially liked the proud capitalist wanna-be-rich-guy meeting up with the proud capitalist already-rich-guy (enemies at first, partners at the end). Basically this movie is a propaganda piece, although by the time it was made the war was long over, and the only war was "cold" with the Russians. So it was a little odd that the Russians were OK in the film but the Germans were still "dumb but not stupid" (Einstein, Bohr, et al would be glad to know that ;-).
But the idea that Russian woman prisoners had nothing to do but giggle for strapping American lads to try and ogle them, or "give a piece" for some silk stockings was a bit tough. And the obvious buffoonery of the German soldiers was a bit silly although you can see the segue into the "Hogan's Heroes" TV show. I guess the only next step would be the "Hoffman's Heroes" parody that Mad Magazine did years ago (concentration camp humor).
So enjoy it for what it is, but I don't quite see how this is such a classic in the war film canon. I prefer "Duck Soup" by the Marx Brothers for comedy and a statement of the inanities of war.