Interesting and funny portrait of German stalag

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2007)

Stalag 17 is a rare example of fictional war movie which balances between serious drama and black comedy. Although German soldiers seem to be nice guys , they don't hesitate to shoot fugitives. What is the greatest in Wilder's movie? Firstly, riddle. Who is the traitor? Who collaborates with Germany? Wilder gives us many fake clues: amazing Sefton's storage cannot be deliberate, what is the role of handicapped Joey(always ignored but in one great scene he watches mysteriously lynch on Sefton) etc. Secondly, characters. Sig Ruman(corny Sgt. Schulz)always indicates his love to funny Americans and spending time with them gives him a genuine pleasure. Sig Ruman gives us top performance and his dialogs with Shapiro and Animals are one of the funniest moments of whole cinematography. William Holden(Sefton) creates exemplary appeal to opponents:if you want to survive you must learn how to cope with opponents and have rational attitude to your neighbors and war. And last but not the least, Otto Preminger's appearance in film(Col. Von Scherbach)is a blink to audience and critics. Austro-Hungarian Jew as a colonel of German army-it could have done only Wilder!English used by Von Scherbach and Ruman fills us with high spirits. Human portraits of soldiers(especially Animal and H.Shapiro) helps viewers to socialize with them. Stalag 17 is one of the greatest war-camp movie ever.