did this inspire Hogan's Heroes....

Rating: 7/10 (7 June 2002)

From what I've seen of Billy Wilder, his movies tend to have well defined characters and a clear course of action. Sometimes they are funny, and when they are funny, they are funny by virtue of being clever. As well, the pacing in his movies always seems to be one of a sense of urgency, as if every moment is important. There is really never meandering and wasted moments. At least in his best works. Unfortunately this movie is not one of his best works. It is just okay.
The problem with the movie is that it takes a while to get off the ground and there never really seems to be a sense of urgency and real tension, not until about the last half hour that is(and that saves this movie). The comedy is more infantile, and mostly produced by a character called Animal. However, Animal comes off as more annoying than funny, and is over the top. A poor directional choice from the usually outstanding Wilder. It seems that the movie tried to take itself seriously, without ever really doing it.
William Holden gives a fine performance, and was really the only character that came off as interesting. However, he was in another POW movie called 'The Bridge on the River Kwai'. All though the latter isn't a movie that makes the greatest philosophical statement, it is much more entertaining throughout than this movie is.
In all fairness, this is a fairly well directed movie, and if it was directed by John Hughes or Chris Columbus then it might be considered a greater achievement. As it stands, Wilder did work that was much better than this, so the expectations are high, and it didn't meet them. Still, the last half hour saves what would have otherwise been a wasted experience. 7 out of 10.