Billy Wilder and his great bunch of POWs

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2012)

A group of American airmen are held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp.Then it seems that one of them is a traitor, who gives information to the Germans.Stalag 17 (1953) is directed by Billy Wilder.It was originally a Broadway play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski.William Holden is terrific as J.J. Sefton.Also Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas were considered for the role.Holden won an Oscar from his performance.From the actors Robert Strauss (Stanislaus 'Animal' Kuzawa) and Harvey Lembeck (Harry Shapiro) were also in the Broadway production.Don Taylor plays Lieutenant Dunbar.The famed director Otto Preminger is Von Scherbach.Peter Graves portrays Price.Sig Ruman plays the comical Sergeant Johann Sebastian Schulz.Richard Erdman is Hoffy.Peter Baldwin plays Johnson.Gil Stratton is Clarence Harvey 'Cookie' Cook and also the narrator.This is the most enjoyable war film, that isn't the most traditional war film.I mean, it doesn't take you to battle fields.It shows different kind of battle.It's pretty great to watch these people.To watch them cope with the situation they're in.There's a great deal of humor involved, which is one brilliant coping way.They arrange a dance, and then there's the thing with the female Russian POWs.The most humorous character is "Animal" with his Betty Grable obsession.There's something endearing in the friendship between him and Shapiro.This movie also offers lots of thrills, like in the end when Sefton is getting Dunbar out of the camp.Really a great movie from Billy Wilder.