Enjoyable but uneven mix of comedy and drama

Rating: Null/10 (16 March 2002)

When two POW's are killed during a breakout attempt from POW camp Stalag 17, the POW's suspect that an insider is passing information out to the guards. As the guards seem to be more and more aware of the prisoner's activities the POW's turn on Septon, who deals regular trades with the guards. However Septon knows he's innocent and sets about to find who the real informer is.
Adapted from a Broadway play this film is an uneasy but enjoyable mix of comedy and Steve McQueen's sections from The Great Escape. The comedy is pretty funny  ranging from the broad comedy of Animal, Schlitz et al to the more subtle things such as the German officer putting on his boots to speak to Berlin HQ. However the wartime drama section doesn't work as well and is a bit of a letdown after a comedy first half. However it's still quite entertaining  even if it is a little uneven.
The cast are good overall  although the comedy figures have the best characters. Preminger, Taylor, Strauss etc are all good but I imagine it must have been quite a thin year when Holden won his Best Actor Oscar for this rather dour performance  maybe they were rewarding an earlier performance that he should have won for (that seems to be the way it's done now  Dame Judi Dench anyone?!).
Overall it's an enjoyable wartime comedy, but the uneven mix of drama and comedy doesn't sit well together and this is far from being Wilder at his best. To prove the point  the spin off Hogan's Hero dropped the drama (and all but one character) in favour of straight laughs.