50 years later there have been grittier war films, but few better

Rating: 9/10 (27 August 2000)

The dialog is terse, the acting exceptional, the humor gallows. Stalag 17 was made in 1953 and even then talked about other WWII movies. Since then, there have been many more war movies that have explored gritty themes. The mud of Stalag 17 looks tame compared to the blood and guts of Saving Private Ryan and the desperate humor can't match the irony in Full Metal Jacket. But the movie holds up astonishingly well. Maybe it's that there aren't time specific elements like money or armaments. Two cigarettes might get you a shot of bootleg booze in any war. That gives the film a timeless element that could apply to any prisoners, in any war.
It's too bad that the spinoffs from Stalag 17 include Hogan's Heroes (who took some of the characters unchanged) and Alvin and the Chipmunks (as Ross Bagdasarian has an uncredited singing role). While the humor is an important element of the movie, it's the character interaction which lies at its heart.
Stalag 17 is a vintage WWII movie that stands the test of time. Billy Wilder knows what he's doing in any genre.