Wilder plus Holden equals Great Movie

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2005)

As I grow older, I find myself drawn more and more to Billy Wilder movies. I suppose it's the cynical, Central European sense of irony. Stalag 17 is not his best; it's not Some Like it Hot, or The Apartment, or Double Indemnity, or Sunset Boulevard; perhaps because he had no hand in writing it.
Still, the Wilder world view is there, thanks to William Holden in the Central Role. He has a way of bringing the cynical attitude alive with just the way he stands or the way he smirks. He and Wilder were made for each other. And the movie is both funny (Those Nazis just ain't kosher? What kind of line is that?) and suspenseful.