Solid, classy Billy Wilder flick is nothing flashy, not hilarious, but it draws you in expertly.

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2004)

Stalag 13 is indeed another Billy Wilder classic. His movies develop well, have good characters, good suspense, and often utilise visual cues particularly well. The light cord above the chess game which signifies that the mole has left a message for the Nazi officers is used wonderfully here.
Its just a nice, well-made POW drama. I think it was going overboard a little bit giving William Holden an academy award - he was always just William Holden! But he has a nice presence in this movie. My problem with him is as soon as he starts talking, the audience knows "ok, this is a movie." And, more often than not, it makes it feel like an old movie. So as soon as i get drawn into the world of the picture, Holden's voice shoves me straight back out again.
Despite this fact, its a very absorbing and involving drama. Not hardened drama, of course. This is not Five Easy Pieces. Billy Wilder's trademark was dealing with dark and bitter material with humour - so everything in his movies is palatable to all viewers. This'll mean more people will get the opportunity to experience the issues it raises.
8/10. Not groundbreaking, but very very classy stuff.