3 packs of cigarettes say they never get out of the woods!

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2003)

I grew up with this movie & have seen it countless times, so admittedly my opinion may be a little biased at this point. Nonetheless, there seems to be an issue with this film that can't be easily ignored. It is precisely the same issue that dogged "Hogan's Heroes" (which, along with "Great Escape," this was loosely based): how can you make fun of war, especially the Nazis? Does making fun of them, or the situation, demonstrate total disregard for the nightmare they inflicted upon generations?
First off, there are a number of well-respected people (philosopher & Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl and even Mel Brooks come to mind) who believe humor, by virtue of its freedom, is a powerful threat against the villainous fools of this world. Not to mention, humor has a therapeutic value that has been utilized through the most horrendous of circumstances (wartime being one of them - again I refer back to Frankl). "Hogan's Heroes," it could be argued, was irresponsible because it doesn't really portray the true villainy of the Nazis, and the motivations of the POW escapes are extremely implausable (Hogan would casually leave - often through such ridiculous escape devices as a hollowed out tree stump - to attend a Nazi ball with a hot date & inexplicably, willingly return to the camp! What happened to duty?). Apart from showcasing what is perhaps Holden's finest performance, "Stalag 17" IS responsible in its depiction of Nazi terror (at least relative to its own, contained story about a Nazi mole amongst American prisoners.). Watching this as a child, I never thought the POWs had it easy. Their living conditions are cramped, dirty, cold, uncomfortable & deprived (remember that this came out not too long after the war ended, and more than one veteran I've had the opportunity to meet was impressed by the accuracy of the conditions, uniforms, attitudes & lingo. By the way, many of these actors had served themselves, such as the highly decorated Neville Brand). There are no showers, mattresses consist of a pile of straw atop a blanket, and the food is of the watered-down stew and bread variety. I could only hope to have a Harry & The Animal around to help me cope with such a situation!
The commandant (Preminger) is somewhat cartoonish, but he's never shown as anything but cruel (he leaves the two bodies of escapees laying on display in the mud for all of the soldiers to look at; he continually punishes the men by depriving them of luxuries such as a stove - their only source for heat - in the wintertime; he lies and manipulates Geneva representatives and has escapees killed on sight). Does this compare to the terrors of the Holocaust? Of course not. Is it a fairly accurate depiction of German World War II POW camps for enlisted American G.I.s? From what I understand, yes. The soldiers are dedicated to escaping (okay, save for Harry & The Animal's foray into the Russian compound), are smart aleck and defiant to the Germans, entertain each other in highly creative ways and create the feeling of a community (albeit an incarcerated one) that comes off as realistic to me given their circumstances. For the type of movie this is, the details contained herein have always been enough to establish the underlying hardship for me without sacrificing the tone of the plot. This is a truly great film that functions well as a comedy, a mystery-thriller, actioner and drama. There are many different individual stories to be told in any war, and while each example can't possibly encapsulate everything, the stories need to be true at least unto themselves if they are to be told well at all. `Stalag 17' is responsible on those terms.