Stalag 17: Billy Wilder

Do you know what Billy Wilder doesn't get nearly enough credit for? His writing. He has always been lauded as one of the great Hollywood directors, but many forget that he was also one of the industry's most accomplished writers. Stalag 17 is one of the best testaments to his literary acumen. It's astounding how easy Wilder makes screenwriting look with this film. The story of a group of Americans trying to escape the eponymous Stalag 17, a German POW camp during World War Two, the film alternates between effective comedy and even more effective suspense as the inmates try to root out the identity of an informant who has been feeding the guards info on their activities and escape attempts. William Holden is predictably incredible as Sefton, a cynical bastard who happily runs gambling rackets for cigarettes among his fellow inmates. But when his self-centered activities begin to make the other prisoners suspect him as the mole, he decides to do whatever it will take to root out the real culprit. Some of the comedic relief scenes go on a bit too long, though. A sub-plot concerning one love-sick soldier with a Betty Grable obsession begins to wear on the nerves as the film goes on. I have nothing against comedic relief, but some of the examples in this film seem to thwart its overall tone. If the film is a suspenseful thriller, does it really need a slapstick scene of two soldiers sneaking into a camp for female POW? If the film seeks to document the everyday experience of being a POW, then why feature such a prominent espionage angle? But when Stalag 17 focuses on its actual plot, the results are wonderful.

7/10