A film close to 60 years old, Stalag 17 has it's dated aspects in particular the lowbrow comedy of Harvey Lembeck and Robert Strauss. However this is a very well written and directed film from Billy Wilder.
Apparently the original Broadway play on which the film was based was pretty mediocre. The film was extensively rewritten by Wilder. Wilder had William Holden play one of the hardest characters that 50's audiences had ever seen and the whole thing had plenty of cynical humor.
Stalag 17 is still enjoyable because of Wilder's strong storytelling skills. The film is a drama, a comedy and a mystery story all set in essentially one set, a prison barracks. As much as the ridiculous low brow antics of Strauss and Lembeck now seem a little stupid, Wilder was smart enough to use them as comic interludes within the drama which works extremely well.
Wilder cast tyrannical director from hell Otto Preminger as the German camp commandant. Preminger hams it up a little bit but is a lot of fun. But Billy Wilder was such a skilled filmmaker he made sure that all of the characters in the film even the minor ones stand out.
A very impressive piece of mainstream film making.
120 minutes, written by Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum.
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