Stalag 17

Released Jul 1, 1953

2h 0m

War

List

91%

76 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

One night in 1944 in a German POW camp housing American airmen, two prisoners try to escape the compound and are quickly discovered and shot dead. Among the remaining men, suspicion grows that one of their own is a spy for the Germans. All eyes fall on Sgt. Sefton (William Holden) who everybody knows frequently makes exchanges with German guards for small luxuries. To protect himself from a mob of his enraged fellow inmates, Sgt. Sefton resolves to find the true traitor within their midst.

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Critics Consensus

Stalag 17 survives the jump from stage to screen with flying colors, thanks to Billy Wilder's typically sterling direction and a darkly funny script.

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Merick H

The opening scene is excellent but it is all down hill from there. It is difficult for me to understand how this film stands in such high regard. The humor is insufferable (especially Animal). Schultz says, "Look at them lieutenant; everybody is a clown," and that is exactly how many of the characters came across with their foolish antics and cheesy one-liners. It is painfully obvious that the informant is not who all the evidence is pointing towards for the majority of the film, and there is nothing interesting about how we come to find out who it actually is. It has its moments, and I enjoyed the ending (even though it is completely implausible), but ultimately it is a sluggish bore of a film. It definitely did not live up to its prestige.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/03/24

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Jim P

I am from the UK so I wasn't sure I'd like a movie about American POWs… But they took a smash hit play and turned it into an awesome movie. It's also a lot of fun, with a South Pacific feel.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

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Alec B

There's probably a version of this movie that's an unrelenting pressure cooker but Wilder's trademark wit takes the movie down a more interesting and entertaining path. Holden's performance is perfection.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

Full Review

Red T

It's solid but it has some issues that hold it back from being amazing. The acting is very good with witty dialogue and Grave & Holden being the standouts. The problem is there are so many characters in this that it is hard to keep track at times. Animal feels like he was out of place as the comedic relief. The humor also is just alright and feels out of place at times. The editing isn't bad but is the weakest part here. This feels like a comedy and a war thriller merged together with mixed results. Sometimes the humor goes on way too long and isn't that funny and doesn't really add anything to the plot more than being a gag. This starts to drag the pacing down because this starts to lose focus in tone and who the main character is. Holden starts out as the main guy but the gags take over for like 40 minutes between all the supporting cast and feels pointless and waters down the key plot points. Holden just kind of disappears until the last 30 minutes as he pops back. Also because its so busy with gags it doesn't build tension as well as it could because it gives away the villain quite early and the humor disappears by the final 30 minutes which is well done and clever still. The cinematography is good also with excellent camerawork but again quite a few scenes are watered down by the humor. The music also is good but not super memorable and not used that much. This needed about 20-25 minutes shaved off mainly from the gags in the middle and stayed a serious war thriller. The villain is good but I wish he would've had more back and forth with Holden in a battle of wits instead of pointless gags. I have to say this is a bit overrated. Anyone who is a fan of Wilder, any actors in this, or Classic War Movies will like this though.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/24/23

Full Review

Taylor L

"If I ever run into any of you bums on the street corner, let's just pretend we've never met before." William Holden stars as cigar-gnashing 'general store' operator J.J. Sefton, whose crude attitude and stiff prices make him persona non grata in his barracks. When everyone in the bunks suspects a rat is hiding among them, leaking information about escaping POWs and clandestine equipment, the eyes naturally turn to Sefton; to stop good men from going to their deaths (or perhaps to prevent more bruises from appearing on his face), Sefton takes it upon himself to find the real spy among them. An early war thriller with elements of black comedy, Stalag 17 is somewhere between The Great Escape and M*A*S*H, and spends even more time building up the camaraderie between its characters than it does developing the main plot, with surprisingly ample opportunity for director Billy Wilder to use the same crossdressing humor that he would refine in Some Like it Hot a few years later. But despite the mixing of war film and comedy, Stalag 17 never feels jagged, as he constantly uses levity to allow his prisoners a brief escape from their dark reality. As a result, it's funny and exciting without being disrespectful to what was still a fresh memory for many veterans. Another great one from one of the best midcentury American directors. Wonder if Robert Strauss ever got his date with Betty Grable. (4/5)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/01/23

Full Review

Josh G

Having watched Hogans heroes for many years this movie always comes to mind, the show uses footage from the show in the first season and owes a lot to the basic set up and character of Stalag 17. William Holden is excellent in role, Peter graves is as well a wonderful counterpoint and best performance prioir to mission impossible. My main criticism is the voice over but I've never been a fan of voice over.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/20/22

Full Review

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Billy Wilder

Director

William Holden

Sgt. J.J. Sefton

Otto Preminger

Col. von Scherbach

Robert Strauss

Stanislas "Animal" Kasava

Don Taylor

Lt. James Skylar Dunbar

Harvey Lembeck

Harry "Sugar Lips" Shapiro

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Mildred Martin

Philadelphia Inquirer

The suspect sergeant, an opportunist hated and patronized by the men he exploits, is extraordinarily well played by William Holden. Bidding neither for sympathy nor any particular understanding. Holden's Sefton is no conventional war play hero.

Nov 5, 2022

Full Review

Philip K. Scheuer

Los Angeles Times

Billy Wilder, one of the most caustic-minded of Hollywood's writer-director-producers, has taken a stage hit by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski and preserved its essential humor and tragedy with no dulling of its corrosive edges.

Nov 5, 2022

Full Review

Richard L. Coe

Washington Post

One of the year’s better films, a taut, shrewdly observant melodrama several notches above its stage original.

Nov 5, 2022

Full Review

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

both a mordant comedy and a stark drama, a character study and an invigorating thriller

Rated: 3.5/4

Mar 27, 2024

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The drama survives intact but the humor proves to be a serious drag.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 25, 2023

Full Review

Harold V. Cohen

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In Stalag 17 a crackling good movie has been fashioned from a crackling good play.

Nov 5, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

One night in 1944 in a German POW camp housing American airmen, two prisoners try to escape the compound and are quickly discovered and shot dead. Among the remaining men, suspicion grows that one of their own is a spy for the Germans. All eyes fall on Sgt. Sefton (William Holden) who everybody knows frequently makes exchanges with German guards for small luxuries. To protect himself from a mob of his enraged fellow inmates, Sgt. Sefton resolves to find the true traitor within their midst.

Director: Billy Wilder
Screenwriter: Donald Bevan, Edmund Trzcinski, Billy Wilder, Edwin Blum
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 1, 1953, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 12, 2017
Runtime: 2h 0m

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