Stalag 17

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Stalag 17

Released Jul 1, 1953

2h 0m

War

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

91%

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77 Reviews

93%

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10,000+ Ratings

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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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

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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

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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

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Ian Kane

Epoch Times

“Stalag 17” provides a thoughtful commentary on human resilience and camaraderie under extremely dire circumstances.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 27, 2024

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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

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

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

Rated: 3/4

Nov 25, 2023

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Matthew D

A miserably unfunny and slow POW camp film that’s just dull. Director Billy Wilder’s war mystery comedy Stalag 17 (1953) is a rare miss from Wilder. I love his films Sunset Boulevard, Witness for the Prosecution, Five Graves to Cairo, Double Indemnity, A Foreign Affair, Love in the Afternoon, and Sabrina. However, sometimes his films rub me the wrong way and Stalag 17 falls into the Billy Wilder films I did not enjoy like The Apartment and The Seven Year Itch. Wilder’s rather sterile direction just lingers mostly inside this one barracks in a POW camp, but rather than make the American prisoners of war sympathetic soldiers, they all feel like obnoxious idiots. Stalag 17 is like if The Great Escape and The Bridge on the River Kwai were written by idiots. Tonally, It felt like a terrible Three Stooges knock off movie. Even the show MASH is better than this or Cool Hand Luke. Stalag 17 influenced all of these, but it’s so boring and unfunny. Writers Billy Wilder, Edwin Blum, Donald Bevan, and Edmund Trzcinski come up with immature jokes, basic characters, and a bare plot. It’s unengaging as a war film, increasingly obvious as a mystery, and horribly stupid as well as unfunny as a comedy. William Holden has the only serious performance in all 120 minutes of this total lame farce.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

12/27/24

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Doug C

One of THE best war movies of all time ……… William Holden plays his role as good as it gets. Do yourself a favor, watch it with the kids 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/24/24

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Ian F

The humour and the characters delivering it have not aged well. They probably brought the house down in 1953; today they are just an intrusive irritation in what would otherwise be a very watchable wartime drama. Holden is outstanding.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

12/10/24

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Lars N

The gags between the main plot are a diversion at best, and cringe worthy at worst. Otherwise another solid film from Wilder.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/08/24

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John S

Surprisingly poignant in 2024 as the US forsakes what these soldiers gave for their country by betraying democracy and electing a self-proclaimed dictator. It's not a perfect film, but it's valuable.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/09/24

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Connor S

Written for the stage, and performed beautifully as if you were in an audience. God bless our POW's!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/11/24

Full Review

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Billy Wilder

Director

William Holden

Sgt. J.J. Sefton

Otto Preminger

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

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