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Stalag 17 (1953)
Released By: Paramount Home Video   Rating: Not Rated   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Paramount Home Video
Genre: Action-Adventure
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Billy Wilder
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, William Holden, Harvey Lembeck, Robert Strauss
Published ID: 505657
UPC: 097360581645, 097360412024, 097360412048,
Plot: The scene is a German POW camp, sometime during the mid-1940s. Stalag 17, exclusively populated by American sergeants, is overseen by sadistic commandant Oberst Von Schernbach (Otto Preminger) and the deceptively avuncular sergeant Schultz (Sig Ruman). The inmates spend their waking hours circumventing the boredom of prison life; at night, they attempt to arrange escapes. When two of the escapees, Johnson and Manfredi, are shot down like dogs by the Nazi guards, Stalag 17's resident wiseguy Sefton (William Holden) callously collects the bets he'd placed concerning the fugitives' success. No doubt about it: there's a security leak in the barracks, and everybody suspects the enterprising Sefton -- who manages to obtain all the creature comforts he wants -- of being a Nazi infiltrator. Things get particularly dicey when Lt. Dunbar (Don Taylor), temporarily billetted in Stalag 17 before being transferred to an officer's camp, tells his new bunkmates that he was responsible for the destruction of a German ammunition train. Sure enough, this information is leaked to the Commandant, and Dunbar is subjected to a brutal interrogation. Certain by now that Sefton is the mole, the other inmates beat him to a pulp. But Sefton soon learns who the real spy is, and reveals that information on the night of Dunbar's planned escape. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Stalag 17 is as much comedy as wartime melodrama, with most of the laughs provided by Robert Strauss as the Betty Grable-obsessed Animal and Harvey Lembeck as Stosh's best buddy Harry. Other standouts in the all-male cast include Richard Erdman as prisoner spokesman Hoffy, Neville Brand as the scruffy Duke, Peter Graves as blonde-haired, blue-eyed all American boy Price, Gil Stratton as Sefton's sidekick Cookie (who also narrates the film) and Robinson Stone as the catatonic, shell-shocked Joey. Writer/producer/director Billy Wilder and coscenarist Edmund Blum remained faithful to the plot and mood the Donald Bevan/Edmund Trzcinski stage play {+Stalag 17}, while changing virtually every line of dialogue-all to the better, as it turned out (Trzcinski, who like Bevan based the play on his own experiences as a POW, appears in the film as the ingenuous prisoner who really believes his wife's story about the baby abandoned on her doorstep). William Holden won an Academy Award for his hard-bitten portrayal of Sefton, which despite a hokey I'm really a swell guy after all gesture near the end of the film still retains its bite today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
One The Great Films
Added 10/8/2009
Billy Wilder shows his stuff in this movie written and directed by him. The script is both funny and tragic and exciting at the same time. A group of American POWs during WWII try to survive their incarceration and help one escape. William Holden stars as the cynical, smart and bold POW who outsmarts the Germans and many of the American POWs. The movie moves effortlessly without being claustrophobic. I've loved this movie since I was a kid and still find there is more to see every viewing. A must see!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Heroes can be hidden
Added 8/7/2009
Stalag 17 is a great performance and gives us an important perspective on why WWII was necessary.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Stalag 17 DVD
Added 6/21/2009
The purchase was easy as 1,2,3. No problems at all and the shipping was fast. Excellent product as described and absolutely NO complaints. Excellent seller from my experience.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
Good men, bad situation
Added 6/15/2009
This one is a classic. A war movie, it takes place in a German POW camp, where U.S. Army Air Corps sergeants have been incarcerated. The plot revolves around Barracks 3 and how the Germans keep getting tipped off to American activities.

William Holden always does a great job in his roles but this one I think is his best. He plays Septon, a scammer who manages to get pretty much anything he wants with his schemes and his trading skills. He is also the natural choice when it comes to figuring out who the collaborater is.

Filmed in black and white this is one you really have to watch.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
POW Divide & Conquer:
Added 5/10/2009
Sat. 9 May 09 I feel Stalag # 17 to be one of William Holdens very best films. This movie is equal to his {The Bridge on the River Kwi} movie. Both are classics!!!!! They both tell the tale of military injustice!!!!!!!!!. The great German/Jewish actor Otto Preminger is outstanding as the Commandant!!!!! The DVD shows how the positive attitude of one person {Holden} can change the outcome for everyone concerned for the better.!!!!!! Fellow POWS!!!!! I have always wanted to purchase this great movie & Amazon sold it to me @ a low price. Plz keep your prices low for we retirees!!!!!! $$$$$$$ I want to thank Amazon for great customer service. Best/Wishes Charles, an old retired Veteran in So California.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
One The Great Films
Added 10/8/2009
Billy Wilder shows his stuff in this movie written and directed by him. The script is both funny and tragic and exciting at the same time. A group of American POWs during WWII try to survive their incarceration and help one escape. William Holden stars as the cynical, smart and bold POW who outsmarts the Germans and many of the American POWs. The movie moves effortlessly without being claustrophobic. I've loved this movie since I was a kid and still find there is more to see every viewing. A must see!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Heroes can be hidden
Added 8/7/2009
Stalag 17 is a great performance and gives us an important perspective on why WWII was necessary.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Stalag 17 DVD
Added 6/21/2009
The purchase was easy as 1,2,3. No problems at all and the shipping was fast. Excellent product as described and absolutely NO complaints. Excellent seller from my experience.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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