Stalag 17 (1953)

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago at May 7 7:53

"Nobody has ever escaped from Stalag 17. Not alive, anyway." When people look back at the classic World War II movies there is one indisputable fact: most of them are a story about the fighting or being in the trenches. Most Hollywood WWII films are just about the combat and the drama while on the front line. The opening narration states quite clearly that no films are made about the camps that housed the prisoners of war. Celebrated writer/director Billy Wilder succeeds in creating one of the first movies about the prisoner of war camps that operated while the combat was occurring in a different part of the world. Stalag 17 is a film set in a German POW camp as we follow a cavalcade of fascinating character portrayed by a group of interesting actors. The American prisoners held...Read more

Rating : 8/10

Posted : 2 years, 9 months ago at Feb 5 6:26

Golden boy William Holden bagged an Oscar for his portrayal of resident entrepreneur/stool pigeon (?) in a POW camp during WWII. Entirely deserved it too, and I suppose Billy Wilder deserves most of the credit. Though not a fan of war movies, this is one of two favorite war flicks--the other being The Bridge on the River Kwai (another Holden flick, but he's not the reason I like it--Alec Guiness is).

Rating : 9/10