claudio ortega

Stalag 17 (1953) written by Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum starring William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Richard Erdman, Peter Graves, Neville Brand, Sig Ruman This was Billy's first film after the failure of Ace in the Hole (which is now recognized as an unqualified masterpiece). He often talked about how he really wanted a big success and he definitely found one in this play by Bevan and Trzcinski which ran for 472 performances on Broadway the prior two years (produced and directed by Jose Ferrer). It was considered risky at the time to produce a WW2 comedy/drama (we'd now call it a dramedy I suppose) but in the deft hands of Wilder the tonal shifts were perfectly calibrated (see The Great Escape as an example of tonal shifts not perfectly calibrated) and integrated into the story/plot. William Holden was the natural successor to the sort of cynical American played in the 1940s by Humphrey Bogart and had already been Oscar-nominated in Wilder's masterpiece Sunset Blvd (1950). He became the perfect embodiment of the Wilder stand-in during the 1950s and won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Sefton the "is he or isn't he" American collaborator in the prison camp. A truly stand-out ensemble cast with several from the original Broadway play and then there's Otto Preminger as the camp commandant. He was notoriously difficult be Billy always said he was a pleasure to work for and one of the easiest actors he ever had to direct. It's one of Wilder's best films although maybe not as well remembered today as it once was. Personally, I love it but ... I argued or discussed with Billy many times that final shot which I never liked (it always feels out of place to me) and one night, after several of Billy's favourite martinis, he finally just said to me "just go fuck off." That was Billy. I loved him and learned more from him than any other director I knew. Highest recommendation. It's a great film.