William Holden Negotiates Superstardom via Stalag 17

One of the most diverting films of the 1950’s and possibly the best WWII comedy/drama ever produced, 1953’s Stalag 17 details the trials and hijinks surrounding a group of POW American soldiers held in the German title camp circa 1944. With masterful writer/director Billy Wilder re-teaming with Sunset Boulevard star William Holden and featuring a great assemble cast, Stalag provides gripping entertainment, with Wilder and co-writer Edwin Blum’s carefully-crafted script (based on the 1951 Broadway success by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski) providing an abundance of light-hearted moments which mesh perfectly with the central plot’s more dramatic, suspenseful elements. Expanding the play to feature more of the action occurring outside the key locale of Barracks 4 allows audiences to gather a full sense of the dire circumstances the men find themselves in, and admire the creative methods they use to keep their spirit and motivation up as they attempt to outwit the Nazis on their own turf.

Wilder, who had phenomenal success as a director from his 1942 debut, The Major and the Minor, including all-timers Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend and Boulevard, is clearly in his element throughout his helming of Stalag, holding the viewer’s attention from the first scene featuring a couple of prisoners attempting to escape the camp, to the richly-satisfying, exciting final moments of the film nearly two hours later. His sure touch with actors is evident throughout, with the majority of the cast offered opportunities to stand out in distinctive fashion, while simultaneously building a sense of comradeship among the prisoners. Wilder also maintains a perfect blend of comedy and drama, assuring the tone of the film stays consistently engrossing without becoming too frivolous or stark. Finally, as mentioned Wilder avoids the stage bound origins of the play by frequently shifting the action out of Barracks 4 into the surrounding environs, resulting in one of the best and least-forced ”opening ups” involved in a stage-to-screen translation. Wilder would garner many more successes during the 1950’s and 1960’s (Some Like it Hot and The Apartment chief among these), with Stalag remaining among the greatest efforts of the esteemed writer-director.

As J.J. Sefton, a cynical, on-the-make prisoner willing to trade with his colleagues and the Germans, in addition to running several profitable enterprises, in order to maintain the best possible lifestyle throughout his duration at the camp, William Holden found himself moving into the top echelon of film stars with this trenchant, striking turn. The forthright actor had offered years of solid work in a juvenile vein after gaining stardom via his 1939 debut in Golden Boy, including terrific, touching work as a George for the ages in the following year’s Our Town, before Holden’s status was enhanced by his mature, Oscar-nominated work in 1950’s Boulevard, wherein his subtle, intelligent playing marked him as one of the more adept cinematic leading men of his era. However, standard fare followed this significant breakthrough until Wilder came to the rescue with Stalag. Holden rewarded his loyal director by bringing a sardonic, shrewd awareness to his tense, energetic performance, while still suggesting the idealized All-American guy persona that helped make Holden an audience favorite, which plays a significant role in allowing viewers to empathize with the self-serving Sefton, even if one isn’t sure of his true motives throughout much of the film.

After his huge success in Stalag, which culminated in a Best Actor Oscar win over formidable competition, including Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar and both Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift (in perhaps his best performance) in the year’s biggest WWII smash, From Here to Eternity, Holden went from strength-to-strength for the remainer of the decade, with stellar work in hits such as Sabrina (yet another Wilder project), The Country Girl, 1955’s smash Picnic (which landed Holden a Time magazine cover) and The Bridge on the River Kwai, one of the 1950’s prime critical and commercial successes which, due to a percentage deal, kept Holden financially solvent for the rest of his life. Holden hit #1 as the Top Box-Office draw (according to the yearly Quigley Publications poll) in 1956, then after the Kwai peak experienced mixed reactions to his movie output for the next two decades (with 1960’s The World of Suzie Wong and 1969’s The Wild Bunch his chief hits), before scoring a major career comeback with an Emmy on television for The Blue Knight, then Oscar-nominated work in Network, just before another reunion with Wilder for 1978’s Fedora, a few years before his untimely passing at 63 in 1981.

Factoring heavily into the proceedings as the chief comedic relief, Harvey Lembeck and Robert Strauss match up ideally as the quick, wisecracking Harry Shapiro and his hulking, gravel-voiced, somewhat dim friend, aptly named “Animal.” Strauss in particular is given many chances to shine, with Animal’s deep devotion to Betty Grable and heartbreak over her marriage to Harry James serving as prime comedic fodder- it’s hard to not laugh when recalling Strauss’ “Betty!! Betty!!” breakdown even decades after viewing the movie. Strauss also adds some touching moments to his role via interactions with the shell-shocked Joey, illustrating a caring, protective side to Animal. Lembeck nimbly and sagely works in fine tandem with Strauss, allowing them to put over just about every gag thrown their way, however broad the jokes may sometimes be.

Among the rest of the imposing cast, maverick director Otto Preminger displays a deft touch in front of the camera as the cold, sarcastic Colonel von Scherbach, who oversees Stalag 17 in a calm, imperious manner and nails his terrific dialogue in tremendous fashion. Sig Ruman also does wonders with the role of Schulz, the seemingly affable Barracks 4 guard who harbors a lot more guile than he reveals, while telling the prisoners he is their “best friend.” Don Taylor is characteristically earnest as a lieutenant who incurs the wrath of von Scherbach, while the stoic Peter Graves and brash Neville Brand both raise their career profiles considerably via standout Stalag work. Richard Erdman offers a fine account of Hoffy, the strong, no-nonsense leader of Barracks 4, with one great moment wherein Hoffy challenges von Scherbach for one of his most ignoble actions, and Gil Stratton also does nice work as Cookie, who serves both as Sefton’s closest ally and the movie’s narrator. Finally, future “Witch Doctor” and Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian can be seen as a singing POW, a year before he showed up as a frustrated songwriter at his piano in another classic, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Stalag 17 was a major success upon its release in June of 1953, gaining a wealth of critical praise while amassing $3,300,000 in U.S./Canadian film rentals (according to Variety), thereby landing in the top twenty box-office hits of 1953. The film was listed among the top ten of the year by both The New York Times and the National Board of Review, while Wilder gained notice as a quarterly winner from the Screen Director’s Guild and (with Blum) a Screen Writers Guild nomination for Best Written Comedy. At the Academy Awards, along with Holden’s win Wilder was nominated for Best Director and Strauss found himself among the Best Supporting Actor lineup, with Eternity’s Fred Zinnemann and Frank Sinatra taking home the gold, respectively. In addition to these plaudits, the film served as an inspiration for many comedy/drama war films to come, and was the obvious blueprint for one of the 1960’s most durable television comedies, Hogan’s Heroes. However, as multiple viewings can attest, the charm and riveting nature of Stalag is singular, allowing this classic to uphold its status as one of the most memorable and entertaining films of its era, or any other.

P.S.: I first viewed Stalag 17 as a teen in the 1980’s, when VHS was coming into wide popularity. My drama teacher was something of a classic movie buff and would treat the class to a top film during a special two-hour period at the end of each semester. In the case of Stalag 17, the movie ran over the school period time but no one left, resulting in a long walk home after I missed my bus, but one with no regrets as I pondered the truly awesome viewing experience I’d just had. Watching the film anew over the years on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and most recently via the wonderful 4K-Blu-Ray combo pack recently released by Kino Lorber only solidifies the notion I’ve always carried since that first look at Stalag 17 that the movie is one of the most richly satisfying productions ever committed to celluloid.