Everything about Stalag 17 totally explained
» This article is about the film of this title. For the punk band, see Stalag 17 (band).
Stalag 17 is a
1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a
German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. Produced and directed by
Billy Wilder, it starred
William Holden,
Don Taylor,
Otto Preminger,
Robert Strauss,
Neville Brand,
Harvey Lembeck, and
Peter Graves. (Strauss and Lembeck both appeared in the original
Broadway production.)
The movie was adapted by Wilder and
Edwin Blum from the Broadway play by
Donald Bevan and
Edmund Trzcinski. (Both Bevan and Trzcinski appear in the film as prisoners.) The play was directed by
José Ferrer and was the Broadway debut of
John Ericson as Sefton. It began its run in May 1951, continued for 472 performances and was based on the experiences of its authors, both of whom were POWs in Stalag 17B in
Austria.
Plot synopsis
Stalag 17 begins "about a week before Christmas" in 1944 in a prisoner-of-war camp located somewhere along the
Danube River. The story of a Nazi spy in Barracks Four is narrated by Clarence Harvey "Cookie" Cook (
Gil Stratton).
Prisoners Manfredi and Johnson try to escape through a
tunnel the inmates have dug under the barbed wire. They are immediately shot when they emerge from the other end. The prisoners believe there's a spy in their midst since the Germans obviously knew about the tunnel, but the barracks security officer, Price (
Peter Graves), fails to uncover his identity.
Sefton (
William Holden) is the main suspect; he barters openly with the German guards for eggs, silk stockings, blankets and other luxuries. He also organizes mouse races and various other profitable enterprises. The other prisoners are suspicious of his fraternization with the enemy, as well as envious of his success. Sefton himself is rather cynical, cold, and impersonal; he bets on whether Manfredi and Johnson will actually escape, then trades the cigarettes he wins to the Germans for an egg the next morning.
The lives of the prisoners are depicted, although in a somewhat sanitized way. They receive mail, eat terrible food, wash in the latrine sinks, and collectively do their best to keep sane and defy the camp's cruel and ruthless commandant, Oberst von Scherbach (
Otto Preminger). They use a clandestine radio (shared by all the barracks) to pick up the BBC and the war news. (The antenna is their volleyball net.) Their German guard, Sergeant Schulz (
Sig Ruman), confiscates the radio, another success for the "stoolie", whoever he is.
Sefton bribes the guards to let him spend the day in the women's barracks in the Russian section of the camp. The other prisoners spot him through Sefton's own telescope and conclude that this is his reward for informing the Germans about the radio. When he returns, he's accused of being a spy. At that moment, von Scherbach pays a visit to the barracks to apprehend new prisoner Lieutenant James Dunbar (
Don Taylor), whom the Germans correctly suspect of blowing up a German ammunition train while he was being transported to the camp. The men are now convinced that Sefton is the spy and viciously beat him, after which he's ostracized. His considerable property is taken and redistributed to the rest of the prisoners. Sefton decides to investigate and uncover the identity of the spy.
On Christmas Day, the men find out that
SS men are coming to take Dunbar to Berlin, to be interrogated for his act of sabotage. The entire camp creates a distraction and Dunbar is freed and hidden. The guards search the camp thoroughly, but can't find him. Later, the men of Barracks Four, excluding Sefton and Joey (who suffers from shellshock), plan to draw a name from a hat to see who will try to get Dunbar out of the camp, but Price volunteers first. At this point, Sefton reveals that the spy is Price (Sefton had stayed behind in the barracks during a fake "air raid" and eavesdropped on Price speaking with Schulz). Sefton shows how messages were passed between Price and Schulz, then asks him, "When was
Pearl Harbor?" Price knows the date of course, but Sefton traps him by quickly asking what time he heard the news. Without thinking, Price betrays himself by answering 6 p.m. — the correct time of the attack in Germany. After that, Sefton reaches into Price's jacket pocket and extracts the "mailbox" used to exchange messages with the Germans, a hollowed-out chess piece.
With his fellow
POWs convinced of Price's guilt, Sefton decides to take Dunbar out of the camp himself, partially because he likes the odds and the reward he can expect from Dunbar's rich family. The men give Sefton enough time to get Dunbar out of his hiding place, the water tower above one of the camp latrines, then to distract the guards in the gun towers, they throw Price out into the yard with tin cans tied to his legs. The ruse works: Price is killed in a hail of bullets (to the great annoyance of von Scherbach and Schulz) while Dunbar and Sefton cut through the barbed wire and make their escape.
Cast
Casting
Both
Charlton Heston and
Kirk Douglas were considered for the role of Sefton. Holden was reluctant to play Sefton as he thought the character was too cynical and selfish. Wilder refused to make the role more sympathetic and Holden actually refused it, but was forced to do it by Paramount.
Location
The prison camp set was built on the John Show Ranch in southwestern Woodland Hills, California.
Reception
The film was well received
(External Link
) (External Link) and is considered, along with
The Great Escape and
The Bridge on the River Kwai, among the greatest
World War II Prisoner of War films.
Awards and nominations
Holden won the
Academy Award for
Best Actor in a Leading Role. His acceptance speech was the shortest on record ("Thank you"), until
Alfred Hitchcock said "Thanks" upon receiving an honorary Oscar in 1968. Holden's speech wasn't planned to be brief; by the time he received his Oscar, the show was running long - back then the TV broadcast had a strict cutoff time - which forced Holden's quick remarks. Frustrated, Holden paid for a personal ad in the Hollywood trades to thank everyone he wanted to on Oscar night.
In addition, Wilder was nominated for the
Best Director Oscar, and Strauss for
Best Supporting Actor.
(External Link)
Availability
The film is currently available on
VHS and
DVD. A Special Edition DVD was released on
March 21,
2006.
Trivia
- The site of Stalag XVII-B is in Austria just east of a small village called Gneixendorf, about 3 kilometers north of the town of Krems on the Danube. As of 1997, virtually nothing remains of the physical camp. The runway of a small municipal airport covers part of the camp location and the rest is being used as agricultural land, as it clearly has been for decades. The physical location isn't marked in any way on the ground or on published maps but the footings of the barracks can be found upon close examination.
According to IMDB, the singer at the Christmas party is Ross Bagdasarian, the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks and the voice of their manager, David Seville.
The producers of Stalag 17 later sued the producers of Hogan's Heroes for infringement, but lost. Interestingly, Paramount would later gain the DVD rights to Hogan's Heroes.
The opening of Wes Anderson's short film 2007 Hotel Chevalier, features the protagonist Jack casually watching the film in his hotel room.Further Information
Get more info on 'Stalag 17'.
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