Stalag 17

Stalag 17 does not feature William Holden’s best performance – that honor goes to Sunset Boulevard, or perhaps The Wild Bunch – but his being Sefton is essential for Billy Wilder’s war dramedy to succeed. Holden’s great roles always featured him as a man who struggles with a code, be it personal morals or societal norms, and tries to reconcile himself to those rules; in essence, this challenges the viewer to like his characters. He’s a man you want to like but there’s something off that keeps him at a distance until he redeems himself in the films’ final moments. Sefton is untrustworthy, and yet the viewer wants to believe in his innocence; so, when the men of the barracks beat him in his bed, the viewer is outraged, and yet they still can’t take his side completely.

Sefton is a con man: even when he’s at his lowest moment, he is looking for an angle to play, a way to improve his position. He doesn’t hold grudges; he gathers evidence and bides his time. The final act is remarkable because Sefton is not a changed man, but rather one who took his licks and seized the chance to get out for good – he doesn’t compromise who he is to get what he wants. In this way, Sefton belongs to that first brand of filmic anti-heroes, right up there with the best of the Noir detectives.

Hogan’s Heroes ripped off this film in its more comedic elements – Stalag 17 is a good mixture of Billy Wilder’s comedic and dramatic talents, an enjoyable thriller with memorable characters and amusing vignettes belonging to the pantheon of great WW II films.