Stalag 17
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Stalag 17 |
| Original title | Stalag 17 |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1953 |
| length | 116 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Billy Wilder |
| script | Billy Wilder Edwin Blum |
| production | Billy Wilder |
| music |
Franz Waxman Leonid Raab |
| camera | Ernest Laszlo |
| cut | George Tomasini |
| occupation | |
| |
Stalag 17 is an American war film directed by Billy Wilder from 1953. It is the first American film after the Second World War that is about war but is not about battles and victories, but about Americans rolled into one German prisoner of war camp ( Stalag ).
action
The film is set in the German prison camp Stalag 17 at the end of 1944 . Camp commandant Colonel von Scherbach, scion of an old German military family, leads a strict regiment. Every attempt to escape has so far ended in the death of the escapee. Obviously, all escape plans are uncovered by the Germans beforehand. Hence, the prisoners suspect that there is a traitor among them.
Above all, the clever loner Sefton, whom the other prisoners despise because he also does lively trade with the German guards, is suspected. His currency is cigarettes, which he takes off his fellow prisoners by gambling, trading in home-made alcohol or by looking through his binoculars into the neighboring women's camp.
In the middle of the preparations for Christmas, Lieutenant Dunbar, son of a wealthy family, arrives at the camp and tells us that on the way he blew up a German explosives train. This is also promptly revealed to the camp management and Dunbar threatens extradition to the SS and shooting for sabotage .
Now the situation for Sefton is getting worse. Then he discovers a dead mailbox with which messages about Sergeant Schulz are secretly smuggled out of the barracks. This enables Sefton to unmask the real traitor: “Price”, a German who had lived in the USA for a long time and was smuggled in as a spy by the camp administration . After Sefton has proven his innocence, the prisoners chase the traitor out of the barrack directly into the barrage of the camp guard. In the general confusion, Sefton dares to flee the camp with Lieutenant Dunbar. He hopes for a rich reward from Dunbar's family.
criticism
“In a POW camp for American airmen in Germany, a traitor undermines the camp community. The film's suggestion to psychologically reveal the “barrack soul” is partially undermined by entertainment effects. Still perfectly staged and excellently cast. "
In 1953 the film was rejected by the voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , because the one-sided negative portrayal of the German security guards could break out old resentments ; it was not until 1960 that the film was released in German and Austrian cinemas.
background
The film is based on a play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski , which ran on Broadway from 1951 to 1952 . When Paramount Studios wanted to release the film in Germany as well, the studio management decided to turn the traitor into a Pole in the German-language version in order to make the film easier for the German audience to digest. Wilder was informed of this in writing during the filming of " Ariane - Love in the Afternoon " in Paris . After Wilder's energetic protest, this idea was dropped again. Wilder, who had lost a large part of his family in the Holocaust , demanded a formal apology for this tactless request. When it failed, he never made another film for Paramount.
Wilder's Austrian colleague Otto Preminger plays the camp commandant Colonel von Scherbach.
German dubbed version
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Sergeant JJ Sefton | William Holden | Heinz Engelmann |
| Lt. James Dunbar | Don Taylor | Heinz Giese |
| Colonel von Scherbach | Otto Preminger | Paul Wagner |
| Stanislas "hippopotamus" Kasava | Robert Strauss | Arnold Marquis |
| Harry Shapiro | Harvey Lembeck | Wolfgang Draeger |
| "Hoffy" | Richard Erdman | Helmut Wildt |
| Sergeant Price | Peter Graves | Rainer Brandt |
| Duke | Neville Brand | Horst Niendorf |
| Sergeant Johann Sebastian Schultz | Sig Ruman | Werner Lieven |
| Blondie Peterson | Robert Shawley | Ernst Jacobi |
Awards
William Holden received an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Sergeant Sefton , and the film was also nominated for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. At the award ceremony, Holden gave the shortest acceptance speech to date: "Thank you". In 1968 Alfred Hitchcock undercut him by saying "Thanks".
Others
John Mitchum , the younger brother of Robert Mitchum , can be seen in an extra role .
A reggae instrumental piece named Stalag 17 was named after Wilder's film in 1973 and later became one of the most famous reggae riddims , the Stalag Riddim .
Obviously, Stalag 17 was also a source of inspiration for the TV series “Hogan's Heroes” (“ A cage full of heroes ”), as can be seen from the character of “Sergeant Schultz”, who appears in both the film and the series. The film company Paramount Pictures sued the series producers for stealing ideas, but lost the case.
Main article: Stalag XVII A Kaisersteinbruch
Stalag 17 is featured several times in the TV series Magnum PI .
Web links
- Stalag 17 in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Stalag 17 in the German synchronous file
- Stalag 17 atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ (Otto) Wladika: AZ film. "Stalag 17" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 2, 1960, p. 15 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ Stalag 17 in the German synchronous file , accessed on April 17, 2020