Stalag 17

One of my all time favorite movies which I never tire of seeing. We must remember that this is a comedy of a war movie. This film has an all star cast, great dialog and directed by an Academy award winning director. The setting is in a WWII German prison camp where U.S. servicemen try to find a way to escape. But the Germans seem to be one step ahead and foil these attempts. In the mix of all of this is a great comedy performance by actors Robert Strauss and Harbey Lembeck, two of the camps clowns. Not to forget the Academy award winning performance of William Holden who barters his way around camp for those "extra items" or for "extra curricular activities". There's a serious side to this film which is why Billy Wilfer again won't disappoint. It's a must-have film to add to one's movie library.

I'm a woman younger than 30. Saw it for the first time in 2005- knew nothing about the director or the actors- and I couldn't turn away because I needed to know the answer to the mystery. The acting is superb, the dialogue quick, the plot unexpected. The film seems fresh and subtle compared to Hollywood films of now. Perhaps this is because the special effects are simple; the emphasis is on dialogue. We also watch for clues in the changing surroundings and the characters in the shadows. I held my breath for the last few minutes. Even after the movie had ended, I wondered "What will happen now? Will the guards burst into the barrack? What will happen the next morning?" The last seconds of the film are peaceful, but the whistling at the end seems too hopeful...surely something will go still wrong!

... subtly incisive lampoon. Released at a time when anyone not a fully subservient paid up member of the holier than though patriots club was considered a threat, alien, liberal or too progressive, the perceived interpretation of 1950s society is its suspicion of those exhibiting these tendencies, observed through the prisoners reactions to William Holden's character. It's no surprise, as a result that, when given the opportunity to flee one of the 52 Stalags, or 50 as it would have been in 1953 that he takes it. Ironically it's someone exhibiting near perfect homogenous and home grown tendencies, characteristics and traits that emerges as the agent of chaos, suggesting perceptions built on preconceived views are the real enemy. A problem that societies the world over continue to struggle and juggle with today.