My father, who was among the Polish prisoners in Stalag VII-A, took me to see Stalag 17 at a Rialto Theatre when I was a kid.
Posted on 09/12/2014 6:23:45 PM PDT by DemforBush
Billy Wilder's classic drama-comedy about a gang of American airmen being held in a German POW camp. William Holden stars as the cynical, wheeler-dealer JJ Sefton, with great supporting cast work from Don Taylor, Neville Brand, and especially Peter Graves.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
As always, if you want on or off of my ping list. Feel free to post or FRmail me.
The Stranger 7/10
Decision Before Dawn 7.5/10
Plunder Road 6.75/10
The Hitch-Hiker 7/10
The Big Heat 8.5/10
ping
Just watched it for the first time recently.Good film.Very good in fact.
My father, who was among the Polish prisoners in Stalag VII-A, took me to see Stalag 17 at a Rialto Theatre when I was a kid.
Great flick!
Please add me to the ping list. Thanks!
One of my all-time favorites, especially the ending.
Later
Be happy to add you! :-)
Darn good film actually, was a bit surprised. But then, this was back when film making was taken seriously, and not made for the lowest common denominator.
Holdens ‘’Sfeten’’ was a jerk. Selling cigarettes, trading whatever had only if his fellow Americans POWs could pay. In truth I would have thought the rest if the GI’s would have just beaten the crap out of him and taking his stuff.
Are there any actors who have the look these guys did?
Today’s actors are too purty.
Great movie. GREAT movie.
One of the reasons I really don’t cotton much to new movies... the actors seem too self-consciously chiseled, they make all these calculated stances and looks, something about their comportment invariably reeks hollow.
I’m not saying the older actors are necessarily better in terms of aesthetics or traditional measures of talent. Yet, you see guys in old films and tv, like Neville Brand or Richard Boone or the like... they seem REAL. They seem like people who have lived and experienced full-blooded life. You see it on their faces. Ultimately I find them tremendously more relateable, more fascinating to watch.
Maybe you missed the part where he was savvy enough to spot and expose the real jerk in the barracks
I’ve seen it several times and it is an outstanding movie.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the Ocean 11 pictures. What I saw was what you described. They were posing.
Interestingly (or not), Bill Holden had the same view of the character. He went to see the play the movie was to be based on, and walked out after the first act. He refused to play the part, on the basis he felt Sefton was too cynical and selfish. But, he was under contract to the studio (Paramount, I believe) and they forced him to do the movie.
Of course, it worked out for Holden, as he won Best Actor that year for the film (though he thought Monty Clift and Burt Lancaster were more deserving for From Here to Eternity).
Any American soldier who would have behaved in such a manner to fellow American POWs like himself would have had his ass handed to him. Further more the Germans would have not allowed such an enterprise as ‘’Seftens’’ because they would have confiscated all his stuff for themselves and further more they would reason there could be the potential for resentment among the POWs which could have led to violence and disruption of order in the camp. Here’s a clue for you bub: Hollywood seldom ever depicts war as it really is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.