The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
FILM OF THE WEEK
Stalag 17 – Friday, Film4, 12:35pm
Based on a play by American airmen who served as prisoners of war during the Second World War, this classic comedy drama from 1953 is an acerbic forerunner to the likes of M*A*S*H. It doesn’t make light of a deadly serious situation, but it does find some sly gallows humour in the awful madness of it all. Directed and co-written by the great Billy Wilder, it stars William Holden on Oscar-winning form as a cynical POW who may or may not be a German collaborator. Wilder displays a firm grasp of tone throughout, the film never veers from comedy to drama in a jarring way. It’s a tremendous piece of entertainment with a dark undercurrent.