Stalag 17, Quite a Film

This 1953 film, a mixture of seriousness and lighthearted moments, may have you chuckling one moment, only to snap you back to the reality that this is a movie about a POW camp.* It was
produced and directed by Billy Wilder, who came to the United States as Hitler took power, as Wilder was Jewish. He was born in southern Poland, then under the control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he lived and got his start in 1920s Berlin. Wilder was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for "Stalag 17." SPOILER ALERT: I will deal with many of the key parts of the movie, including the ending.

The story centers around more than 600 American aircrew sergeants held in Germany as POWs in a "Stalag," the abbreviated German form of "Stammlager;" that is, "POW camp." The prisoners determine that there is a spy, a "stoolie," in their midst, as the German commandant, Colonel von Scherbach, played to the utmost arrogant perfection by Otto Preminger, knows everything the prisoners do, including any escape plans. The story is narrated, as such, by one of the prisoners, "Cookie," played by Gil Stratton. Since one barracks seems to be the location of the "stoolie," the guys in that barracks try to do some secret things, while remaining on guard for the spy.

One of the prisoners, J.J. Sefton, played by William Holden,** a slick wheeler-dealer, makes sharp deals with the German guards, and because of these deals, he has some comforts unavailable to the other prisoners, which creates resentment, and makes him a target of the prisoners' suspicions, especially those of "Duke," played by tough guy, Neville Brand. Sefton's cocky attitude toward the guys only serves to heighten the tension. But no one is really sure who the stoolie is, as the barracks' security officer, named Price, played by Peter Graves (brother of "Gunsmoke's" James Arness), and the barracks' chief, named "Hoffy," played by Richard Erdman, try to figure out how to keep plans from getting to von Scherbach.

During the film, three characters provide some lighthearted moments: "Animal," played by Robert Strauss, *** who is in love with actress Betty Grable; his friend and sidekick, "Harry Shapiro," played by Harvey Lembeck; and German guard, "Sergeant Schultz," played by Sig Ruman (born in Hamburg), who often enters the barracks to get the men out for roll call by screaming, "Raus!" (colloquial German for ''Out!") ****

Things really get rolling when another POW is brought in, "temporarily," as he is an officer, a Lieutenant Dunbar, played by Don Taylor. It turns out, that while in custody in Frankfurt, the lieutenant had managed to throw a "time bomb" onto a German ammunition train, which exploded after a couple of miles down the track. The Germans had been unable to figure out exactly what had happened, let alone, who did it. But the general story comes out in the barracks, and sure enough, Colonel (German: Oberst) von Scherbach finds out and Dunbar is taken from the barracks for interrogation. Suspicion of Sefton now boils over into outright accusation, as just prior to this, a radio the prisoners had been smuggling around the camp to get the war news is found and confiscated by the Germans, who knew right where to look. Then Sefton is seen in the part of the camp housing Russian women prisoners, so the guys assume he traded the radio for the "visitation rights." When Sefton returns from the Russian compound, the men beat the hell out of him, then they raid his stash of trading goods.

A Red Cross official comes to inspect the camp and to make certain the Geneva Convention is being upheld. The prisoners tell him of Dunbar's being taken away, so he goes to von Scherbach's office, where Dunbar is being kept on his feet for hours of interrogation. The commandant tells the Red Cross official that Dunbar is no longer a prisoner of war, because he is a saboteur, but the man tells von Scherbach that he must be able to prove that, or he will be held responsible in trials after the war. This brings the commandant to call in Schultz to make contact with the spy in the barracks, so he can find out exactly how Dunbar could have carried a time bomb on him in Frankfurt, after being thoroughly searched.

Throughout the picture, we see a table with a chessboard and chess pieces set up in the barracks, and at times we see some of the guys playing chess. Above the table hangs a single light on a wire. Eventually we see the wire has a loop in it at times, and we also see Schultz taking a chess piece from the table and replacing it with another piece from his pocket when the men are out for roll call. So, we learn this is how the spy and the commandant communicate, by little notes placed inside a hollow chess piece. When either the spy or the commandant want to communicate with the other, a loop is placed in the light's wire, indicating there is a message in the chess piece. So, Schultz follows the commandant's order and leaves a message in the chess piece with instructions for the spy, and he then puts a loop in the wire for the spy to see.

As the guys celebrate Christmas Day with some music from a phonograph, we now get to see who the spy is. Security officer Price sees the loop in the wire, goes to the corner of his bed and removes a chess piece to exchange for the one with the message. He carefully makes the exchange and then straightens the wire. Sefton, badly injured from the beating he was given, is lying on his bed and he sees the shadow of the light's wire with a loop in it, but then a little later, the the loop is gone. This makes him curious.

Price now has his instructions from the commandant, and using "security" as a ruse, he asks another prisoner, who had been with Dunbar in Frankfurt, how Dunbar was able to carry a time bomb on him, after having been searched. The guy explains that he used a pack of matches with a lit cigarette stuck inside to burn down slowly, then ignite the matches and anything combustible around it. Because it is too complicated to explain in a note, Price puts a loop in the wire, and Sefton sees the loop again, but he is uncertain what it means, if anything. That night, the Germans sound the air raid sirens to get the prisoners out of the barracks, so that Price can explain the "time bomb" to Schultz. Price lags behind, closing the barracks' door when he thinks all of the prisoners are outside. He goes to Schultz and tells him in German to watch while he demonstrates how Dunbar blew up the train with the matches and cigarette. They leave the barracks and out of the darkness comes Sefton, who now knows who the spy is (it's evening and all lights are out because of the supposed air raid). The thing is, Sefton has to think about what to do with his new knowledge. He figures if he tells everyone about Price, the Germans will pull Price out and place him in another camp to do his spying. If he or the guys kill Price, they will face the same fate from von Scherbach in retaliation.

The guys learn that a couple of SS men are in the camp to take Dunbar to Berlin. They decide to pull a daring rescue of Dunbar by using a homemade smudge pot and creating a lot of noise and activity on the grounds outside. They have to act immediately. Price is now startled, because he needs a way to inform the commandant about the plans that are already going into operation, so he suggests that he go outside "to keep Schultz off balance." Sefton knows that Price will tell Schultz about the plan, so he speaks up and asks for a guard to be placed on him, since they think he's the stoolie, then he can't be blamed if anything goes wrong. He suggests Price, since he's the security officer, and the guys agree. So Sefton has neutralized Price for the operation, which goes off, and Dunbar is rescued and hidden somewhere in the camp by barracks' chief "Hoffy," who is the only guy to know Dunbar's whereabouts.

The Germans search and search, but no Dunbar. The thing is, the prisoners now know they must make a move to get Dunbar out of the camp, as otherwise, they know he'll be found. They decide to put all dog tags in a hat and draw to see who will try to get Dunbar, and himself, out of the camp. Now Price comes back into play, and he volunteers to do the job, saying how he wants to make up for the security failures of the past. The guys agree and then Hoffy tells where Dunbar is hidden; in a large water tank. Now Sefton speaks up and says he'll take bets that Dunbar will never get away. At first the guys think it is Sefton in his wheeler-dealer mode again, but when Price says they need to act before the Germans find out where Dunbar is, Sefton says, "The Germans know where Dunbar is." He confronts Price with, "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" (Do you speak German?) Price immediately denies knowing German, but when Sefton asks him the date and time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Price knows the date, December 7, but as to the time, he says he was having dinner. As Price had claimed to be from Cleveland, it was lunchtime in Cleveland at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, but it was dinnertime in Berlin! Sefton then grabs the hollow chess piece from Price's jacket. He then shows the guys how the whole system had worked between Price and the commandant, with Schultz acting as go-between.

With the spy known, Sefton offers to take Dunbar out of the camp, because the "odds are better." All agree and he then tells them to give him 5 minutes to go out the trap door, to crawl under the barracks, and to get Dunbar out of the water tank." They are to then shove Price out into the compound to draw all of the lights and attention of the German guards in the towers around the camp. He hopes that will give him and Dunbar the chance to cut through the barbed wire (he has wire cutters) and to get outside the camp. The plan goes into operation and Sefton gets Dunbar. The guys throw Price out the door with cans tied to his ankles to make lots of noise. He yells out in German, but the siren is sounding and the guards in the towers are firing machine guns, so his cries of "Hilfe" (help) cannot be heard. He is killed. Sefton and Dunbar cut through the wire and run from the camp. Von Scherbach and Schultz come out of the commandant's office, thinking they will see Dunbar dead on the ground, but when the body is turned face up, the looks on their faces tell everything.       

* POW=prisoner of war

** Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Sefton.

*** Strauss was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

**** The Sergeant Schultz character became an important role in the television comedy "Hogan's Heroes" in the 1960s, which was also set in a Stalag, and played by John Banner, who became famous for saying, "I know nooooothing!"

Photo is from the Paramount Home Entertainment 2006 edition

WORD HISTORY:
Prison-This word, related to both "apprehend" and "comprehend" (both were borrowed into English), goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion, "forward, in the front;" thus, "before, to the front, ahead, head toward." This gave Latin the prefix, "pre." Further, the core of the word goes back to Indo European "ghend/ghed," which meant, "to seize, to take." This, plus the prefix,^ gave Latin the verb "prehendo," meaning, "to take, to seize, to grasp." This then produced the Latin noun "prehensio," meaning, "a seizing, a taking;" thus also, "a taking into captivity." This eventually provided forms "prensionem," then "presionem," which passed to Old French as "prison/prisoun," which meant, "imprisonment," but then the word also broadened further into "the place of imprisonment." English borrowed the word in the 1100s, with both meanings, "imprisonment" and "place of imprisonment."

^ It isn't always clear why Latin used some prefixes on words or what the prefixes truly meant in every case.