Stalag 17

by Billy Wilder, Jeffrey Meyers (Introduction)

Stalag 17 (1953), the riveting drama of a German prisoner-of-war camp, was adapted from the Broadway play directed by José Ferrer in 1951. Billy Wilder developed the play and made the film version more interesting in every way. Edwin Blum, a veteran screenwriter and friend of Wilder's, collaborated on the screenplay but found working with Wilder an agonizing experience.

Wilder's mordant humor and misanthropy percolate throughout this bitter story of egoism, class conflict, and betrayal. As in a well-constructed murder mystery, the incriminating evidence points to the wrong man. Jeffrey Meyers's introduction enriches the reading of Stalag 17 by including comparisons with the Broadway production and the reasons for Wilder's changes.

Genres: Film, World War II, Historical Fiction, Fiction

155 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 1999

About the author

Billy Wilder (born Samuel Wilder) was a Polish-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, Academy Award-winning film director and producer, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Many of Wilder's films achieved both critical and public acclaim.

Reviews

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of The New York Times' Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made

https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...

[Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction gives away the whole plot of the screenplay. For those looking to be surprised, I would recommend skipping the introduction, since it doesn't really add much to the reading experience anyway.

As far as the screenplay itself, it reminded me in many ways of The Good Soldier Švejk but I was disappointed that the majority of the plot was devoted to a whodunnit mystery in which the barrack POWs attempt to uncover who amongst them is a snitch. Granted, this is not an active mystery for the the barrack POWs since they are fairly confident that Sefton is their mole. Nevertheless, it's at the forefront of the audience's experience and takes away from some of the more interesting war/camp-related elements of the screenplay that could have been explored more deeply.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great screenplay. Saw the movie on youtube right afterwards. 99% was the same. Wunderbar :)

[Susan Molloy · Rating 4 out of 5]

🖊 I saw the movie, and I liked it. It would be fun to get the stage play version to read and compare.

🎥 1953 movie version with William Holden.
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