Stalag 17
Darkly comic war film by Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot) about the search for a traitor amid a group of six hundred American pilots in a German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.
Tensions rise when an escape attempt ends in tragedy, and there are clear signs of a spy among the American pilots. Suspicion quickly falls on Sefton, a cynical sergeant who trades in cigarettes and whisky and has little regard for camaraderie or heroism.
Stalag 17 is a black comedy full of contrasts: humour and despair, brotherhood and betrayal, hope and hopelessness take turns throughout. Wilder paints a portrait of war that isn’t about battles or acts of valour, but about the moral ambiguity of life behind barbed wire. In the end, the central question remains: who can you trust when freedom seems like an illusion? Stalag 17 was a commercial success and is still regarded as one of the finest comedies about the Second World War.