Stalag 17

the long version

Stalag 17 (1953), a riveting drama set in a German prisoner-of-war camp, was adapted from the Broadway play directed by Jose Ferrer in 1951. Billy Wilder developed the play and made the film version more interesting in every way. Wilder's mordant humor and misanthropy percolate throughout this bitter story of egoism and class conflict. The U.S. Air Force sergeants imprisoned in Stalag 17 begin to suspect a spy in their midst after the Germans discover the escape tunnel in their barracks. 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 explaining the reasons for Wilder's changes.