27 Days With Billy Wilder And Me

Billy Wilder’s eleventh movie, Stalag 17, starring William Holden, was released in 1953. Billy was 47 years old.

This is a great movie, one I’ve seen many times. And I’m sure I’ll see it many more times to come.

In typical Billy Wilder fashion, it relies heavily on narration, well-rounded characters, and clever plotting.

William Holden — fresh from Sunset Boulevard — won an Oscar for his portrayal of J.J. Sefton, a prisoner of war in Stalag 17 wrongly accused of being a stoolie.

Principle Cast:
Sgt. J.J. Sefton…………………………………William Holden (1918–1981)
Lt. James Dunbar……………………………..Don Taylor (1920–1998)
Oberst von Scherbach………………………..Otto Preminger (1905–1986)
Sgt. Stanislaus ‘Animal’ Kuzawa………….Robert Strauss (1913–1975)
Sgt. Harry Shapiro…………………………….Harvey Lembeck (1923–1982)
Sgt. ‘Hoffy’ Hoffman………………………….Richard Erdman (1925- )
Sgt. Price………………………………………….Peter Graves (1926–2010)
Duke………………………………………………..Neville Brand (1920–1992)

Stalag 17 was written by Billy Wilder, Edwin Blum, and Donald Bevan. It was based on the play by Edmund Trzcinski.