I grew up watching reruns of Hogan’s Heroes, which I understood was adapted of Stalag 17. I believed this while watching. There are many parallels, for instance barracks life, the word Stalag, and William Holden’s Sgt. Sefton is not a terrible analog for Bob Crane’s Col. Hogan. They both also share a Sgt. Schultz. Obviously the show has a more comedic, family friendly tone and while you can draw a line between show and film characters, they don’t line up perfectly.
In reality, while I believe the show was greatly inspired by the film, it was not an authorized adaptation. In fact the authors of the play the film was based on sued the TV show and initially won. The judge, however, reversed the decision. They can do this.
The film is somewhat episodic. The exploits of Sefton as well as Shapiro and “Animal” provide comedic interest. But the through line of the story is the Nazi spy they are trying to find, and there the stakes are high. Sefton becomes a prime suspect.
Peter Graves has a significant role, as does Richard Erdman, who is best remembered as that guy who reviews snack foods on youtube. There are a great many notable character actors throughout.
While I had never seen this film, I was well aware of it even as a boy. Unfortunately it was spoiled for me in an unexpected way. Mad Magazine would do satirical renditions of famous movies, and Stalag 17 was one of them. I read this issue in maybe 1980 and remembered the reveal to this very day. Still, it is a greatly enjoyable film. AMRU 4.
"I see nothing!"
Thank you for spotlighting this movie, one of my all-time favorite films; I enjoy reading other perspectives on it! I never knew there was a MAD parody of it - will have to find that some day! My experience with the film was the other way around - I discovered and came to love the movie first, then gave the TV show a try but never liked the show enough to regularly watch it.
ReplyDelete