Description

Stanley Banks is a good father who adores his beautiful daughter Kay and his well-ordered life, a life that is thrown into chaos when Kay announces her engagement. A classic MGM comedy, the story is told via flashback and chronicles the many travails, financial and emotional, suffered by Stanley (Spencer Tracy) as he tries to give Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) a wedding to remember. Year: 1950 Director: Vincente Minnelli Starring: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Some Things Never Change
I just saw for the first time ever this movie made in 1950; directed by Vincente Minnelli; and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. Ms. Taylor was only 18 when she made this film and was frightening and eternally beautiful. She is so petite that she almost could adorn her own wedding cake. The movie, however, as the title implies, belongs to Mr. Tracy who plays her father who cannot bear to see his little daughter grow up and get married. There is a lot of most fathers in Mr. Tracy's character. He has some great lines and some funny scenes and endears himself to us with his gentle humor-- the footage where he gets stuck in his kitchen making drinks and doesn't get to make a speech about his beloved daughter, just to point out one delightful instance. He is such a bungler-- can't get to Ms. Taylor at the wedding reception to bid her goodbye either.

I did not find this 54 year-old movie dated at all. Some things never change. Love may be eternal and most families the world over act pretty much the same when it comes to seeing their children leave home.

Takes the Cake--Wait There is No Cake.
There is a reason that Spencer Tracy was one of Hollywood's most acclaimed actors. He could pull off any role and make it believable. He was one of the great everymen of his day. Watch, for instance, FATHER OF THE BRIDE and you will find yourself thinking of your own father, grandfather, uncle, or perhaps even yourself.

In the film, based off the novel by Edward Streetcar, Tracy plays Stanley Banks, an upper middle class lawyer who has his nerves put to wits ends when he learns nonchalantly over dinner one evening that his only daughter, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) has just become engaged. His life is turned upside down in a few brief moments, as the simple thing he thought of as love turns into a nightmare called a wedding. Yet as much as things change, he learns that nothing really changes at all.

This original film version of Streetcar's novel stays true to the source and (as much as I love the remake) in many ways is far more entertaining than the Steve Martin version. The movie has dated some, yet it remains as enduring as ever. Watch it and laugh, maybe cry, then--if you can--give Dad a call.

The original is still the best
I must say that this is far more charming and sentimental than the remake. The relationships presented here seem more real and less scripted.

Tracy and Taylor have an unmatched chemistry as father and daughter that actually stretched into real life, lasting until his death.

Minelli's direction brings real verve to the story without resorting to cheap physical humor. I love the verbal repartee and the cadre of classic Hollywood actors.

The DVD itself is a good transfer both in video and audio. I enjoyed the extras as well, although I couldn't seem to get audio on the two newsreels included.

A great trip down the aisle and memory lane.

A great family film...Better than the Remake...
Spencer Tracy is perfect in his role as the father of the bride. The love for his daughter played by Elizabeth Taylor rings so true in this film. Spencer Tracey gives one of the best comedic performances I have ever seen.

Joan Bennet is also excellent as the mother of the bride.

This comedy is never over the top and the characters seem very real. There are some good laughs.

The upper middle class home and lifestyle reminds me of the book "The Way We Never Were" and at the same times makes me nostagic for the 1950s.

If Elizabeth Taylor's character's call to her dad at the end of film doesn't choke you up then you are made of wood!

Get this film.

This is a classic!
If you're looking for a comedy classic with good acting and a few nuggets of truth, this would be a good bet. Spencer Tracy is delightful as a befuddled, confused, and out-of-his-depth father, trying to survive the announcement, planning, and actual wedding ceremony of his beloved daugher to a man who has taken his place as #1 in her life. He is a typical 50's father-gruff and at times uncommunicative, but always loving. Elizabeth Taylor is cast as the naive and passionate daughter, but she is overshadowed by both Tracy and Joan Bennett as his understanding and long-suffering wife. This is a real tour de force for Tracy and is a delight after all these years. ... Read more

Description

Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy star in this remarkable war film, nominated for six Oscars(R) (including Best Picture) about courageous American G.I.s caught up in the battle at Bastogne.Year: 1949 ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The best movie about World War II
This is the best movie ever made about a democratic society going to war against fascism.

The movie captures the fear and courage of American soldiers in war, fighting not to conquer like the Germans or destroy civilization like terrorists, but to defend their fellow man.

There's no sunshine patriotism in this movie. No flag waving or false heroics. But the lofty ideas behind the nation that made men such as these is there hidden like the sun behind fog and clouds. And at the end, the glory embodied in the men blazes true and shines as brightly as the sun when the weather lifts.

A terrific film!!!
When I was a kid living on an army post in Europe, Battleground used to wander through whenever there was a lag in getting movies from the States. Goodness, my brother and I must have seen this 100 times and it still has so many memorable scenes and roles. James Whitmore was absolutely perfect as the machine gun toting sergent. Van Johnson was fine, George Murphy, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montabaln. A great cast. Favorite lines/scenes:

"Get a load of mama!"
"There is a boarding house far, far away..."
"The fight they put up was one for the books." (talking about the wounded fighting the attacking Germans)
"That's for sure, that's for dang sure."
"Texas leaguer, right over the 2nd baseman's head."
The ambush by the railroad tracks.
Whitmore seeing his shadow as the weather finally breaks.

It goes on and on. And great sets! It seems it was mostly filmed on a sound stage but the sets are very realistic.

Just perfect filmmaking.

One missing item
It may not portray war as realistically as we do in 2004. It covers everything soldiers went through except the most private functions (there is nothing private in the Army). That is the way it was; if only you could feel how cold it was! I'm sorry that you could not put out a DVD of the colorized version because it was well-done. That is the missing item. Colorized I would give it 5 stars. You need to see this movie because it is the true story of any number of GIs in the 101st. Go Airborne!

When films had scripts
Battleground is the definitive squad-lvel war film. It concentrates on a small group of soldiers and shows their cold food, gripes, hopes - and the reason why they fought in the 1940s.
Well acted and very well written (garnering a screenplay Oscar), the movie concentrates on a small group of men in the 101 Airborne -and not the "spectacle" of war. At times the lack of a bigger budget - and the lack of any Wehrmacht tanks on-screen is a liability for some viewers; in some scenes the film reminded me of a Shakespearean play, where the actors point offstage to the major battle. But the humanity of the film make it much more compelling than the bombastic but somehow hollow modern efforts like Blackhawk Down.
The only real knock is the very grainy look of the dvd - a combination of all the fog in the film and poor source material. Rarely crisp, it still looks better than I've seen it before. If you want a gripping war film that puts people ahead of explosions, Battleground is a classic.

TAUT, TERRIFYING AND TERRIFIC: BATTLEGROUND HAS IT ALL!
"Battleground" is the all-star grim depiction of an Allied offensive in the Ardennes forest during WWII. It's remarkably hard edged by 1949 standards - a tribute to the tough, hard-hitting directorial style of director, William A. Wellman. Starring Van Johnson, Ricardo Montalban, James Whitmore, Scotty Beckett and John Hodiak the on camera camaraderie amongst the men seems geniune, in part because Wellman insisted that his actors train with real soldiers to fully appreciate their brief tenure in military service. MGM refridgerated a cyclorama built inside one of their sound stages to recreate the unsettling and terribly cold atmosphere of winter. This is a top flight, ensemble war drama that engrosses and entertains. Oscars for screenplay and cinematography.
THE TRANSFER: Warner gives us a much improved transfer from previously available versions. The gray scale is nicely balanced. Blacks are generally solid. Some scenes have a bit more film grain and grit that one would like to see, but over all the image quality is very smooth and consistent. While previously issued versions of this film suffered from a misregistration - resulting in ghostly halos around objects and a general blurring of the image quality, this DVD is remarkably solid and sharp. Edge enhancement crops up but is minimal. Pixelization is also present but only marginally. The audio is MONO but very nicely remastered.
EXTRAS: Sorry, war fans. There's nothing to celebrate about here.
BOTTOM LINE: "Battleground" is one of the best war dramas ever made. It is tops in action, establishing taut tension, providing serious storytelling and detailed character development, and truthfully - how many of the more recent war films (Peal Harbour, anyone?) can you say that about? ... Read more

Reviews (52)

An excellent blend of humor and drama...
Stalag 17 is one of the best war movies ever, and it is probably the second best film ever made about prisoners of war (The Great Escape would be the best). Directed and co-written by the great Billy Wilder, Stalag 17 features an exciting plot, great performances, especially from William Holden, and many humorous moments. All in all - very entertaining!

Essentially, as Cookie, the narrator, explains, the movie is about what happened in a certain barrack in Stalag 17, a German prisioners of war camp. Because of several failed escape attempts and their horrible luck in concealing secrets for the Germans, the inhabitants of the barrack conclude that there must be a traitor in their midst. Their suspicions turn towards the character played by William Holden, who is an extremely cynical loner who spends his time trading with the Germans and running projects to earn money from his fellow prisioners.

In addition to the exciting plot about the traitor, Stalag 17 paints an accurate and often humorous, sometimes serious, portrait of the men in the camp and how they deal with their situation through joking around. Anyhow, Stalag 17 is a classic war movie and is very entertaining - highly recommended!

The BEST WWII POW FILM for real life drama, now on DVD !!
The Best WWII post-war Classic films dealing with the human factor were; "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) & "Stalag 17" (1953). These Black & White Classics dealt with the dark & forgotten side of war. The Best years - war battled veterans returning home, Twelve O'Clock - the terror of dying & Stalag - the captured, imprisoned POWs. Hollywood was at their best with these films and we are forever reminded of the sacrifices that the "Greatest Generation" made for us.

Summary: We are introduced to American POW airmen at a WWII German prison camp ("STALAG 17"). It is Christmas 1944 and the narrator Cookie (Gil Stratton) explains the specific situation happening at his Barracks #4. The latest problem is all escaping POW's are being killed so their is suspicion that there is a "Stoolie" amongst them. Sefton (William Holden - Oscar winning performance) is the lead suspect since he is the Barracks hustler and friend to all (including the Germans) for a price. The Security Officer Price (the young Peter Graves - outstanding) seems a little to perfect for Sefton. So the story has many turns but finding the spy is the primary focus.

This DVD is Black & White, Full Screen / Standard Format (before WideScreen). Excellent quality picture.

This the Best POW film dealing with the true "Black Comedy" of war. Note: Black Comedy / Dark Comedy was the nervous humor which came out in the most dismal time and the horrors of war.

This is a CLASSIC FILM to watch again & again. Shall we never forget !!!

Caught this once again during the Memorial Day orgy of
World War II flicks. It is special & because of William Holton stands above the rest. I loved Steve McQueen & James Garner in The Great Escape & The Bridge over the River Kwai, also starring Holton, is epic. This movie is on a much smaller scale & is the best of the POW genre. Holton plays the disreputable Sgt. Sefton, a prisoner throughly despised & suspected of being the traitor in the POW camp responsible for escapees being caught & shot. How he singlehandedly reveals the Nazi in their midst is the movie's climax. Shot in glorious black & white adds to its grittiness realistic feel. I get caught up in it every time. It's on cable often, rent it or buy it cheap, here. Classic cinema from the 50's.

Entertaining story set over sixty years ago, in Germany

Studio: Paramount Studio
Video Release Date: August 21, 2001

Cast:
William Holden ... Sgt. J.J. Sefton
Don Taylor ... Lt. James Skylar Dunbar
Otto Preminger ... Col. von Scherbach
Robert Strauss ... Stanislas 'Animal' Kasava
Harvey Lembeck ... Harry 'Sugar Lips' Shapiro
Richard Erdman ... Hoffy (chief, barracks #4)
Peter Graves ... Price (security)
Neville Brand ... Duke
Sig Ruman ... Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz
Michael Moore ... Manfredi
Peter Baldwin ... Johnson
Robinson Stone ... Joey (ocarina player)
Robert Shawley ... Blondie Peterson
William Pierson ... Marko the Mailman (At Ease)
Gil Stratton ... Clarence Harvey 'Cookie' Cook (Narrator)
Jay Lawrence ... Bagradian (cohort of Dunbar)
Erwin Kalser ... Geneva man
Edmund Trzcinski ... Triz' Trzcinski ('I believe it!')
James Dabney Jr. ... Bit part
Carl Forcht ... German lieutenant
Ralph Gaston ... Bit part
Jerry Gerber ... Bit part
Ross Gould ... Von Scherbach's orderly
Russell Grower ... Bit part
Ross Bagdasarian ... Singing soldier
Peter Leeds ... Barracks #1 POW getting distillery
Wesley Ling ... POW
Harald Maresch ... German lieutenant
Bill McLean ... POW
John Mitchum ... POW
Robin Morse ... POW
William Mulcahy ... Bit part
Rodric Beckham ... Bit part
Richard P. Beedle ... POW
Joe Ploski ... German guard-volleyball player
Harry Reardon ... POW
Paul Salata ... Prisoner with beard
James R. Scott ... Bit part
Bill Sheehan ... POW
A. Gerald Singer ... Steve (the crutch)
Warren Sortomme ... POW
Herbert Street ... Bit part
Anthony M. Taylor ... Bit part
Bob Templeton ... Prisoner with beard
John Veitch ... POW
Alex Wells ... Prisoner with beard
Max Willenz ... German lieutenant (von Scherbach's aide)
Mike Bush ... Dancer
Don Cameron ... Bit part
Jarvis Caston ... POW
Tommy Cook ... POW
Alla Gursky ... Russian woman prisoner
Svetlana McLe ... Woman POW
Mara Sondakoff ... Russian woman prisoner
Audrey Strauss ... Woman POW
Lyda Vashkulat ... Woman POW
Janice Carroll ... Russian woman prisoner
Yvette Eaton ... Russian woman prisoner

A story set in a German prison camp in WWII. There is a snitch in the barracks: the lowest of the low, who is costing American prisoners their lives, as well as giving away escape plans, short wave radios, and espionage activities. Holden (Sgt. Sefton) is suspected because he is trading with the Germans (and everyone else in sight) to get what comforts are available. But the real traitor is another: a German posing as an American.

This is a fine film. Not, perhaps, on a par with The Great Escape, but it is nevertheless entertaining and worthy of viewing. Not to be confused with the television series of the same name. The actors are all different. I thought Robert Strauss ("Animal") did a great job of providing laughs.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance

and other books

William Holden is the world's most underappreciated actor
I know he won an Oscar for his performance in this role, but has any great Hollywood star been shunted to the background of history as much as William Holden? The list of films in which the man made his character memorable runs the gamut from Sunset Boulevard to Picnic to The Wild Bunch to Network. And while I don't think it's his overall best role, Stalag 17 will be remembered not just as a great film but the one that got Holden his due.

As the opening voiceover says (and I'm paraphrasing), there have been a lot of war movies about submarines, flying leathernecks, tank commandos, etc. but none about the P.O.W. camps. Leave it to the late great Billy Wilder to rectify that. Certainly there's no glory of war here, or at least not the kind we're accustomed to. Wilder creates an insular world of desperate and downtrodden men thrown together in confinement and heaps on the stark reality of war's "other side".

Holden is the barracks' con man/horse trader and, thanks to the already poor relationship with his fellows, the immediate suspect when they determine someone on the inside is spying on them for the Germans. It's a testament to how well the film has held up over the years that even after seeing it long ago (and thus knowing who the spy is) that I was still riveted in anticipation of how he would be found out.

The Germans are a combination of menace and comedy, the former exemplified by Otto Preminger as the camp commander and the latter by the great character actor Sig Rumann as Sgt. Schulz. This film was the inspiration for Hogan's Heroes, but it's best to separate them in your mind if you can and appreciate the complexities of the situations and the characters. ... Read more

Amazon.com

John Wayne and Robert Ryan co-star in Flying Leathernecks, Nicholas Ray's intense 1951 war movie that managed to appeal to RKO studio chief Howard Hughes's passion for thrilling aerial footage while supplying Ray's own fascination with the human psyche under near-inhuman duress. Wayne plays Major Dan Kirby, commander of a Marine Flying Corps squadron in the South Pacific of World War II. After witnessing the slaughter of men under his command at Midway, Kirby is battle-hardened and in no mood for the familiar style of his executive officer (Ryan). Emotions are further strained as Kirby's pilots are picked off one by one in grueling missions, leading to a crisis that ultimately forces each man to reevaluate his attitude toward sending men to their likely doom. The drama is built around extensive, startling documentary footage of battle action in the sky, but what makes Flying Leathernecks unique is its literate, psychologically probing script. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Flying Leathernecks!!........cool flying.........go Marines
Flying Leathernecks is one of my favorite war dramas to watch on a boring, rainy, summer day. John Wayne is a Marine avatior who drives his men to the edge during training and in the war, installing hatred in their hearts againist him, especially his second in command, played by Robert Ryan, who clashes with Wayne, but goes easy on the squad. Later in the movie, Wayne teaches Ryan the importance of being hard and rough on the squad. This movies should have got some Oscar nominations for
Best Actor: John Wayne
Best Cinematography
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Ryan and for
Best Special Effects.
If you were in the Marine Corps, and if you want to see some old war planes, like Corsairs, Wildcats, a PBY seaplane, and a real harsh look at what Marine Corps pilots went through in WWII, give this movie a try. I recemend it to anyone who served in the Marines, John Wayne fans, and models buffs. Semper Fi Go Marines.

Sands of Iwo Jima in the air
Flying Leathernecks is an entertaining John Wayne adventure about a squadron of Marine fighters stationed on Guadalcanal during the fierce fighting. The Duke plays Major Daniel Kirby, a new squadron leader who tries to get the men into fighting shape as he tries to prove his theory of ground attacks heavily supported by air support. Kirby and his executive officer, Captain Griffin butt heads as they argue over how to treat the men. The plot might sound familiar to Sands of Iwo Jima which it is, but it is still a quality movie. The aerial shots are taken from actual WWII footage that work pretty well with the shots of the actors in their planes. The story is fairly predictable, but it is still worth a watch if nothing else.

John Wayne is pretty good as tough as nails Major Kirby, a role very similar to his role as Sergeant Stryker that earned him a Best Actor nomination. Robert Ryan gives a decent performance as Captain Griffin, who Kirby believes is not ready to take over command of the squadron. Wayne and Ryan work well together throughout. Don Taylor plays Griffin's brother-in-law and fellow squadron member. Jay C. Flippen has a very funny role as Master Sergeant Clancy, Kirby's line chief who has a talent for taking things that are just lying around. Like all Duke movies, I hope this one gets a DVD release since the VHS is not in the best of shape. For an enjoyable Duke adventure, check out Flying Leathernecks!

The Duke on Command
The Duke himself is in this movie about Marine pilots in the South Pacific during World War II. Since this movie was made in the fifties, there is not a lot of gore and violence. The fight scenes you see are mostly actual footage from aerial combats during WWII.

The movie centers around two things. First, it shows the usage of military planes providing close ground support. Repeatedly, everyone mentions it can't be done, but the Duke and his group continue to show that it is viable. Second, we see the agonies of command.

John Wayne is a major who is not always liked by his subordinates. He is a career military man trying to keep his team, mostly young college men, alive by enforcing discipline. He drives them relentlessly as the executive officer tries to ease up on them. By the end of the movie, the executive officer gets an explanation on why it is necessary for commanders to push their men.

For military film buffs or John Wayne fans, I would highly recommend seeing this movie.

flying leathernecks
This is one of the finest of the DUKES WWII movies which exemplifies the American fighting mans indominatable wills to endure and win above all odds

john wayne gives the marines air support
typical world war two aviation yarn starring the duke as the tough as nails squadron commander. good supporting cast. a plus for the film is the fact that its shot in color, a rarity for this type of film at the time. if you like john wayne and ww2, you'll like flying leathernecks ... Read more

Amazon.com

Director William Wellman (The Big Heat) offered up this 1949 treatment of the Battle of the Bulge, which won Oscars for best screenplay and best cinematography. The film concentrates on the camaraderie and the divisions between the troops as they ready for the big offensive. Told in a taut narrative, the men of the 101st, led by Van Johnson, wait out the winter in the Ardennes forest to confront the German army in what would be the last major offensive of World War II. The men are demoralized and trapped, with no hope of support from the Allies as they are forced to band together and defend their position. A classically assembled war drama that nevertheless manages to be both engrossing and entertaining, Battleground is a mainstay of the genre. --Robert Lane ... Read more

Reviews (33)

Still the classic World War II movies about American G.I.s
The first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" raised the bar on the realism of war film in terms of the portrayal of the violent hell of combat. But in terms of showing us in a movie what it was like to be combat troops in World War II, the standard still remains the 1949 film "Battleground," directed by William Wellman (and I say this having loved "Band of Brothers"). The film won Oscars in 1950 for Robert Pirosh's script and Paul Vogel's black & white cinematography, and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (James Whitmore), and Best Editing (John D. Dunning).

The setting for "Battleground" is the besieged city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and focuses on I Company of the 101st Airborne. Pirosh had based the story on his own experiences during the battle, which including the details like Private Kippton (Douglas Fowley) always losing his false teeth and Private Rodriguez (Ricardo Montalban), who came from L.A. and had never seen snow before he got to Belgium. The situation was pretty simple: the Germans have Bastogne surrounded and the 101st is short on food and ammunition. Sgt. Kinnie (Whitmore) and the men of I Company have there sector to control, so they sit in the freezing cold, waiting for the Germans to attack and praying for the cloud cover to lift so they can get air support and supplies.

I am sure I am not the other kid from my generation who learned to do the cadence call of "Sound off," not knowing that it came from older kids who had seen this movie. This is a movie full of memorable scenes: Private Holley (Van Johnson) trying to make eggs, a checkpoint exchange that shows the importance of knowing baseball terminology like "Texas Leaguer," and a befuddled German officer trying to understand if General McAulliffe's infamous reply of "Nuts" to the demand for the 101st's surrender is a negative or an affirmative response.

For me the key moment in the film comes when I Company finally receives supplies dropped from C-47s. These guys have been freezing and pretty much starving for a week, and when they open up crates of SPAM and K-Rations, they are clearly disappointed. It is not until they find ammunition that they finally get excited. The montage of defeating the Germans is superfluous at that point, because the look in the eyes of these guys captures the moment even better.

In terms of realism I do have one slight knock on this film, in that I Company is atypical because they had winter coats (compare with the Bastogne episode of "Bad of Brothers"), but that is rather secondary to the point of this film, which is to celebrate the citizen soldier. As Holley explains to a major, "PFC" means "praying for civilian." Even when the Chaplain (Leon Ames) answers the big question, as to why these guys had to leave their families and jobs to fight in Europe, in has less to do with fascist ideology and more with the idea that the Germans were bullies throwing their weight around and killing a lot of people.

Still, "Battleground" comes down to the guys in I Company, Jarvess (John Hodiak), "Pop" (George Murphy), Layton (Marshall Thompson), Spudler (Jerome Courtland), Standiferd (Don Taylor), Hansan (Herbert Anderson), Bettis (Richard Jaeckel), Doc (Thomas E. Breen), and Sgt. Walowizc (Bruce Cowling). There is a tendency to make fun of the idea of the melting pot nature of these units, but we are talking diversity in terms of ethnicity more than racial lines and is certainly in keeping with everything I have read about the 101st. The humor in the trenches is a lot grimmer than you hear in most of these movies, an advantage of being made several years after the war ended (compare it with Wellman's 1945 film "Story of G.I. Joe").

This film is more about the psychology of war, putting up with the weather, the lack of supplies, the Germans trying to get them to surrender and showing up dressed in American uniforms, and keeping up morale than it is about actual fighting. That makes it rather unique in terms of movies about World War II in general or the Battle of the Bulge in particular. "Battleground" remains one of the classic films about grunts in the army.

Great, now where's the DVD?
It's amazing that this one hasn't seen a DVD release yet because it's a really fine classic war film. Don't be put off by the fact it came out in 1950: yes, there's no blood and gore, so you can easily argue it's unrealistic from that angle. There are hardly even any combat scenes. But like all the best war films, this one concentrates not on combat but on the psychology and morality of the men caught up in war.

Battleground follows a squad through the nightmare of Bastogne, showing the everyday misery they had to put up with and the grim humor and camaraderie that helped them get through it. For a film of its day, this is one is surpisingly even-handed, even a bit dark and cynical. You won't find a bunch of John Wayne heroics here, but rather a bunch of sick, tired, demoralized men doing their best to stay alive. This is a great companion piece to the Bastogne episode of the superb Band of Brothers miniseries. Also consider checking out Wellman's other classic WWII film, The Story of G.I. Joe.

Now, where's the DVD release??

So-So WWII Film
I was really looking forward to watching this movie when I received a VHS copy as a Birthday present.
Unfortunately, there are only a couple of combat scenes in BATTLEGROUND.
Where are the 7 crack German Divisions that surrounded Bastogne during late December of 1944? Where are the German Tanks, vehicles, and equipment?
All we get to see are a handful of Germans, and most of them are disguised as American Soldiers!
The entire movie is centered around a platoon of 101st GIs who wisecrack bad jokes all day.
Van Johnson is a Terrible lead actor.
To me, the only good war films are ones that portray the Enemy as well as the Friendlies.
BATTLEGROUND is simply another post-WWII Hollywood film that celebrates American ego and arrogance.

Top Notch War Flick!
Excellent story of the 101st Airborne at the Siege of Bastone.This was probably the most famous of the battles held by the Americans.The movie shows life in the filth, mud, and snow quite well.You of course, don't get the true story of the whole battle, movies don't do this well except in documentarys.

Filmed in 1949 this movie stars a lot of people who had actually seen the elephant.

Van Johnson didn't serve in the army due to a plate in his head from a motorcycle accident.But James Whitmore was (I believe) a Lt. in the USMC in the South Pacific.Some of the others had been in the war also.

One of the three best war movies of all time, the others are Twelve O'Clock High and Command Decision.

The Best WW IIMovie Ever Made
"Battleground" is the best movie of WW II ever made.The characters are strongly and clearly drawn and the action is, for the most part, realistic.The realism of the movie is also due to it being filmed in black & white, with some inserts near the end of actual combat footage.The interesting fact is that while it continues to be seen on the movie channels and remains popular, a restored DVD version has yet to be produced and marketed. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. It seems Stanely is no more interested in becoming a grandfather than he was in letting his daughter get married. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach albeit with a slightly different topic. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Decent sequel but ultimately forgettable
I'm sure it seemed a good thing to do -- follow up on the success of "Father of the Bride" with a chapter two. There are a few fun moments here and it is nice to see the entire cast reunited, but the sequel lacks the strength of the original. It's decent but far from memorable.

In this case, the Steve Martin remake, which diverges almost completely from the plot of the original (for good reasons), is more enjoyable. I found the end of this version, with Stanley misplacing the baby, a bit dark and not treated comically enough.

Many reviewers have lamented the poor sound quality of the DVD. Well, with a decent sound system it ends up sounding like most VHS copies. What is more embarrassing, at least on this DVD packaging are errors in the trivia game -- they don't even get Ellie's name right! Did they even watch this movie?

I'd actually like to see this reissued with a decent sound-track someday, but there are more important older movies to be revived first...

Spencer Tracy in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of 1950's "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father, of course, is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place, and even when the baby arrives and insists on crying every time he is in Stanley's arms, his worst fears seem to be confirmed.

Joan Bennett as his beautiful and encouraging wife Elllie, along with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents, all do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma, but Tracy's best moments are when he his daughter comes over to see "Pops" (Taylor called Tracy "Pops" the rest of his life and treated him like a real father figure). "Father's Little Dividend" is a cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. Even Tracy's performance really comes across as being a little less of the same as the original.

This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett once again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II," which puts some twists on the story that offer some further complications.

Use your cash as toilet paper.
If you are thinking of getting this dvd, you might as well use your cash as toilet paper, because that is what you will be getting when you buy this, if you get my drift. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Omen Legacy is so cool.
Hello All Omen Fans

If you want to know more about the four Omen films this is a must it explains much more than the four Omen dvds, it covers from the first to the tv movie and beyond. I just hope Omen 5 will be made. From a Omen fan I highly recommend this dvd.

A pretty good documentary......
The Omen films have always been some of my favorite scary movies ever. This documentary goes into the movies themselves & the strange stories that happened during the filming of the movies. People who were making these films started to believe that they were cursed. While some just thought it was a hoax. Either way, it's interesting to hear how the films were made, what impact they had on the film industry, and how well they did at the box office. If you are a fan of the films at all, I recommend this DVD. It's not as good as the Alien Legacy disc, but it's still very interesting and is worth the cash.

A GREAT DOCUMENRTY
THIS IS A GREAT DOCUMENRTY ABOUT THE OMEN MOVIES AND ALL THE WEIRD STUFF THAT HAPPENED DURING FILMING. IF YOU LOVE THE OMEN YOU WILL LOVE THIS DOCUMENTRY ... Read more

Description

New York City detectives Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) and Jimmy Halloran (Don Taylor) are assigned to investigate the mysterious murder of a young woman. Following the leads in the case, they come upon a jewel theft ring that has been plaguing New York society. Muldoon and Halloran finally untangle the skein of thieves and discover the murderer to be one of the slain woman's cohorts in the jewel gang. When cornered by the detectives, there is a violent shoot-out. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Priceless
A magnificent documentary that originally aired in AMC in 1998, that acomplishes being an interesting and complete retrospective on the whole "Planet of the Apes" phenomenon. An excellent opportunity to update your "ape-knowledge" just prior to the upcoming Tim Burton "re-visit" (not re-make as he has often underlined) to the Pierre Boulle world. This film is hosted by late Roddy McDowall and includes very interesting and exciting behind the scenes material, such as a first "ape make-up" test.

Go Ape!
As a fan of the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston, a film school graduate, and a fan of the VHS documentary from '98 I was very anxious to see this new version. The 2 disc set has the original 127 minute documentary, hosted by the late Roddy Mcdowell as well as host of extras. For the most part, it serves fans of the films very well. There is a wealth of rare footage showing a lot of behind the scenes stuff not seen in the documentary. The best of that stuff is the full make-up test with Edward G. Robinson James Brolin and Heston. There are all 5 "apes" trailers, a National Association of Theater Owners "preview, outtakes, and dailies. Also included is an unedited or "raw" interview with McDowell that offers some nice tidbits and a unique perspective After watching all of this it reaffirmed my belief that Tim Burton's take on the PLANET OF THE APES is visually stunning. But it doesn't hold a dozen banannas to the original.film in terms of story or impact Anyone who sees the documentary will gain a new respect for all involved with the original film and its sequels

I'm Goin' Ape With This DVD!
About six months ago, I bought the "Planet Of The Apes" box-set with the herald "sixth" disc, "Behind The Planet Of The Apes". So why did I also buy the new 2 Disc "Behind" version recently? Because it doesn't monkey around like the original "Behind" did! This version has the two-hour retrospective like the original, but so much more too! "Apes" N.A.T.O. presentation, more behind the scenes footage, extensive photo galleries, three totally different 1960's featurettes, the full complete E.G.Robinson screen test, and last but not least, an intimate rough-cut interview by Roddy McDowell himself, and it's over AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG! Along with brand new menus, totally different from the original disc, this is a must have for any Apes fan! I'm just goin' Ape with this!

The Ultimate Ape Documentary
This film was the documentary that revealed it all, even the make-up test with Hollywood legend Edward G. Robinson. Hosted by Roddy McDowall, this film goes behind the scenes at all five apes films, the two television series, the mass merchandising campaign, and beyond. Learn that this whole thing started with a novel that was rejected by its own author, and that Arthur Jacobs, the producer, had his wife in all but one Apes film.
Interveiws with Charlton Heston, Kim Hunter, John Chambers, Natalie Trundy, and Ricardo Montalbahn are also included. The Ultimate Ape Event!

Look into the making of the apes saga!!!(...)
This is a great documentary on how the apes saga was made.This 2 disk DVD set takes you behind the scenes of Planet of the Apes.It is an great experience for apes fans.Hosted by Roddy McDowall(actor who played Cornelius,Caesar,and Galen)it is alsome!There is some things I do not like about it though.One thing is on the interview with Roddy McDowall.I just think that its to long and I don't think anywone would want to watch 1 hour and more of Roddy McDowall talking.Also I hate how the dailies and outtakes don't have any sound.You don't even now whats going on half the time.This is still a good experience and I think you should get it!!(...) ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. It seems Stanely is no more interested in becoming a grandfather than he was in letting his daughter get married. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach albeit with a slightly different topic. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Decent sequel but ultimately forgettable
I'm sure it seemed a good thing to do -- follow up on the success of "Father of the Bride" with a chapter two. There are a few fun moments here and it is nice to see the entire cast reunited, but the sequel lacks the strength of the original. It's decent but far from memorable.

In this case, the Steve Martin remake, which diverges almost completely from the plot of the original (for good reasons), is more enjoyable. I found the end of this version, with Stanley misplacing the baby, a bit dark and not treated comically enough.

Many reviewers have lamented the poor sound quality of the DVD. Well, with a decent sound system it ends up sounding like most VHS copies. What is more embarrassing, at least on this DVD packaging are errors in the trivia game -- they don't even get Ellie's name right! Did they even watch this movie?

I'd actually like to see this reissued with a decent sound-track someday, but there are more important older movies to be revived first...

Spencer Tracy in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of 1950's "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father, of course, is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place, and even when the baby arrives and insists on crying every time he is in Stanley's arms, his worst fears seem to be confirmed.

Joan Bennett as his beautiful and encouraging wife Elllie, along with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents, all do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma, but Tracy's best moments are when he his daughter comes over to see "Pops" (Taylor called Tracy "Pops" the rest of his life and treated him like a real father figure). "Father's Little Dividend" is a cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. Even Tracy's performance really comes across as being a little less of the same as the original.

This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett once again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II," which puts some twists on the story that offer some further complications.

Use your cash as toilet paper.
If you are thinking of getting this dvd, you might as well use your cash as toilet paper, because that is what you will be getting when you buy this, if you get my drift. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. It seems Stanely is no more interested in becoming a grandfather than he was in letting his daughter get married. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach albeit with a slightly different topic. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Decent sequel but ultimately forgettable
I'm sure it seemed a good thing to do -- follow up on the success of "Father of the Bride" with a chapter two. There are a few fun moments here and it is nice to see the entire cast reunited, but the sequel lacks the strength of the original. It's decent but far from memorable.

In this case, the Steve Martin remake, which diverges almost completely from the plot of the original (for good reasons), is more enjoyable. I found the end of this version, with Stanley misplacing the baby, a bit dark and not treated comically enough.

Many reviewers have lamented the poor sound quality of the DVD. Well, with a decent sound system it ends up sounding like most VHS copies. What is more embarrassing, at least on this DVD packaging are errors in the trivia game -- they don't even get Ellie's name right! Did they even watch this movie?

I'd actually like to see this reissued with a decent sound-track someday, but there are more important older movies to be revived first...

Spencer Tracy in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of 1950's "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father, of course, is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place, and even when the baby arrives and insists on crying every time he is in Stanley's arms, his worst fears seem to be confirmed.

Joan Bennett as his beautiful and encouraging wife Elllie, along with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents, all do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma, but Tracy's best moments are when he his daughter comes over to see "Pops" (Taylor called Tracy "Pops" the rest of his life and treated him like a real father figure). "Father's Little Dividend" is a cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. Even Tracy's performance really comes across as being a little less of the same as the original.

This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett once again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II," which puts some twists on the story that offer some further complications.

Use your cash as toilet paper.
If you are thinking of getting this dvd, you might as well use your cash as toilet paper, because that is what you will be getting when you buy this, if you get my drift. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. It seems Stanely is no more interested in becoming a grandfather than he was in letting his daughter get married. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach albeit with a slightly different topic. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Decent sequel but ultimately forgettable
I'm sure it seemed a good thing to do -- follow up on the success of "Father of the Bride" with a chapter two. There are a few fun moments here and it is nice to see the entire cast reunited, but the sequel lacks the strength of the original. It's decent but far from memorable.

In this case, the Steve Martin remake, which diverges almost completely from the plot of the original (for good reasons), is more enjoyable. I found the end of this version, with Stanley misplacing the baby, a bit dark and not treated comically enough.

Many reviewers have lamented the poor sound quality of the DVD. Well, with a decent sound system it ends up sounding like most VHS copies. What is more embarrassing, at least on this DVD packaging are errors in the trivia game -- they don't even get Ellie's name right! Did they even watch this movie?

I'd actually like to see this reissued with a decent sound-track someday, but there are more important older movies to be revived first...

Spencer Tracy in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of 1950's "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father, of course, is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place, and even when the baby arrives and insists on crying every time he is in Stanley's arms, his worst fears seem to be confirmed.

Joan Bennett as his beautiful and encouraging wife Elllie, along with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents, all do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma, but Tracy's best moments are when he his daughter comes over to see "Pops" (Taylor called Tracy "Pops" the rest of his life and treated him like a real father figure). "Father's Little Dividend" is a cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. Even Tracy's performance really comes across as being a little less of the same as the original.

This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett once again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II," which puts some twists on the story that offer some further complications.

Use your cash as toilet paper.
If you are thinking of getting this dvd, you might as well use your cash as toilet paper, because that is what you will be getting when you buy this, if you get my drift. ... Read more

Reviews (52)

An excellent blend of humor and drama...
Stalag 17 is one of the best war movies ever, and it is probably the second best film ever made about prisoners of war (The Great Escape would be the best). Directed and co-written by the great Billy Wilder, Stalag 17 features an exciting plot, great performances, especially from William Holden, and many humorous moments. All in all - very entertaining!

Essentially, as Cookie, the narrator, explains, the movie is about what happened in a certain barrack in Stalag 17, a German prisioners of war camp. Because of several failed escape attempts and their horrible luck in concealing secrets for the Germans, the inhabitants of the barrack conclude that there must be a traitor in their midst. Their suspicions turn towards the character played by William Holden, who is an extremely cynical loner who spends his time trading with the Germans and running projects to earn money from his fellow prisioners.

In addition to the exciting plot about the traitor, Stalag 17 paints an accurate and often humorous, sometimes serious, portrait of the men in the camp and how they deal with their situation through joking around. Anyhow, Stalag 17 is a classic war movie and is very entertaining - highly recommended!

The BEST WWII POW FILM for real life drama, now on DVD !!
The Best WWII post-war Classic films dealing with the human factor were; "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) & "Stalag 17" (1953). These Black & White Classics dealt with the dark & forgotten side of war. The Best years - war battled veterans returning home, Twelve O'Clock - the terror of dying & Stalag - the captured, imprisoned POWs. Hollywood was at their best with these films and we are forever reminded of the sacrifices that the "Greatest Generation" made for us.

Summary: We are introduced to American POW airmen at a WWII German prison camp ("STALAG 17"). It is Christmas 1944 and the narrator Cookie (Gil Stratton) explains the specific situation happening at his Barracks #4. The latest problem is all escaping POW's are being killed so their is suspicion that there is a "Stoolie" amongst them. Sefton (William Holden - Oscar winning performance) is the lead suspect since he is the Barracks hustler and friend to all (including the Germans) for a price. The Security Officer Price (the young Peter Graves - outstanding) seems a little to perfect for Sefton. So the story has many turns but finding the spy is the primary focus.

This DVD is Black & White, Full Screen / Standard Format (before WideScreen). Excellent quality picture.

This the Best POW film dealing with the true "Black Comedy" of war. Note: Black Comedy / Dark Comedy was the nervous humor which came out in the most dismal time and the horrors of war.

This is a CLASSIC FILM to watch again & again. Shall we never forget !!!

Caught this once again during the Memorial Day orgy of
World War II flicks. It is special & because of William Holton stands above the rest. I loved Steve McQueen & James Garner in The Great Escape & The Bridge over the River Kwai, also starring Holton, is epic. This movie is on a much smaller scale & is the best of the POW genre. Holton plays the disreputable Sgt. Sefton, a prisoner throughly despised & suspected of being the traitor in the POW camp responsible for escapees being caught & shot. How he singlehandedly reveals the Nazi in their midst is the movie's climax. Shot in glorious black & white adds to its grittiness realistic feel. I get caught up in it every time. It's on cable often, rent it or buy it cheap, here. Classic cinema from the 50's.

Entertaining story set over sixty years ago, in Germany

Studio: Paramount Studio
Video Release Date: August 21, 2001

Cast:
William Holden ... Sgt. J.J. Sefton
Don Taylor ... Lt. James Skylar Dunbar
Otto Preminger ... Col. von Scherbach
Robert Strauss ... Stanislas 'Animal' Kasava
Harvey Lembeck ... Harry 'Sugar Lips' Shapiro
Richard Erdman ... Hoffy (chief, barracks #4)
Peter Graves ... Price (security)
Neville Brand ... Duke
Sig Ruman ... Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schulz
Michael Moore ... Manfredi
Peter Baldwin ... Johnson
Robinson Stone ... Joey (ocarina player)
Robert Shawley ... Blondie Peterson
William Pierson ... Marko the Mailman (At Ease)
Gil Stratton ... Clarence Harvey 'Cookie' Cook (Narrator)
Jay Lawrence ... Bagradian (cohort of Dunbar)
Erwin Kalser ... Geneva man
Edmund Trzcinski ... Triz' Trzcinski ('I believe it!')
James Dabney Jr. ... Bit part
Carl Forcht ... German lieutenant
Ralph Gaston ... Bit part
Jerry Gerber ... Bit part
Ross Gould ... Von Scherbach's orderly
Russell Grower ... Bit part
Ross Bagdasarian ... Singing soldier
Peter Leeds ... Barracks #1 POW getting distillery
Wesley Ling ... POW
Harald Maresch ... German lieutenant
Bill McLean ... POW
John Mitchum ... POW
Robin Morse ... POW
William Mulcahy ... Bit part
Rodric Beckham ... Bit part
Richard P. Beedle ... POW
Joe Ploski ... German guard-volleyball player
Harry Reardon ... POW
Paul Salata ... Prisoner with beard
James R. Scott ... Bit part
Bill Sheehan ... POW
A. Gerald Singer ... Steve (the crutch)
Warren Sortomme ... POW
Herbert Street ... Bit part
Anthony M. Taylor ... Bit part
Bob Templeton ... Prisoner with beard
John Veitch ... POW
Alex Wells ... Prisoner with beard
Max Willenz ... German lieutenant (von Scherbach's aide)
Mike Bush ... Dancer
Don Cameron ... Bit part
Jarvis Caston ... POW
Tommy Cook ... POW
Alla Gursky ... Russian woman prisoner
Svetlana McLe ... Woman POW
Mara Sondakoff ... Russian woman prisoner
Audrey Strauss ... Woman POW
Lyda Vashkulat ... Woman POW
Janice Carroll ... Russian woman prisoner
Yvette Eaton ... Russian woman prisoner

A story set in a German prison camp in WWII. There is a snitch in the barracks: the lowest of the low, who is costing American prisoners their lives, as well as giving away escape plans, short wave radios, and espionage activities. Holden (Sgt. Sefton) is suspected because he is trading with the Germans (and everyone else in sight) to get what comforts are available. But the real traitor is another: a German posing as an American.

This is a fine film. Not, perhaps, on a par with The Great Escape, but it is nevertheless entertaining and worthy of viewing. Not to be confused with the television series of the same name. The actors are all different. I thought Robert Strauss ("Animal") did a great job of providing laughs.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance

and other books

William Holden is the world's most underappreciated actor
I know he won an Oscar for his performance in this role, but has any great Hollywood star been shunted to the background of history as much as William Holden? The list of films in which the man made his character memorable runs the gamut from Sunset Boulevard to Picnic to The Wild Bunch to Network. And while I don't think it's his overall best role, Stalag 17 will be remembered not just as a great film but the one that got Holden his due.

As the opening voiceover says (and I'm paraphrasing), there have been a lot of war movies about submarines, flying leathernecks, tank commandos, etc. but none about the P.O.W. camps. Leave it to the late great Billy Wilder to rectify that. Certainly there's no glory of war here, or at least not the kind we're accustomed to. Wilder creates an insular world of desperate and downtrodden men thrown together in confinement and heaps on the stark reality of war's "other side".

Holden is the barracks' con man/horse trader and, thanks to the already poor relationship with his fellows, the immediate suspect when they determine someone on the inside is spying on them for the Germans. It's a testament to how well the film has held up over the years that even after seeing it long ago (and thus knowing who the spy is) that I was still riveted in anticipation of how he would be found out.

The Germans are a combination of menace and comedy, the former exemplified by Otto Preminger as the camp commander and the latter by the great character actor Sig Rumann as Sgt. Schulz. This film was the inspiration for Hogan's Heroes, but it's best to separate them in your mind if you can and appreciate the complexities of the situations and the characters. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. It seems Stanely is no more interested in becoming a grandfather than he was in letting his daughter get married. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Tracy returns in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place. Joan Bennett as his wife Elllie and Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma. A cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach albeit with a slightly different topic. Still, there are nice moments between Tracy and Taylor, who always called the actor "Pops" until the day he died. This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II."

Decent sequel but ultimately forgettable
I'm sure it seemed a good thing to do -- follow up on the success of "Father of the Bride" with a chapter two. There are a few fun moments here and it is nice to see the entire cast reunited, but the sequel lacks the strength of the original. It's decent but far from memorable.

In this case, the Steve Martin remake, which diverges almost completely from the plot of the original (for good reasons), is more enjoyable. I found the end of this version, with Stanley misplacing the baby, a bit dark and not treated comically enough.

Many reviewers have lamented the poor sound quality of the DVD. Well, with a decent sound system it ends up sounding like most VHS copies. What is more embarrassing, at least on this DVD packaging are errors in the trivia game -- they don't even get Ellie's name right! Did they even watch this movie?

I'd actually like to see this reissued with a decent sound-track someday, but there are more important older movies to be revived first...

Spencer Tracy in a quickie sequel to "Father of the Bride"
After the success of 1950's "Father of the Bride," M-G-M produced this sequel the following year. This time around Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) learns that his daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor) and son-in-law Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor) are going to have a baby. Father, of course, is no more thrilled with the idea of being a grandfather than he was about Kay getting married in the first place, and even when the baby arrives and insists on crying every time he is in Stanley's arms, his worst fears seem to be confirmed.

Joan Bennett as his beautiful and encouraging wife Elllie, along with Billie Burke and Moroni Olsen as the other soon-to-be grandparents, all do their best to help poor Stanley through this latest trauma, but Tracy's best moments are when he his daughter comes over to see "Pops" (Taylor called Tracy "Pops" the rest of his life and treated him like a real father figure). "Father's Little Dividend" is a cute film, but certainly not as charming as the original, mainly because it is taking the same approach, albeit with a slightly different topic. Even Tracy's performance really comes across as being a little less of the same as the original.

This 1951 film was also directed by Vincent Minnelli and Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett once again did the screenplay using the characters first created in Edward Streeter's novel. "Father's Little Dividend" was remade, in a round about way, in the recent Steve Martin vehicle "Father of the Bride II," which puts some twists on the story that offer some further complications.

Use your cash as toilet paper.
If you are thinking of getting this dvd, you might as well use your cash as toilet paper, because that is what you will be getting when you buy this, if you get my drift. ... Read more