STALAG 17 297
James, a musician, have wed. Harry “Sugar Lips” Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) gets
several letters in the mail, and when Kuzawa notices the professional financial let-
terhead, Harry tells his friends that they’ve repossessed his car. Sefton pays off the
guards in order to sneak into the Rus sian women’s barracks, but his fellow prisoners
speculate that his temporary release is a reward for giving information to the
German authorities. When he returns, Sefton discovers that his barrack mates have
searched his footlocker. They accuse him of being a spy when Oberst von Scherbach
(Otto Preminger) shows up and has Lt. James Schuyler Dunbar (Don Taylor)
removed (Dunbar had told his fellow POWs that he had destroyed a German train
containing ammunition— a secret the barrack spy has relayed to von Scherbach).
The men in Baracke 4 are convinced that Sefton betrayed Dunbar, so they beat
him severely. The next morning, the day before Christmas, the Red Cross delivers
packages to the American compound while Sefton, alone in the barrack recover-
ing from his beating, tries unsuccessfully to bribe Schulz to get him to release the
name of the real spy. In the midst of a fake air attack, Sefton stays in the empty
barracks and hears the security head, Sgt. Frank Price (Peter Graves), speaking with
Schulz in German and describing how Dunbar was able to blow up the train. Sef-
ton ponders his next move. If he tells the other POWs about Price, then the Ger-
mans will relocate him to another camp, putting others at risk. If he kills Price, he
could put the entire camp in danger of execution. On Christmas Day, the men hear
that the SS is set to relocate Dunbar to Berlin for what they assume will be extended
interrogation- torture sessions. They use a diversion to free Dunbar and hide him
elsewhere in the camp. Despite strenuous efforts, the Germans cannot locate Dun-
bar. Von Scherbach says that the camp will be destroyed, along with the people in
it, if Dunbar isn’t turned in, so the men decide that one of them must remove their
comrade from harm’s way. Price says that he will do it, but Sefton accuses him of
being the spy. As a test, Sefton asks, “When was Pearl Harbor?” Price knows the
date, but Sefton swiftly follows up, asking at what time he heard about the attack.
Immediately, and without fully considering his answer, Price says that he heard at
6 o’clock p.m., while eating dinner. This mistake unmasks him: 6 o’clock was the
proper time in Berlin, but not in Cleveland, Ohio, where Price is supposed to hail
from. Sefton searches Price’s pockets and finds a hollow chess piece that Price was
using to send secret messages to his German unit (messaging them using a light
bulb cord). Sefton opts to guide Dunbar out of the camp, anticipating a hefty reward
from Dunbar’s family for his role in the escape. Sefton and Dunbar escape out of
a water tower above the latrines, while the other men punish Price by using him
as a diversion: he is thrown into the yard with cans tied to his legs. The alerted
tower guards fix Price in their searchlights and open fire. Despite his protesta-
tions, he is quickly shot dead. Amidst the chaos, Sefton and Dunbar make it out.
A pleased Cookie whistles “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”
Reception
St a lag 17 opened in the United States on 6 June 1953 and proved to be a major box
office success, earning $10 million. It was an even bigger hit in Eu rope. The movie
also received Acad emy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Supporting Actor