What a strange movie. A comedy set in a German prison camp? Well, yes. That’s what it is. But, like with all of Wilder’s movies, he doesn’t sacrifice HEART in order to get the comedy.
All those guys in the barracks are real people, distinct, troublesome, funny, sad. There are moments of sentiment, moments of joy, of reflection, of violence. How on EARTH did Billy Wilder achieve the correct tone throughout the movie? I don’t know how he did it, but he did.
Holden won an Oscar for his portrayal of Sgt. Sefton – the loner of the POW camp, the cynic, the black marketeer. Everyone in the barracks thinks he must be the “stoolie”, must be telling the “Krauts” their escape plans, etc … He does little to dispel their doubts. He thinks they’re idiots to suspect him, and he thinks it would be beneath him to protest his innocence to such a bunch of boneheads. He’s in this war to the end, and he’s in it for himself. He uses the system, he barters for privileges, he doesn’t care.
And yet … as the movie goes on, as the stakes get higher, and suspicion about Sefton’s spying grows, and he is more and more ostracized … something changes. It’s very subtle – and this is a tribute to the great script, and also to Holden’s wonderful acting. Sefton doesn’t suddenly alter his spots. He doesn’t suddenly do some good and altruistic deed that redeems him. No. At the end of the movie, he is just as much of an opportunist as he is at the beginning. I mean, think of his last line, peeking his head back up through the hole in the floor of his barracks: “If we ever see each other again on the street … let’s just pretend we don’t know each other.” It’s kind of cold, and gruff – not one drop of sentiment … he disappears, but then – he re-appears, to throw everyone a crazy devil-may-care grin. Which makes the hardness of the other line disappear in a flash … and then he is gone.
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know how strangely moving that last moment is.
Holden is fantastic. Look at his face here.
William Holden has a moment where he suddenly, and spontaneously, slaps someone across the face three times in a row. Whap, whap, whap. Because the character of Sefton is so seemingly careless, he sits back, he smokes his cigars, he remains above it all, he doesn’t get involved in the barracks’ constant escape-plans, he waits it out … But then, when push comes to shove, when the suspicion against him comes to a head, when he is attacked in the night by his barracks-mates, and they beat him to a pulp – he has had it. The one-two-three slap is terrifying, because it comes out of nowhere, and it looks REAL. Those are no stage slaps. They are real. The violence in the slaps is still a bit held-back – Sefton doesn’t punch the guy in the nose. No, he has more contempt for his enemy than that. He won’t punch the guy in the stomach. He will slap his enemy across the face, treating him like the sissy-girl that he is. It’s contemptuous.
Sefton is who he is. He’s a black marketeer. But at the end of the movie, you realize: damn, this guy is actually a freakin’ hero.
As probably everyone who has seen this movie knows, it was the inspiration for Hogan’s Heroes.
This was Billy Wilder’s favorite of all his movies. He said once that Sgt. Sefton was the closest “alter ego” of himself that he ever put on screen. He said years later, before his death, that Sgt. Sefton, of all the characters he ever created, was the one he “loved” the most. Part of it had to do with his deep love for William Holden. He thought Holden was the best actor he had ever worked with (well, maybe not – I think maybe Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution was Wilder’s favorite performance … He thought that guy was a genius) … but of all of the actors Wilder worked with, he was closest to Bill Holden. He loved him. They were dear friends.
And Sgt. Sefton, with his standpoint of: This war is about the survival-of-the-fittest-and-the-wiliest was Billy Wilder’s “alter ego”. After all, Wilder lost most of his family in Auschwitz. Wilder knew that survival was not about being altruistic. The one with the most virtue would never win.
It was about being clever. Smarter than everyone else. Having contempt for your enemies. Not fear. No. If your enemies are stupid, have contempt for them. Use the system. Shamelessly. Have no shame. Sit back. Let people say what they want. It doesn’t matter, because in the end, you know you are smarter.
William Holden, as Sgt. Sefton, is the perfect embodiment of that attitude.
And yet – let’s not forget – the heart. Sgt. Sefton, it turns out, has a bigger heart than all of the others. It’s just that he keeps it hidden. Because you can’t have a big open heart in the middle of a war. Look at what happens to people who stay open like that … “Joey” – the guy in the barracks who has obviously lost his mind, and can no longer speak, and can only play his piccolo. You can’t keep your damn heart on your sleeve.
HAVE your heart. But PROTECT it. Protect it as though your life depends on it. HOVER over your own heart as though it is the most precious diamond in the world. Don’t let just ANYBODY in there!!
Because the world will not protect your heart. The world is set up to kill you. To destroy you. To shatter your heart. It is YOUR job to protect that precious rare thing inside of you – your soul, your warmth, compassion, your “self” … whatever you want to call it. You have GOT to protect yourself. Have your walls up, have your guard up, at all times … but do not let your heart calcify inside.
To me, this is the Billy Wilder persona.
And according to Wilder, William Holden was the only actor who really “got” all of that, who could “do” it, like nobody’s business, who could do it without thinking. Because that was kind of who Holden was.
I love it that of all the movies Wilder directed, all the classics, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot … and on and on and on … this one was his favorite.
It’s obvious why.
(More of my thoughts on Bill Holden here, if you’re interested.)
Wow.
Thanks for the review of one of my all-time favorites (although I still don’t know why, and that is Wilder’s magic). Holden’s performance was chilling; an anti-hero for the ages.
For those that care, look for a historical look at “The Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III this Tuesday. No Steve McQueen (alas) but real-life galore. It’s an amazing story of our father’s (and grandfather’s) pluck in the face of their enemies.
God, I am proud of them.
“HAVE your heart. But PROTECT it. Protect it as though your life depends on it. HOVER over your own heart as though it is the most precious diamond in the world. Don’t let just ANYBODY in there!!”
That’s something I never learned for the longest time. It takes a while to figure out that yes you are special and no you don’t need to give in to whatever comes along, just cuz you’re lonely.
I still don’t think I’ve learned that lesson. Or – it’s a constant struggle. I don’t protect, I don’t shield the good in me from harm … I still get shattered all the time.
spd rdr:
It is an odd little movie, isn’t it? But I agree … the anti-hero guy Holden created is a classic. It’s timeless.
I love the Christmas party scene, when all the guys are jitterbugging with each other because there are no women in the prison camp.
And what is so funny about the scene is that … they aren’t playing it like: “ho ho ho, look at us, men dancing with men …” They are REALLY dancing with each other. It’s hysterical.
I have greatly enjoyed “Stalag 17” a bunch of times, and though I always laugh at a lot of scenes, it only now (by reading your piece) occurred to me that it is a comedy.
Popskull – wonderful, as ever, to hear from you.
What I love about Stalag 17 (and so many of those old movies) is that they weren’t as strict about the genres. You could have deep thought and violence in a comedy – Things weren’t so pigeon-holed.
I mean, the ending of Stalag – with the REAL stoolie being machine-gunned to death in the mud – is pretty sobering.
But the Nazis pretty much look like Keystone Cops throughout the whole movie. They are IDIOTS, not to be feared – only to be laughed at.
There is (at least to me) something unnerving, yet brilliant about how Wilder worked comedy into genuine hardship (“Animal’s” preferred unwashed state, for example, took the edge off of the otherwise squalid conditions endure by POWs). Neither did Wilder evince general condemnation of the opposing side. Otto Preminger’s role as Commandant was not that of a Nazi, vicious and vindictive, but rather that of a businessman, tasked with the uneviable duty of managing a population that despised him. Wilder reserved his condemnation for those of like ilk:
If I ever run into any of you bums on a street corner, just let’s pretend we’ve never met before.
In the aftermath of the most hienous war ever unleashed upon this planet, does anyone question that sentiment?
Bill Holden and Stephanie Powers lived in Palm Springs for awhile in a glass-walled house built on a hill overlooking the entire Coachella Valley, at the time not much more than date palm orchards and the twinkling lights of Hollywood’s star hideaways. By then, Holden and Powers were deep into their love of Africa and Asia, making frequent photo safaris and, as a sideline, acquiring masterpieces of tribal art. The expansive living room, empty except for jute carpeting, dark sectional furniture and low-slung ebony tables, was a gallery for some of their most dramatic pieces. I had a chance to see the room, and its most amazing feature, aside from the sweeping view, was a huge horizontal slash of a fireplace clad in black granite, a twenty-foot long raised stone slab hearth underlining the massive fire pit, and directly in front of the pit, gracefully resting on the hearth, was this life-size bronze and brass sculpture of a Buddhist diety, a female god with multiple arms and wings, reclining as if stretched out on a sofa. She was ornately carved, tooled and bejeweled, a magnificent work of art alone, but in front of a huge roaring fire, one of the most phenomenal things I’ve ever seen.
I was just 18 at the time, having grown up in sixties split levels in nameless suburbs, and although I loved art and design, it wasn’t until I stood in Bill Holden’s living room that I got the sense of what it must be to LIVE with art, to find something exquisite and place it in an environment in such a way as to allow it to speak to you, shape your life. Not exactly what Bill Holden is famous for, eh?
Nice post, Stevie.
Good.
stevie:
Beautiful!
spd rdr:
To me, the epitome of Otto Preminger’s character is when he is stalking around his office in his socks … and then has his assistant put on his enormous Nazi boots for his call to headquarters. The second the call is over, the boots come off.
In Nick Park’s “Chicken Run,” it was a little eerie to see the fowl homage to “Stalag 17” and “The Great Escape” — and enjoy it!
The required late-lunch reading
Sheila has a long essay on one of my favorite actors in his best movie: William Holden in Stalag 17….
I wonder if the character of Animal in Stalag 17 – with his wild-eyed insanity – and his drooling over the women prisoners in the opposite camp – and the fact that his barracks-mates have to constantly say to him, “Down boy, down boy …” was the inspiration for the Muppet Animal.
Many similarities.
A raging wild-eyed Id.
Stevie:
Thank You so much for the beautiful posting concerning Bill Holden`s home and art collection.I`m thrilled that you had the pleasure of being able to see the inside of Holden`s house.I hope one day to be able to visit the Palm Springs Desert Museum which exibits the art collection which Bill bequeathed to the museum in his will.
Bill Holden was an extraordinary human being.The world associates him with being a “Man`s Man” and that s true but there was a much different side to Bill that many are unaware of.Bill was highly intelligent, sensitive and introspective-a quiet thinker.Bill travelled the world, bringing along with him his boyish enthusiasm and insatiable curiosity as he discovered new countries and cultures.Bill documented his travels with his love of photography-he loved to share his photo slides with his family and friends.Bill loved to read and could speak in depth on a vast array of subjects.Bill loved all kinds of music-he produced two record albums.Bill played the drums and The Bones on a ‘Semi-Professional “level and I read that he was also fairly adept at playing the piano and clarinet.Bill began his art collection under the guidance of his mentor Billy Wilder, who was also an art lover.Bill liked to sketch-a photo of Bill taken on the PICNIC movie set shows him drawing a sketch which looks like the drawing Ssan Strasberg draws of Hal Carter in PICNIC-I think Bil`s drawing may have been a self-portrait wich was used in the film.In Deborah kerr`s biogaraphy, the author mentions that Deborah had hanging over the fireplace in her home in Switzerland a drawing of herself which she told him was drawn by William Holden while they were filming THE PROUD and THE PROFANE in 1955.
Bill loved all God`s creatures and nature-he was aware of the importance of the delicate balance between man and nature long before environmentalism became a popular cause.
Today(November 16th) marks the twenty-third anniversary of Bill`s death.Bill left us a beautful legacy with his body of film work, his dedication to animal/wildlife preservation and his beatiful art collection.He is not forgotten.
Lorraine
Red:
The scene where Bill Holden as Sefton pops back up the escape hatch with a wave and a smile was Bill`s idea-it wasn`t in the original script.That smile says to the guys-“No hard feelings” and shows sefton does have a heart, yet Sefton still retains some of his cynicism when he talks about collecting reward money from Lt. Dunbar`s rich mother.That Sefton is able to find some sort of redemption but still retain some of his cynicism makes his character very human and real.
Bill originally turned down the role of Sefton .Bill had seen the original Broadway play and had walked out after the first act becuse he found Sefton to be selfish.Billy Wilder was able to persuade Bill to play the part-Thank God !I can`t imagine any other actor of Bill`s generation being able to pull off the role.
Bill Holden entered Hollywood as a young wide-eyed,sweet,sensitive ,Romantic Idealist in 1938.Over the years he became cynical disillusioned and saddened from the callous treatment he received from the Hollywood Studio system and the tragedies and loss he experienced in his personal life.His film work from SUNSET BOULEVARD on reflects his cynicism, sadness and pain but the spark of sweetness and romantic idealism always remained constant.
Sheila-I`ve written more on Bill Holden under your thoughts on Bill Holden topic.i`m glad I discovered your website.
God Bless,
Lorraine
Lorraine:
Woah. Yes – I read your other comment about Bill Holden – and was very glad (because I’m such a fan) to find someone else so enthusiastic.
It’s very cool.
Are there any biographies of Bill HOlden out there that you know of?
Because you would obviously be the person to ask!!!
I can’t imagine any other actor playing Sefton either.
:)
Re;
Red
Hi !
Thank You for your kind words.Bob Thomas`s GOLDEN BOY bio published in 1982 is out of print-but you can find copies at a reasonable price on e-bAY and from online used book sellers like Alibris and Amazon.I think like all bios,Thomas`s book contains some untruths but overall I think it is an honest but also sympathetic telling of Bill`s sad life story.I`ve picked up additional info`s from bios/autobios of directors and actors who worked with Bill.All the directors who worked with Bill liked him as a man and respected him as an actor.A&E`s video biography of Bill is available for purchase from their website-Amazon has it too.
i`ve been a Huge Holden fan and had a crush on him since 1967-I was twelve and saw lOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING for the first time.I`ve seen 75% of the films he made.Bill should have won his second Oscar for NETWORK-his crowning achievement in a long distinguished career of brilliant performances.Besides NETWORK-STALAG 17,PICNIC,SUNSET BOULEVARD,THE EARTHLING,BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI,THE COUNTRY GIRL,THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI, THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR,BORN YESTERDAY,FORCE OF ARMS,EXECUTIVE SUITE,SABRINA,BREEZY,LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING,THE KEY,THE WILD BUNCH,WILD ROVERS,BOOTS MALONE and BREEZY, GOLDEN BOY,OUR TOWN are what i consider to be his best performances.LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THNG,PICNIC,STALAG 17,SUNSET BOULEVARD, BORN YESTERDAY,NETWORK,THE EARTHLING,THE COUNTRY GIRL,THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR,THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI,BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI,FORCE OF ARMS,BOOTS MALONE,SABRINA,GOlDEN BOY,OUR ToWN,RACHEL and THE STRANGER,ARIZONA,THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG, UNION STATION,WILD ROVERS and BREEZY are my current favorites of his films but I like all of his films whch I have seen.
I`m thrilled to meet another Bill Holden fan.Bill is somewhat under-rated as an actor.In discussions of classic film actors,it is Grant,Stewart,Wayne, Bogart,Brando ,Tracy,Cooper,Gable and Fonda who are the names most mentioned-which is why I champion Bill every chance I get.I like most of these actors(especially Jimmy Stewart,Tracy and Cooper) but it`s sad that Bill is a somewhat forgotten actor.
Bill was one of Hollywood`s true tragedies-this beautiful man was loved by almost everyone who knew him but sadly Bill did not love himself or feel deserving of receiving love .
God Bless,
Lorraine
“People only die if you forget them”
William holden as Patrick Foley
THE EARTHLING(1980)
This is indeed a wonderful movie. Small nit to pick: Joey doesn’t play a piccolo; that thing he’s playing is an ocarina.
But everyone in the barracks calls it a piccolo!! I have an excuse!
Good call, though. :)