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<\/p>\nWhat 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know how strangely moving that last moment is.<\/p>\n
Holden is fantastic. Look at his face here.<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
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<\/i>.<\/p>\n
As probably everyone who has seen this movie knows, it was the inspiration for Hogan’s Heroes<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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<\/i> 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<\/i> him. They were dear friends.<\/p>\n
And Sgt. Sefton, with his standpoint of: This war is about the survival-of-the-fittest-and-the-wiliest <\/i> 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 <\/i>would never win.<\/p>\n
It was about being clever<\/i>. Smarter<\/i> than everyone else. Having contempt<\/i> for your enemies. Not fear. No. If your enemies are stupid, have contempt<\/i> for them. Use<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n
William Holden, as Sgt. Sefton, is the perfect embodiment of that attitude.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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!!<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
To me, this is the Billy Wilder persona.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I love it that of all the movies Wilder directed, all the classics, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot <\/i>… and on and on and on … this<\/i> one was his favorite.<\/p>\n
It’s obvious why.<\/p>\n
(More of my thoughts on Bill Holden here<\/a>, if you’re interested.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading