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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2012 10:19:27 GMT -5
Yeah, trying to figure out what genre the film falls into is a bit of a challenge. Definitely get proto "MASH" vibes from it. If you look at the advertising for it, the posters play it as pretty much a straight comedy or refer just to William Holden's performance. The poster I picked for the image was just about the only one I could find that reflected other characters and the fact that it takes place in a POW camp. This is the default, American poster:
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 5, 2012 15:25:03 GMT -5
The poster is somewhat deceptive in terms of telling the genre of the movie, but it's really hard to make a good poster for dramatic comedies that reflect that.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2012 15:38:24 GMT -5
The poster is somewhat deceptive in terms of telling the genre of the movie, but it's really hard to make a good poster for dramatic comedies that reflect that. Yeah; I do prefer the French poster for at least having images that tie into the film. I like the subterfuge at work, with the POWs hiding the radio and how the Mole communicates with Von Scherbach: {Spoiler}The notes hidden in the back queen piece and the light bulb chord being loop. Nice visuals.
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 6, 2012 10:18:56 GMT -5
Great performance by William Holden who carried this movie on his back in terms of not turning it into a complete comedy. He deserved his Oscar.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 10:39:03 GMT -5
Great performance by William Holden who carried this movie on his back in terms of not turning it into a complete comedy. He deserved his Oscar. I think there are other elements that prevent that from happening but he's the one character that breaks away from the film, makes the casting more than the regular assortment that you'd see in a W.W.II movie.
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 6, 2012 10:39:27 GMT -5
I thought the movie did a great job of keeping the secret of who was the collaborator. Yeah, that was brilliant. {Spoiler}I kept thinking it was the guy who was suffering from PTSD, after all a guy pretending that he was traumatized and doesn't speak would be the perfect undercover spy for the Germans, however the reveal of it being Price was much more shocking.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 10:43:55 GMT -5
I thought the movie did a great job of keeping the secret of who was the collaborator. Yeah, that was brilliant. {Spoiler}I kept thinking it was the guy who was suffering from PTSD, after all a guy pretending that he was traumatized and doesn't speak would be the perfect undercover spy for the Germans, however the reveal of it being Price was much more shocking. Also, just how they set it up: {Spoiler}It's a bit melodramatic these days but having the POWs sing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" during the revelation to the audience really got me
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 6, 2012 19:31:24 GMT -5
Yeah, that was brilliant. {Spoiler}I kept thinking it was the guy who was suffering from PTSD, after all a guy pretending that he was traumatized and doesn't speak would be the perfect undercover spy for the Germans, however the reveal of it being Price was much more shocking. Also, just how they set it up: {Spoiler}It's a bit melodramatic these days but having the POWs sing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" during the revelation to the audience really got me Yeah, that really added another dimension to it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 20:57:48 GMT -5
Any thoughts on the Shapiro/Animal friendship?
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The Line
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Post by The Line on Aug 6, 2012 22:08:38 GMT -5
I'll probably get around to watching this one tomorrow. I've stuck to my guns and read nothing spoileriffic about it, and I'm pumped
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2012 22:14:57 GMT -5
I'll probably get around to watching this one tomorrow. I've stuck to my guns and read nothing spoileriffic about it, and I'm pumped Awesome.
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 6, 2012 23:04:45 GMT -5
Any thoughts on the Shapiro/Animal friendship? I think they're best buddies in the POW camp. They rib each other hard, especially {Spoiler}during the dance with drunk Animal which was extremely hilarious, they came up with the scheme to see the Russian ladies naked via painting ;D , all in all it seemed like they enjoyed the hell out of each other.
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Dave at the Movies
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Aug 7, 2012 0:45:35 GMT -5
Any thoughts on the Shapiro/Animal friendship? They were pretty awesome. I think they would have been good characters in a straight comedy as the stars. I watched the movie two days ago and I liked it. It isn't as good as The Great Escape but I think it is very possible that it influenced it. Was this one of the first comedic military movies or were there a few before? Also was it the first well known POW movie?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2012 6:20:50 GMT -5
Any thoughts on the Shapiro/Animal friendship? I think they're best buddies in the POW camp. They rib each other hard, especially {Spoiler}during the dance with drunk Animal which was extremely hilarious, they came up with the scheme to see the Russian ladies naked via painting ;D , all in all it seemed like they enjoyed the hell out of each other.
I also liked that Shapiro, for all his joking, sort of looks after Animal, calming him down when necessary with his promise of introducing him to Betty Grable. Dave Randall: from what I understand, this was one of the first, if not the first POW movie with a comedic bent. There were POW films before this, most famously Jean Renoir "Grand Illusion" from 1937. which is quite serious and inspired scenes in "The Great Escape" and "Casablanca". The guys who wrote the play version of "Stalag 17" were both POWs. As for the mole, I found out that film was shot in roughly chronological order and the cast didn't know who the mole was until just before the revelation was shot.
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Dave at the Movies
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Aug 7, 2012 7:52:46 GMT -5
I think they're best buddies in the POW camp. They rib each other hard, especially {Spoiler}during the dance with drunk Animal which was extremely hilarious, they came up with the scheme to see the Russian ladies naked via painting ;D , all in all it seemed like they enjoyed the hell out of each other.
I also liked that Shapiro, for all his joking, sort of looks after Animal, calming him down when necessary with his promise of introducing him to Betty Grable. Dave Randall: from what I understand, this was one of the first, if not the first POW movie with a comedic bent. There were POW films before this, most famously Jean Renoir "Grand Illusion" from 1937. which is quite serious and inspired scenes in "The Great Escape" and "Casablanca". The guys who wrote the play version of "Stalag 17" w ere both POWs. As for the mole, I found out that film was shot in roughly chronological order and the cast didn't know who the mole was until just before the revelation was shot. Yeah I've been reading trivia on it and it looks like they sued Hogan's Heroes for plagiarism.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2012 8:42:07 GMT -5
I also liked that Shapiro, for all his joking, sort of looks after Animal, calming him down when necessary with his promise of introducing him to Betty Grable. Dave Randall: from what I understand, this was one of the first, if not the first POW movie with a comedic bent. There were POW films before this, most famously Jean Renoir "Grand Illusion" from 1937. which is quite serious and inspired scenes in "The Great Escape" and "Casablanca". The guys who wrote the play version of "Stalag 17" w ere both POWs. As for the mole, I found out that film was shot in roughly chronological order and the cast didn't know who the mole was until just before the revelation was shot. Yeah I've been reading trivia on it and it looks like they sued Hogan's Heroes for plagiarism. Yeah, I caught that too. I don't know enough about "Hogan's Heroes" to comment though Col. Klink's look seems to be inspired by "The Grand Illusion".
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bob
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Post by bob on Aug 8, 2012 21:33:50 GMT -5
Looking back, I may have been a bit harsh saying Holden was the only thing keeping Stalag 17 from being an over the top comedy based on what I've said since then.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2012 21:56:21 GMT -5
Looking back, I may have been a bit harsh saying Holden was the only thing keeping Stalag 17 from being an over the top comedy based on what I've said since then. Happens. There is a lot of humor. I think an aspect that has to be considered is how dark the humor is. Like, Von Scherbach is legitimately funny to me and cheerful even though he's a murderous Nazi. He talks about having Christmas for the POWs and how he used to wrestle in the U.S. but he's also cold blooded and has them deloused after making a point that he's taking Christmas away from them. He refers to the POWs that the guards killed as they were trying to escape as good boys that did a stupid thing. There's this very artificial attempt to ingratiate himself with the POWs that I find a bit unsettling. Then there's the Betty Grable references and Animal's attempt to see the captured women. It's funny but there are grotesque elements to it, where Animal and Shapiro could get shot at a moment's notice when they attempt to look at the women in the showers or Animal imagining Shapiro as a woman. The sight of the POWs dancing with each other utterly without cheer is also sad.
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King Ghidorah
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Post by King Ghidorah on Aug 8, 2012 22:07:33 GMT -5
I did not expect this movie to be so humorous considering the setting, it made for a better movie.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2012 22:23:47 GMT -5
I did not expect this movie to be so humorous considering the setting, it made for a better movie. Yeah, Billy Wilder tends to put humor in unexpected places. I think "The Lost Weekend" is the only film of his that I've seen that didn't have at least some humor. Even "Ace in the Hole" has a bit of dark humor with Chuck Tatum's energetic approach to getting news. It's interesting to see the comments about the humor. It works for some people, it doesn't work for others.
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