Humor and Satire in War Movies
Phillip Smith Com 222
12/13/10 Final Essay
There is more than one way to get a point across in the movies. Movies based on actual events, movies made using actual facts but not always about true events, documentary films and those films that use humor or satire to get their point across. I think the three films that I chose fall into the last category. The first film (released in 1953) is Stalag 17, a film about American prisoners of war being held in a German prison camp. This film seems to follow the typical war movie theme, group unity for a common cause and no single hero. The movie stars William Holden who as Sergeant Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn 't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have is accused of being a German spy by his fellow prisoners. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious. An officer is passing though on the way to another camp, tells of how he sabotaged an ammunition train by luck using matches. The Germans find out and now he has to hide so he can escape to avoid being shot. The director Billy Wilder created a popular film loaded with subversive subtexts, his signature cynicism and humor (although it’s sometimes a feeble attempt at humor it is humor just the same). WW II wasn’t even a decade old yet and maybe it wasn’t the right time to make a movie depicting the conditions of the German prisoner camps in such a realistic manner, but there seem to be a goldmine of possibilities within that setting for the
12/13/10 Final Essay
There is more than one way to get a point across in the movies. Movies based on actual events, movies made using actual facts but not always about true events, documentary films and those films that use humor or satire to get their point across. I think the three films that I chose fall into the last category. The first film (released in 1953) is Stalag 17, a film about American prisoners of war being held in a German prison camp. This film seems to follow the typical war movie theme, group unity for a common cause and no single hero. The movie stars William Holden who as Sergeant Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn 't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have is accused of being a German spy by his fellow prisoners. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious. An officer is passing though on the way to another camp, tells of how he sabotaged an ammunition train by luck using matches. The Germans find out and now he has to hide so he can escape to avoid being shot. The director Billy Wilder created a popular film loaded with subversive subtexts, his signature cynicism and humor (although it’s sometimes a feeble attempt at humor it is humor just the same). WW II wasn’t even a decade old yet and maybe it wasn’t the right time to make a movie depicting the conditions of the German prisoner camps in such a realistic manner, but there seem to be a goldmine of possibilities within that setting for the
Cited: Stalag 17” (1953) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046359/>. Lee, Sander. "Scapegoating, the Holocaust and McCarthyism in Billy Wilder 's Stalag 17." Http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/5/stalag.html. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/5/stalag.html>. Erickson, Hal. "Mister Roberts Synopsis." Movie Tickets & Theater Showtimes - Fandango. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.fandango.com/misterroberts_v64788/summary>. Redwine, Ivana. "MASH Movie DVD Review - Robert Altman 's Movie MASH DVD." About.com. Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://homevideo.about.com/od/dvdreviewslong/a/mashdvdmreviewa.htm>. "MASH (1970) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/>.