User Reviews

One of the golden actors of the British stage and Cinema and one of the golden actors of the future of the American film, sadly brought together in a film that had potential but doesn't really work. Sir Alec Guennis of course is marvelous, wiping up the cell where he keeps Robert Redford and Mike Connors, playing a common German air raid warden during World War II, a man that the film's narration describes as basically invisible. He's so lonely in fact that when he captures two Americans parachuting into Germany that he holds them hostage in the basement of his home and doesn't turn them over to the military police. He claims his motivation is to prevent them from causing Germany to lose the war, but secretly, he's enjoying their company while they try to manipulate him in getting out by entertaining him and giving him companionship while secretly trying to plot their way out via escape.

While the characters played by Redford and Connor's are certainly charming, they are basically playing themselves while the versatile Guennis easily walked away with the film by disappearing into his character, reminding me of Boris Karloff. He has a very touching but funny drunk scene, revealing much about his mama's boy character. Redford and Connors provide a few giggles acting like monkeys to get the drunken Guinness in stitches so they can plan a sudden escape, but it's a moment that is inevitably stolen by Guennis. This probably had more impact when it first came out, and while it does have some sweet moments, it was a bit of a disappointment to me overall. The minimal setting makes this feel rather claustrophobic, and while I can't call this the classic that I had hoped it would be, I can't call it a mom either. It's just a mixed bag where only a few of the objects inside are worth keeping.

This isn't really a laugh-a-minute comedy, or one that relies on a whole lot of logic (like some of the things in the last scenes), but I've always thought of it as a very good "Odd Couple" kind of story (the opening narration even uses that expression). And each of the actors fits so well into his part- Redford as the refined character who somehow adapts to the basement in no time, Connors as the down-to-earth character who's always trying to escape, and of course Guinness. There have been countless comical eccentric Germans, but trust that actor to come up with one who's pretty much unlike any other. And of course there's Frick's idea that they're all three destined to be together (because of his mother's horoscope and other things), and the way his telling them "the big announcement" keeps being prevented. Another odd thing is that there's never an actual scene of them finding out (it all happens gradually), though I could have stood to see a scene like that. Also, I don't usually like those spontaneous fistfight scenes that used to be so common in comedies, but this movie has one that genuinely works - I don't mean the later one, but the one where Finder finally gets fed up with Wilson's casual attitude towards trying to escape, which is a very funny scene. Also, even though it wasn't a romantic comedy, it had a great line that would be just right for one - in one scene, Finder is feeling especially grim about being a prisoner, and Frick tells him in a well-meaning way that he should try to be "philosophical" about it, which Finder ignores. When Frick offers to do anything to cheer him up, Finder tells him excitedly that he can find him a girl, make some arrangement with her and bring her back to the house. Frick says, "But I thought you were MARRIED, sergeant." Wilson says, "Well, MARRIAGE is something the sergeant IS willing to be philosophical about."

This movie is based on a 1960 novel, "The Hiding Place," by British actor, novelist and playwright, Robert Shaw. The film's title describes a segment toward the end in which Wilhelm Frick describes the reversed war conditions to his two American captives. "Situation Hopeless - But Not Serious" is his way of telling Captain Hank Wilson and Sgt. Lucky Finder that the outlook for the Allies is futile, but it's not so bad because the end will see Germany winning the war for the good of all. And, that segment is the capstone to this movie as a sophisticated comedy.

The sophistication is probably what drew Alec Guinness to take the part of Frick in the first place. He later expressed his dislike for this film. But that it is billed and touted as a comedy is a big stretch. It certainly is a war film, and most obviously a drama. One other reviewer already has referred to this film as a character study, and that is precisely what makes it drama. What comedy there is can best be described as pathos.

The ending is a rather abrupt change in the setting and story, and seems very hurried, disconnected and forced to bring a long, drawn-out story to a conclusion. And, in that, Paramount appears to be forcing the idea of the film as a comedy by having Frick showing up in San Francisco. There, he and the two Americans become party celebrities in telling their escapade. The absurdity is one way of trying to leave audiences with the impression of having seen a comedy. But the ending is almost an insult to the intelligence of anyone older than 10 years.

The year 1965 had some great movies, topped by the number one at the box office, "The Sound of Music." It's U.S. box office was $146 million. Second place in the U.S. was "Doctor Zhivago," at $127 million, and James Bond's "Thunderball" had $77 million in domestic ticket sales. Twenty more films had more than $10 million in U.S. ticket sales that year. But, "Situation Hopeless," finished way down the list at 110th place with $1.8 million. It surely was a big loser. One can frequently tell when a movie is a flop when reviews are neutral or somewhat positive but don't mention public reception - that is, box office sales.

Was 20 years after WWII too soon to have comedies about the war? No, because other movies had already appeared that were clear comedies set in the war. "McHale's Navy" had appeared in 1964, a takeoff from a successful 1962 TV series of the same title. And, this movie premiered just one month after the record wartime TV sitcom, "Hogan's Heroes," first aired on CBS. That highly popular series was proof that enough time had passed since World War II, that humorous movies and shows could be made about the war, with settings in the war.

But there was a catch to this. Wartime comedy had to be very obvious, at least some of the enemy officers and soldiers had to look like fools or "dummkopfs," and there could be nothing serious shown such as torture, killing, or even the brutality of the surroundings. While "Hogan's Heroes" was good comedy, none of those elements that made wartime imprisonment seem funny are in this movie. At first, the two Americans are amused to find their German host's basement to be like a museum of horrors. In ages past, Frick's family had lived in a castle, and as it lost all of the land holdings, the furnishings of the castle wound up in Frick's home. That explains the jail cell bars, and ancient chain and handcuff restrainers. But, within a short time, that little bit of humor evaporates as Frick decides to keep his two guests as prisoners under the pretense of protecting them as the war rages on outside.

The movie is never clear about exactly how long the Americans were captive after the war ended, but it appears to be at least two years. Because, by the time they finally make their escape, there are no longer any American or other allied occupation forces apparent, and all the police and uniformed people are German.

But, for the lengthy time before their escape, Wilson and Finder border on insanity at times. They go through psychological phases. An interesting little conflict between the two points out character differences and military training and discipline. Sgt Finder looks for every possible way to escape. That's what POWs are supposed to do. It not only adds to the problems and difficulty of the captors, but it helps the psyche of the captives by keeping hope alive and giving them a purpose and effort for survival. On the other hand, Capt. Wilson's character is the opposite. He's for sitting the war out, going along with his captor, and otherwise waiting to be rescued. That's a reversal in the role of officers who were supposed to encourage and lead their men in escape efforts.

Wilhelm Frick is billed as a loner who has no friends. So, that's his reason for keeping his American airmen as prisoners. But Guinness shows his character as having second thoughts at times about the morality of what he is doing. He struggles with this a few times in the film, but each time shrugs it off as a matter of guilty conscience, which he will not abide for long.

This is not much of a comedy at all. As a drama, it has some merit. But, the long film time of the two Americans in bondage become tedious and boring. The story just doesn't work well. My five stars are for the acting, especially by Guinness and Mike Connors as Sgt. Finder. Robert Redford's generally blasé Capt. Wilson doesn't take much acting ability.