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Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious (1965)

| Comedy, War | 14 January 1966 (France)
Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious Poster
During World War II, two Americans are forced to bail out and parachute into a small German town. Herr Frick, being equal parts patriotic and lonely, keeps them as prisoners of war in his ... See full summary »

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
Wilhelm Frick
...
Sgt. Lucky Finder (as Michael Connors)
...
Captain Hank Wilson
...
Edeltraud
Mady Rahl ...
Lissie
...
Herr Neusel
...
Quartermaster Master Sergeant
Elisabeth von Molo ...
Wanda
See full cast »
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Storyline

During World War II, two Americans are forced to bail out and parachute into a small German town. Herr Frick, being equal parts patriotic and lonely, keeps them as prisoners of war in his bomb shelter. While his prisoners go stir crazy, Herr Frick must decide if he's willing to lose their companionship by letting them know the war has ended. Written by Sean Starke <[email protected]>

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Plot Keywords:

prisoner of war | pilot | new world | mistaken motives | friendless | See All (11) »

Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

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Release Date:

14 January 1966 (France)  »

Also Known As:

Lage hoffnungslos - aber nicht ernst  »

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is a variation of an old Viennese saying; "The situation is desperate but not serious." A direct influence on the title comes from Billy Wilder's 1961 film One, Two, Three (1961). In it, Jimmy Cagney coaches Horst Buchholz to tell Buccholz's American father-in-law that the situation is "serious but not hopeless." A flustered Buccholz tells his father-in-law, "The situation is hopeless but not serious." See more »

Connections

Remake of Playhouse 90: The Hiding Place (1960) See more »

Soundtracks

Situation Hopeless But Not Serious
Music by Leon Carr
Lyrics by Earl Shuman
Sung by Mady Rahl
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User Reviews

Fun film.
18 September 2013 | by – See all my reviews

If you're an older individual or a younger one with more of a brain than most, you'll probably enjoy the humor of this film. It's not laugh out loud hilarious but it has some good performances in it. It's one of the best performances ever given by Mike Connors. Redford is good in it too and so is Alec Guinness, which should really surprise no one since he was a great actor.

But this is an older comedy that requires some intellect to enjoy it. Suffice to say, if you're a fan of Adam Sandler, you probably won't understand it.

It's also based on the first novel of actor Robert Shaw (Quint from "Jaws.") The novel is more serious than this film though, and the film was not as critically acclaimed as the novel. Many don't know Shaw was also a great writer as well as a great actor. He even wrote "The Man in the Glass Booth," one of the most famous plays ever written.

But overall, it's a fun story and a very original idea.

It's interesting to note that later on, Shaw and Robert Redford's names would be linked up again when they both appeared in the film "The Sting." And Alec Guinness also has worked with Shaw on stage in different plays.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?
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