During World War II, a lonely German air-raid warden captures two downed American airmen and keeps them prisoner in his basement way past the end of the war.During World War II, a lonely German air-raid warden captures two downed American airmen and keeps them prisoner in his basement way past the end of the war.During World War II, a lonely German air-raid warden captures two downed American airmen and keeps them prisoner in his basement way past the end of the war.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe 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 One, Two, Three (1961). In it, James Cagney coaches Horst Buchholz to tell Buchholz's American father-in-law that the situation is "serious, but not hopeless." A flustered Buchholz tells his father-in-law, "The situation is hopeless, but not serious."
- GoofsThe opening shows B17s flying over Germany in 1944 but the aircraft from which the 2 parachutes appear is a C130 Hercules aircraft which didn't fly until 1954.
- Quotes
Wilhelm Frick: Americans cannot be happy without freedom. In Germany, we never had freedom. Therefore, we have philosophy.
- ConnectionsRemake of Playhouse 90: The Hiding Place (1960)
- SoundtracksSituation Hopeless But Not Serious
(uncredited)
Music by Leon Carr
Lyrics by Earl Schuman
Sung by Mady Rahl
Featured review
Fun film.
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.
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.
helpful•101
- shcomedy
- Sep 17, 2013
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
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- Also known as
- Lage hoffnungslos - aber nicht ernst
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- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Situation Hopeless -- But Not Serious (1965) officially released in India in English?
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