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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- 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
Robert Redford gets the "and"!
The premise of the ironically titled Situation Hopeless - But Not Serious is a bit zany, and that's exactly what you'll get when you watch the entire movie. A meek, friendless German man, empowered by his Nazi uniform, captures two American parachuters and keeps them in his basement in hopes of gaining their friendship. They try to sweet-talk him into releasing them so they can get back to the war, but he's determined to keep them. He feeds them well, washes their clothes, gives them regular friendly conversation, lets them listen to music, and allows regular baths and shaves if they want. At Christmastime, he even brings them a little Christmas tree. However, the movie takes a very weird turn when the war ends and he doesn't want to release his 'friends'.
Why did I watch this obscure pseudo-comedy, you ask? It was Alec Guinness's time as Star of the Week, and I happened to get my hands on this very hard-to-find movie. Imagine my surprise to see the opening credits: the two American soldiers were Mike Connors and Robert Redford! This was only his second theatrical movie, but after five years of television, he must have been popular enough to get the "and" in the credits. Because of The Great Gatsby, I'm a forever fan of his. So, no matter how silly or boring the movie got (and it got very silly and very boring) I refused to turn it off. I did nod off a couple of times during the second half, but I'm sure even Robert Redford would forgive me. Unless you really love wacky movies from the 1960s, just watch The Great Gatsby again instead, and whatever is your favorite Alec Guinness movie.
Why did I watch this obscure pseudo-comedy, you ask? It was Alec Guinness's time as Star of the Week, and I happened to get my hands on this very hard-to-find movie. Imagine my surprise to see the opening credits: the two American soldiers were Mike Connors and Robert Redford! This was only his second theatrical movie, but after five years of television, he must have been popular enough to get the "and" in the credits. Because of The Great Gatsby, I'm a forever fan of his. So, no matter how silly or boring the movie got (and it got very silly and very boring) I refused to turn it off. I did nod off a couple of times during the second half, but I'm sure even Robert Redford would forgive me. Unless you really love wacky movies from the 1960s, just watch The Great Gatsby again instead, and whatever is your favorite Alec Guinness movie.
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- Nov 1, 2020
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Details
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- Lage hoffnungslos - aber nicht ernst
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- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
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- 1.37 : 1
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By what name was Situation Hopeless -- But Not Serious (1965) officially released in India in English?
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