Stalag 17 / Benchmark Full Proof Bourbon

0:00 Hey everyone. Before we get into today's episode, I just wanted to remind you that we have a ton of extra content over on our patreon. We do movie watch parties special page here on the bonus episodes and all other sorts of wacky stuff that you can access easily. If you head on over to patreon.com slash film, Whiskey In 1953, director, Billy Wilder, and star William Holden, gave the world a slapstick drama about one man's redemption in the heart of a World War Two. Prisoner camp in 2023. We bid a fond farewell to a flight of five. Bourbons, the film is Stalag 17, the whiskey is Benchmark foolproof and more view them both.

0:44 This is the film and whiskey podcast. Welcome to the film and whiskey podcast, where each week, we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob book, I'm Brad G. And this week, we are looking at Billy Wilder's 1953 film, Stalag 17, Stalag strogg. Now, Brad, I will say right up front, I fully expect that if we were to list out the most seen to least seen films of season 7 by the general population. This has got to be close to the bottom. It's not that it's necessarily an unpopular movie, but it is. Let's Be Frank here. 70 years old, and it is not one of Billy Wilder's, top four, or five most remembered movies. Yeah, I'm going to describe to you how old this movie is. You can watch it for free on Pluto TV. You sure can and onto and on to be. So if that tells you how popular the It's I don't understand, like I actually did watch this partially on to be and the prints that they are using is so crappy and so old. And like it was, it was both pixelated and a bad print of the movie to the point where I

2:16 pulled off my shelf, the Stalag 17 DVD that I have. If you know anything about DVDs, DVDs are they're encoded at 480p and I put it in my DVD player and I was like, wow, this is a A major Improvement in picture of her. Yeah. Over what was on to be. So I went back and forth. There's actually a free recording. I don't know if like I think Paramount produce this picture. I don't know if they just haven't felt like copyright striking it but the entire movie is just on YouTube. Oh, there you go. Just end it and it's not like somebody like some company, did it? It's just some dude uploaded it like eight years ago and it's also in like 480p.

2:58 So, there you go, folks. Our highest recommendation for the ideal conditions, watch Stalag 17, as God, intended on to be, or on some guys YouTube stream. Yeah. Where's where's Scorsese? Or the Criterion Collection, right? Aren't they? The funny thing is, this movie is available on Blu-ray and it has like Stellar reviews. So I'm imagining that looks really good if you get it there but you know or you could go the free route and you can watch the year olds worst version of this on to be All right, you're new to the field, whiskey podcast. This is exactly what you can. This mix is what we talked about, folks. These are the jokes. So I'm thinking about Stalag 17, and I think, to be fair and to be Frank, this is the one that I needed a third movie by Billy Wilder to put in here.

3:50 And like, most directors, Billy Wilder has five six, seven movies that are like, most people would recognize them by name and then you get into Okay. There's probably like the next tear down and when people like Spielberg, you probably don't hit that. Quite as early Hitchcock, you probably don't hit that quite as early, but with Billy Wilder, I was really torn because he has a few other movies. There is a movie that came out in 51 called Ace in the Hole which was a huge flop. I believe upon release but has been reclaimed and is not like really popular with Criterion Bros. He has a movie in the late 50s, witness for the prosecution, which gets nominated for Best Picture. Here's movie in. The mid-40s called The Lost weekend is Weekend.

4:33 At Bernie's the sequel. It is suika. Is you actually made that joke like earlier in the season? I think you forgot that you made that joke already. No, it didn't work the first time and it didn't work. Now, Brad all that to say. I went with Stalag 17 because after Sunset Boulevard, I was like, you know what, we need a palate cleanser here and this movie for being very tense and very dramatic at Parts. It's also a lot of fun. Yeah, 100%. I was saying to you before. We got on that, there's, there's two characters in this film named animal and Shapiro and they, they feel like they are straight out of a Three Stooges like silent era slapstick comedy. And they're just hanging out in the middle of this prisoner of war camp where they're trying to find, you know, this informant and it's it just doesn't fit.

5:29 Get it fits perfectly and I loved it. So if we can go back through the annals of film and whiskey here, I think this is our third prisoner of war movie after the Great Escape and Bridge on the River Kwai. I don't think we've done anymore besides that. And this will be really wants to toe the line between the two in. A lot of ways. I think it's it's got, well, I think it's closest to the Great Escape, and it's kind of, not fair to this movie, to compare it to the Great Escape, because the Great Escape Happens 10 years after this movie. And I think as we discussed this movie today Brad, it's really important that we keep in mind that this is one of the first prisoner of war films to come out after WWII and they kind of tip you off to that in the opening narration where the narrator basically says, hey I'm sick of watching movies that didn't look like my experience of the war at all.

6:20 We were in a prisoner of war camp and then it shows you what the prisoner of war camp looks like. And so even though I don't necessarily think it's as effective as the Escape or as Bridge on the River Kwai it is really important to note that this is one of the first times somebody dared to show something like this on screen. Yeah. And it's a good choice because I feel like, you know, now like I looked up you know WWII prisoners of war movies. There's like over 80 of them Bob yeah it's like a massive amount and I think that like prisoner of war movies It's just a it's a feasting ground for interesting character development under high pressure situations paired with lots of deception and like everybody knows the stakes, everybody. It honestly kind of reminds me of when Patrick H Willems talked about baseball movies and how everybody knows the geography and rules of a baseball game.

7:24 Like, it's almost the same thing, like, as Soon, as you know, it's a prisoner of war movie, you know, the rules, you know that the prisoners are going to try to deceive the guards. They're going to try to escape in some way or, or ruin the guards lives in some way and the drama that plays out from there has an established set of rules and I think that's what makes prisoner of war movies, so attractive. Yeah, I totally agree man and I think that it's time for us to get into talking about this movie in particular again we'll put it in the context of, you know all the other prisoner of war. Movies. But when it comes to Stalag 17, I know for a darn fact that this was your first time seeing it. Brad. Don't try to my first time first I'm hearing of it. Yeah, there you go.

8:08 I mean, it is, it doesn't really have a title that rolls off the tongue, even though I have to say. Like once you understand from the first two minutes of the movie, what the word Stalag means? Stalag 17 is a pretty badass name for a movie, like it just sounds cool 100%. Yeah, it's a, it's a cool title and it's I think it's an interesting. Addition into the world of Billy Wilder. It feels so much different than his traditional movies that we've watched from him. Yep, that I'm really glad that you picked it as the third movie here. Yeah, I am too. And I was really leaning towards Ace in the Hole for this movie, but it has that that same really mean-spirited cynicism that Sunset Boulevard did.

8:52 And I think Wilder kind of pressed the reset button on himself a little bit before he made Stalag 17. And we'll see this happen again next week. When we make the turn from this movie into the film that he makes a year later Sabrina. So I'm excited to get kind of the full picture of Wilders versatility as a director and as a writer throughout these three movies, but that means that it is time for America's favorite segments. Brad explains rats gonna give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds ticking on the clock. So let's go ahead and do you take with this little segment that we call Brad explains? Yeah. Yes, Brad explains the part of the podcast, where Brad breaks down the movie that he has just seen often for the first time. As we know this was Brad's first time seeing Stalag 17 Brad. You have one minute on the clock to explain the plot of this movie, to our listeners.

9:43 In the most spoiler, filled fashion possible. And I have to say, we don't always give spoiler warnings beyond what I just said. But this movie hinges on finding out the identity of someone who is under And so if you have even the smallest bit of interest in seeing this movie, I would recommend watching the movie coming back after you finish it to hear our take on it because we're going to spoil the twist right now. Yeah. And I was going to say like this movie is two hours on the dot. It's not too long. Nope. And it's honestly a lot of fun. So I if you likes Bob said, you have any inclination to go, watch it, go watch it, it's free on to be high-definition doopy. So go check it out.

10:30 All right man you have a minute on the clock and go Stalag 17 is a prisoner of war movie about some American are prisoners in a German prisoner of war camp at the start of the movie. Two Americans are killed while trying to escape from the camp and it helps establish. The fact that in this one Barracks, there is an informant telling the Germans what's going on in the barracks. The first person suspected and the person suspected throughout most of the movie is William. Holden's character Sefton, who is kind of a black market Savant and he's able to wheel and deal his way into being the king of the market. If you will, there are different slapstick. Things that happen with too kind of Side characters animal and capiro thing takes seconds.

11:25 And it turns out Out. I'm not even going to spoil it. Bob just watch the daggone movie. Yeah, baby. It's not Sefton. There you go. 17. How you figure out, who the informant in the barracks? He is? Yeah. Will he succeed question mark who's to say, who who is to say? All right, so that's the setup for Stalag 17. Brad. We're going to be comparing this movie a lot to The Great Escape. I just know that it's going to happen but it's probably the only other movie that I can really think of. And I say movie because when it comes, To TV. I think something like Hogan's Heroes. Is pretty, pretty much like directly copied from Stalag 17.

12:05 The, the German prisoner, yes, like the counter bigard. What? Yeah, it's like the same guy. No, nothing. It's the same guy, it's the same character. But in terms of movies, I think that this is obviously most closely related to The Great Escape, especially since in the Great Escape you have these really taught, really The dramatic Escape sequences but you also have them balanced out with like sequences of guys getting really drunk and doing silly things and toying with the Germans, but not getting shot for it. Because the Germans are just like, oh, you. So and so's. And you have that in this movie too, and it's not necessarily believable, but it makes for a really fun movie and even if you don't get it, I don't know how many fun poww movies there are and those are really the only two I can think of as a you don't get Stephen.

12:57 In riding away on a motorcycle either, you sure don't. And that's the that's that's a point in points in the greatest games. Favor also, anytime we talk about the Great Escape, I will never not mention. It's just got the most catchy theme of any movie of all time. I feel like we are already kind of tipping our hand. A little bit in that, I don't think this movie is quite as good as the Great Escape, but I do think it lays the blueprint and the Prototype. Yeah. 100% does I I think for me, the thing that that captured me very quickly was with this movie was that the opening escape sequence. Oh gosh, is incredible. Really, one of the best parts of the whole movie, honestly? Yes, yeah.

13:40 The tension is extraordinarily high. Like I said, we already know the stakes that are at hand. We know the geography of the movie. So when Wilder just plops you right into the middle of this escape sequence, you're on the edge of your seat from the very start. Then you never come back down because you keep wondering, like, who is the informant? And I feel like a lot of modern movies are little more predictable about who it might be. This one. Genuinely keeps you guessing? I like I did not guess who it was until it was revealed. Yeah, I think that opening sequence is like a perfect microcosm for the whole movie because the narrator of this movie, is just a guy in the barracks, it's not William Holden. And honestly, his voice kind of Reminds me of in 12, Angry Men, like the little puny squirrel you guy. He reminds me exactly of that guy. I think the the narrator is Cookie, right? His kind of assistant, I think so I'm not entirely sure like and I think he says who he is right at the start but I can't remember for the life of me right now but all that to say he does not have the most like you know, seductive audio voice. Yeah, just sounds.

14:54 And then we went to the prisoner of war camp. It seemed like the whole movies. It's like your seven-year-old, trying to tell a story. Yeah, pretty much actually. But I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think it's a great microcosm for the movie because you get plopped into this guy is setting up the world of the p.o.w. camp and so it feels kind of like it's going to be a comedy and a little bit slap sticky. And oh you know it's not it's not so easy for us but we get by and then all of a sudden you get plopped into the barracks and it's like we are mid. Escape plan right now and it is very tense and very taut. And those two guys make it out of the perimeter, of the camp, but the Germans are there waiting for them.

15:40 And I think the brutality of their murder and and how quick and how cold and how clinical it is is like I wasn't expecting that for movie that came out in 53 and you know the you see these guys pop up out of their hole and I'm like okay cool. We made it in Camera pans over and you see the Germans there and you register like oh man, they're going to get caught and then boom, like they're getting machine gun to death and it is like also the fact that the Germans didn't just wait outside the hole with like you know, a rifle or something guns, they set up an entire machine gun nests and there's like a guy feeding the bullets in it. Like, it looks like it looks like the D-Day set up from Saving Private Ryan.

16:23 Exactly. Like, for these two, dudes popping out of a hole with real-world No weapons there gunshot with like any aircraft ammunition. All right, so anyway, I guess what I'm saying here is, I love the way the movie starts because it also achieves the balance that I think this movie achieves of, finding the the comedy and the lighter moments. But then knowing when to like, cut it out and just get really serious about things. Mmm. Yeah, I think that Wilder strikes a perfect balance throughout the film and I kind of want to talk about some of the Vince's, because the only place I think the balance is lacking is in the fact that certain characters are always serious and certain characters are always fun. Yep, yep.

17:10 And I don't know if that's something you struggled with. It's something that. Like, I didn't mind a ton but it definitely felt a little bit dissonant like, you know, like two keys playing off tone from each other. Yes. And it felt like in the world of the movie, even when things get very serious Yes those comedic performers are still stuck in whatever World they've created for themselves where they're still being comedic. Yeah for like you know I just don't buy them as serious now because you've had them be comedic in 90% of every other scenario in this movie. So yeah, I totally agree, man. But if we're talking performances, we have to start at the top with William Holden. This is the movie that wins. William Holden the best actor, Oscar, he thinks when he wins it, that it almost a was undeserved, but Thought that somebody from the movie, From Here, to Eternity, should have won it instead of him and he thought it was a makeup from him not winning in 1950 from Sunset Boulevard.

18:06 And I think the place to start when it comes to talking about Holden, is to compare this character and the roll directly to Sunset Boulevard. Last week, I said that one of the things I didn't like about the character of Joe Gillis is that he is a piece of shit, but also that he doesn't have the sort of self-deprecating, you know. No, I'm an ask but I'm kind of charming about it that I think a character, you know, somebody like a Clooney could have brought to that role. He has that here and it's hilarious because even in the first ten minutes of the movie, he's doing that kind of Rye little grin and he's saying like these horrible things and everyone hates him and he's just like I don't care like I'm gonna let it roll off my back and I'm like man if only Wilder had let Holden bring this energy into Sunset Boulevard, I think it would have been proved that character and it works perfectly here.

18:57 Yeah, I think what makes it work here. Bob is the fact that in our subconscious we know that Holden's character in Sunset Boulevard has a choice about being at that Mansion like they can play it up all they want that he's stuck there but he could leave at any time. He could pick up and go back to Dayton which he tries to do at the end of the film and he could leave whenever he wanted to. Whereas in a prisoner ER of War Camp you know that he doesn't have a choice like he is stuck there. And yeah he could try to help escape and all that. But you know, it's more understandable of him trying to make the best of a really crappy situation than it is in Sunset Boulevard and I think that just makes him a little more sympathetic as a figure. The funny thing ultimately I guess the irony is as much as I hate the character of Joe Gillis. I think that he is a complex enough figure that I See William Holden winning an Oscar for that movie and it being justified, whereas this character Sefton he's barely in the movie until the last 15 minutes.

20:07 Like he's in and out a little bit but it's not until you hit. Like I don't know the one hour mark that the narrator's like oh yeah I should tell you a little bit more about this guy Sefton and you forget that he's supposed to be the star of the movie and he really does take over in the last 20 minutes of the movie, and it has this great kind of Monologue towards the end. But even as I found out that he wins the Oscar, for this movie, I'm like, is this a leading man performance? Like, I guess it's, the lead performance of the movie, but this feels so much more like an ensemble picture than one that has even a central figure in it. Yeah, I'm with you 100% knowing that he won the Oscar and this It almost felt like watching Last of the Mohicans for me, where I thought that Daniel Day Lewis won the Oscar for that performance. And so, I was like waiting for him to be awesome and I never felt like he was, whereas in this one I was like, oh, I know that he want to perform one it for this performance and so I kind of was just like once again waiting for him to be awesome and was like, oh, like he's good, it's a solid, B b-plus character and performance.

21:20 I just don't know if it's anything that deserves an Oscar. Yeah. Like honestly, if anything, Richard Erdman of the television show Community Fame. He, I thought he was incredible as hafidh sergeant Hoffman. Hmm, I really liked his performance. He had a a sincerity and earnestness about him. That felt just really Charming. Yeah. There's a couple people in this Ensemble that I thought really stood out to there's a guy named Neville brand. His character's name is Duke. He's the guy with the beard that is like, mama always suspicious of William Holden, aye. Yeah. It was excellent in that role because he doesn't really do much except for beat suspicious the whole movie, but he plays it really, really well.

22:06 There is one other person from this movie, that gets nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor. And that is Robert Strauss, who plays animal. Now, we've talked about him a little bit to this point, but animal is for the most part, the comic relief of the movie and I want to pinpoint One Moment In the movie that I wish Wilder had milked just a little more and it's toward the end of the movie. And they're having this kind of, I don't know. Dance party in their barracks and half. The guys are dressed up as women or are playing the women in, you know, their dance Pairs and animal has been in love with Betty, Grable the whole movie and he sees one of his one of his fellow soldiers, dressed up like a woman and is convinced in his kind of delirium that it is Betty Grable Able and he starts dancing with her and then it turns out to be by delirium, you mean drunken stupor?

22:56 You know? Yeah, it turns out to be Shapiro who reveals himself and says hey man I'm it's me your buddy and there's this really kind of sad and touching moment where you realize like he's heartbroken it's not it's not played for Laughs, he's like legitimately crushed and you feel for him. And the problem that I have with that moment is that I think Wilder in some of his later It's like the apartment, he can find the tragedy in the comedy a little bit better and I think in this movie, it's still trying to be played for a laugh when it is actually kind of crushing. And I wish that he had just leaned into that the tragedy of that moment just a little bit more. I think that's kind of again for me, that's like emblematic of the whole movie where it works, but I think it could have worked just a little bit better.

23:47 Yeah, and maybe a slightly more mature way. Wilder could pull that off. I do think that Shapiro and the animal are a really fun Duo that that kind of keep the movie driving forward, as I was watching. You said his name was Richard Strauss, Robert stress, Robert Strauss playing playing the animal. He reminded me of a mixture of, like, Brad Garrett from Everybody, Loves Raymond, and John Belushi. Oh nice. Yeah. Just have like the sort of what's the the kind waves? I get the slaven leanness of. Yes, but Belushi, but he has the voice and the gate and the sort of like, hunched over.

24:33 I don't know awkwardness of Brad, got ya? Yes! 100% And I so for me like the mixture of those two actors for me, just 100% worked. I thought he was incredibly funny and his his relationship with Harry. His friend that he mistakes to be Betty Grable at one point is honestly, like really sweet and touching. And, and the, the few moments where I believe in that the most is when things are looking dark for the barracks and for the troops and they're still kind of doing their slapstick thing, I think there are moments where I'm like, you know, I don't know if I would do any different if I was in a prison of War Camp. Yeah, it brings a level of humanity to the situation that I think is helpful.

25:21 A few more people to mention before we go to break, Peter Graves who becomes a really, I was a super popular character actor, but if you've ever seen the movie Airplane, he plays the pilot in Airplane, super funny role. He has perhaps the most interesting role in the movie playing price and I think Brad is probably time to spoil everything here at this point. Yeah, it is price, is the informants and he is a German who apparently lived in Cleveland for a while, dude. I was so, So, pumped, they talk about something that's not see, what are you talking about? I mean, we lived in my town, her Ray, I do. I do, remember when I was in high school they found not just in like Cleveland, but in Seven Hills, my tiny little itsy-bitsy suburb right off of Cleveland. Was this the the John demjanjuk guy? Yeah, they found this Nazi prisoner prisoner of war. A while.

26:21 Yeah. Concentration camp guard. Yeah, just like 90 years old. Living in Seven Hills Ohio. Yeah, I'm telling you they did a Netflix documentary about him a couple years ago was like a four part series of how they finally figured it out about him and how they finally got things to stick in his trial. Super interesting, that is a complete aside. Peter Graves really good in this movie, I was just excited that they talked about Cleveland, Ohio, and Cincinnati, a specific. I come on, come on. On baby. Let's go. Hi. Oh, I just even when it's not even like a badge of honor, you're excited about hearing Ohio pop up in a movie. How often do you hear Ohio? Pop up in the movie but just last week, Joe Gillis Dayton Ohio.

27:04 Dad's that's true. Dayton Ohio, has maybe, maybe Billy has like some some connection. He's got a soft spot. Yeah, yeah. The last person I want to talk about is Otto preminger. Now, if you know your film history, Otto preminger is primarily known as a director and I Almost brought him up last week Brad, but we were running a little bit long. Otto. Preminger is a director who was known for really pushing the boundaries within the confines of Studio movies. So he, some of his most famous movies would be like Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart, so fantastically. Yeah. But his movies were always pretty long and they were always like, really, I don't want to say salacious, they were well made and they weren't smutty, but they were always pushing.

27:50 The envelope in terms of like violence on screen or subject matter on screen. 1940s smutty, I guess so. Yeah, 50s and 60s to, but your toddy in 2023. I guess what I'm saying is it wasn't like he was pushing the boundaries by making like you know erotic Thrillers or like and he was just trying to get subject matter on screen that wasn't discussed really taboo topics on screen. And last you saying that? He's like the German Hitchcock then I may be in some capacities. So, I mean, he makes a movie adaptation of the the Opera Porgy and Bess, which is an all-black cast that at a time, that that wasn't being done. He made a movie in the mid-50s with Frank Sinatra called The Man, with the Golden Arm, which is about heroin addiction. Like, it's just stuff that wasn't wasn't on screen at the time and lasted.

28:38 That's a title for a movie, man. Writes, holy cow last week, you kept mentioning Billy Wilder as someone who kind of pushed the envelope or really wanted to push back against cultural norms and I almost brought It up Otto. Preminger. Not realizing that he was going to pop up in this movie as an actor. So once again, Wilder is working with collaborators that he really respects. You know, last week, it's Erich von stroheim playing a character in his movie and Cecil B Demille this week. It's Otto preminger. Yeah, and preminger was as a director. He said that the only thing he would yell at his actors for was showing up late or forgetting a line and apparently he told Billy Wilder.

29:21 Hey, if I forget any lines in this, I'll send you a bottle of cough of caviar and apparently Billy had quite a few potholes and Kathy are by the end of the film. That's funny. I think caviar comes in tins instead of bottles but that's good. Probably yeah. I just thought about drinkable caviar and I was like, oh gosh, that's that's horrible. Have you ever had caviar Bob? I never have. I never heard nor have I It's not something I'm interested in. I would be interested in it, if it was like really high quality, like I've seen it like fresh caviar. I'm like, I would eat that but it's like, yeah, this is baby in my pantry for six years. Let's try this hill and of caviar. Oh, thank you.

30:05 It's right next to the sun kiss. Well, speaking of super fancy things that we keep in our pantries. Brad. It's time for us to get into drinking the whiskey of the day. It is the last in the line up of five benchmarks that we have done and it's called Benchmark foolproof. What do you say? We try it. Let's get to a bob to our are very fancy with sweet. All right, everybody. Today we are drinking the final in our Benchmark series Benchmark, foolproof. You haven't even seen my final form yet brand? Yeah.

30:45 Bob, I didn't think he knew Anna Mae. There you go. Then, I'm full of surprises. Good job. I'm proud of you. Just like this. Whiskey is full of proof. Am I right? It's all the proofs. So, yeah, if you've been paying attention to our podcast, we have tried five consecutive Benchmark branded products to start this season, Buffalo Trace wanted to expand its most valuable not valuable that lets the word for like value wish line as well. Yeah, there is a little box, its cheapest line of whiskey Benchmark and it did so, by adding a whole bunch of fancy words after the word Benchmark, we started with the 86 proof, top floor, and then we switch to the 90 Proof small batch there. Was a 95 proof, I think single barrel and then Benchmark bonded last week at 100 proof.

31:39 And after that, they said screw it, like, we're not going to keep going up. So incrementally, we're going to take this all the way up to 125 proof, turned it up to 11 if you will, Brad, I don't know the exact price point on this. That's usually something that you bring to the table research wise, but I don't Saul the research getting out of even. I don't know if there is a whiskey. E on the market. That is so high. In proof for what I assume to be, so little in price as I say, it costs over $100 less than its proof point there. There you go. I was going to say, like old Granddad 114 is a, you know, 11 proof points lower than this.

32:22 And also, I think retails for at least thirty dollars now. So I mean, you know, unless you're buying Everclear, I don't know if you can get anything. This High proof for like 25 bucks. Yeah, yeah. I was going to say this is a, I'll spoil the value right now. It's a really solid value. Bob, this is the second most expensive of The Benchmark lineup at $23 in the state of Ohio. Okay. But I like how this is still cheaper than the Single Barrel. Yes, that's crazy to me. Hmm. I mean, you know, Bob it takes a lot of time and effort to pick out one crappy barrel with someone barrel and then water it down to 90 bucks. Oof.

33:02 Yeah, about 25 dollars worth of effort. Okay, so on The Benchmark foolproof front, we are looking at, like I said, a 125 proof bourbon whiskey that has been aged for at least four years. It does not have an age statement on the bottle, which means it's a blend of a whole bunch of different ages of whiskey. But that also means that the minimum, the youngest whiskey in this blend is at least 4 years old. Buffalo Trace, does not disclose the mash bill, but some some pretty smart people online. Have pretty much figured out. What the mash bill of this is, if you'd like, to go look it up for yourself. I'm excited to dive into this, man. I think, overall, this has been a pretty great experience going through these cheap whiskeys. Yeah, I will say, I think if I had to guess I think that Buffalo Trace, new of my hatred for its high-end lineups and they were like, well, we got to appease Brad somehow.

33:55 Yeah. So we're going to put out this fought line up of five cheap Whiskey's and I'll be honest with you. Bob for Out of five are really solid great values. Ones that I think that indicates that you've already tried this before. I'm sipping it live as we discuss it. So why don't you go ahead and give your nosing notes Brad? So I can write mine down as well. Yeah. So I'm getting like everything classic that you want out of a bourbon. There is caramel there's brown sugar. There's vanilla for me, it gets into a little bit of spiciness, some cinnamon, maybe a little Like nutmeg almost kind of good takes a Christmassy turn at the end.

34:36 Yep but I there is nothing to complain about here. It's not an overly complex knows, but it's the the proof points. Give it a little bit of depth that the other ones were missing out on. So I give it a 7 & a half. I really love how crisp this one is. Like, it just reminds me of, like, apple peels, but also kind of like, you know, we just had a nice little rain storm blow through here as I'm recording this. And I went outside and I smelled that like, After the rain smell it has that really great like almost rainwater kind of smell to it. It's really, really beautiful. I think this might be just go ahead. Is it just me or did like, do you no longer enjoy things, just to enjoy them, but you immediately are like, hmm. This is going in the old whiskey palette log every time I smell a smell, you know?

35:25 Yes yeah, toddler diaper. I'm like all right I'm going to log that one in the back of my head. Exactly. So yeah, I think this might be my favorite nose out of all five of them and it's not surprising because this hasn't been diluted at all. And so we're really getting, you know, exactly or close to what's coming out of the barrel here. I like it a lot. I'm gonna give it an eight and a half on the nose. Yeah, a baba. And I'm with you, this is probably the best smelling of the five, and when you get into the palette, you can tell that there is some flavor going on here. Once again, this is not a complex whiskey. Like it's all of the nice, beautiful. Awful things. You love about bourbon. It's brown sugar caramel like I said some spiciness there, I don't know if I've ever had a pallet that so perfectly mimics the nose, but all the notes I gave before are still here but their enhanced a little bit because I'm actually drinking the whiskey.

36:20 I give it an 8 and a half out of ten on The Taste. Yeah, this I think this really will appeal to fans of Buffalo Trace because it has that So bitter. It's almost sour. Oh keynote to it but I think here it's almost like it doesn't come across as a flaw and it doesn't come across as something. That's from a lesser brand? Do you know what I mean? Like I think before we've been like okay maybe they're just putting that in the Benchmark line because it's lower quality here. I think it's just like hey this is what Oak tastes like you know. Yeah but what I really love about it is on the pallet for me it was like two very quick rapid-fire waves of heat coming from the front of my To the back. And then it just like repeated that process again really, really spicy. Like the ethanol notes really come out in. Her, are prickly on the palate, like you said, man, not super complex.

37:10 It's for me, it's brown sugar and it's vanilla, and it's really, really tasty. It's kind of thin on the mouthfeel. I think because it is so high proof, so it kind of manifest as a little bit thin, but not as stringent, and I really, really like that. I'm going to give it. See, here's the hard thing. I'm scoring it knowing that it's $23. Like, is this an actual 88 and a half out of ten? Well, Dallas, give it. Give it an actual score. I think I'll give it a seven and a half palette. If I'm talking like every whiskey ever considered this is like a three out of four star. I'll give it a seven and a half. Yeah I think that's fair for me. The finishes were all ding it a little bit because it does take on that, traditional Buffalo Trace okita, Guinness and adjusts hours a little bit for me, I'll give it a six and a half out of ten on the Finish.

38:03 It's not bad but you can tell that it is a cheaper Whiskey on the Finish. Yeah I think I'm just gonna pair it. You here man six and a half for all the reasons you just said yeah and that takes us to balance. This is where we consider knows taste and finish kind of as one cohesive whole. Was there, a part of this drinking experience that stood out from the others for good, or for bad or did it? Kind of make sense, all throughout. I think, for the most part Brad, this is exactly what I expected a 125 proof. Benchmark product tastes like, it's just significantly better than most Benchmark products, but it still carries all those same flavors throughout.

38:44 So I think, I guess I'll give it a seven and a half like it's above average. It's not a perfect, obviously whiskey, but it's pretty darn consistent, and it's what I expected. It's me. Yeah, I'm in literally the exact same spot Bob. You parotid me earlier, I will pair it. You here seven and a half on the balance and I'm just going to say this, let's keep this short and sweet today, man. This is a 10/10 value. I don't really know that there's like any debating this even though it's not our favorite whiskey. Even though I probably shockingly, might still go for the top floor before I would go for this one, if we're talking like ranking, 1 through 5 in these. Yeah, there is no better value out there for a high-proof whiskey, and it's a palatable high-proof whiskey. It's not Just like hey my rum and coke needs extra alcohol in it.

39:32 It tastes good. Yeah. No 100%. This is a 10 out of 10 on value out of all the things I could say nice about Buffalo Trace. They are knocking it out of the park on these cheap Benchmark, Whiskey's that genuinely, I think almost every single one of them could retail for ten dollars higher and I would still be like, oh yeah, so, you know, seven out of ten value. Like that's like it could be a little cheaper, but it's a good price too. The agree, man. Real quick. Before we get final scores on this one. Let's kind of power rank the five that we did. Mmm, for me, I think, you know, I don't even know if I need to go one and two, but like, the upper tier for me, is top floor and this and then the small batch and then in the bottom, tier would be the single barrel and the bond it. Yeah, I think for me I would go small batch and foolproof I'm kind of tied at the top, I really like those and then right behind that the bonded and the top floor and kind of their second category.

40:38 And then the Single Barrel kind of Fallen pretty far behind. Yeah, for sure. I think, like you said, four out of the five everything except the Single Barrel was a no-brainer recommendation from us in terms of like, you know, I think last week I even said with the bonded, like I wouldn't recommend trying this at the bar, but they're all worth a pickup except for that sing. Carol. So yeah. And especially like, if you have a buddy who enjoys drinking whiskey like go put ten to twelve dollars each in and and buy a bottle of it and then you each have, you know, 350, 375 to drink. Exactly. Like, it's the easiest purchase you'll make. Okay, man, I'm coming out to a 40 out of 50 on this whiskey. What are you coming out to Bob?

41:20 I'm at a 40 out of 50. Hey, so we have our first 40 of the Season which is usually pretty I dare this one, obviously was helped out by its value score, but even if you don't consider that, it's such an incredible value and just take that part of the equation out. We came out to essentially a 30 out of 40 on the tasting notes, which is like a well, above average experience, this is not just a budget bourbon, it's a budget bourbon. That takes pretty good. Yeah, 100% Bob and it, I think we paired it with just about the right movie. I think so too. Have a Gidget yet really solid movie. So let's get back into it.

42:02 Let's do it. All right, everybody, that was Benchmark foolproof. A 125 proof, whiskey that only cost $23. And that alone should get you to go try it. I mean, you might as well but leaving that to the side. We are going to jump back into the episode and go to Canada's. Absolute favorite segments to fax at a falsehood? Is gonna try to stop you by. All right? And what is wrong to facts in a foster, to facts in a falsehood is the part of the podcast where Brad presents three items to me, as fact about the making of this movie, one of which he has completely made up and it's my job to establish, which one is the falsehood Brad.

42:54 I am a whopping 2 and 2 on the season, so far sitting pretty at 500. If this was baseball, I'd be in good position. Yeah. You'd probably be like, s in your division. Doing pretty solid. So we'll see if I can keep the streak alive here. I won last week to bring myself back up to 500. I'm gonna be real with you man. I did a lot of research on Sunset Boulevard to prepare for that episode because it's such a major movie. I do did 08 Messer, nothing about this movie. The funny thing is, you know, before you give me your two facts in a falsehood. Let me just say, for being a movie that I feel like a lot of dads will have seen at some point. There's not a It online about this movie. And I have this stack of Billy Wilder books behind me. Like they talk about Stalag 17 but it just doesn't seem like anyone is super interested in learning that much about the production of this movie.

43:47 Even the Wikipedia page doesn't even go in depth to the extent that I thought that it would. So, yeah, man, I'm coming into this one, pretty cold. You are in Prime position here to get a victory this week, hit me with your two facts and a falsehood. Alright fact, number one, the dog tags that. Can see around the necks of some of the prisoners are authentic. They are not actually pair of us, dog tags. But instead are a single dog tag with two slots that lets them be broken in. Half in the event, the soldier is killed and this is actually a German set of dog tags. Hmm, fact. Number two, William, Holden's line.

44:27 This ain't the Salvation Army. This is everybody for himself. Dog-eat-dog was originally written as this. Ain't the YMCA. We're not all bunk buddies here. Nice. I didn't expect that. I hope you didn't make that one up because you're going to legit get us canceled with that one. All right. All right, fact, what were three warrants or Tome an extra in the film was an actual prisoner of war in Germany. He relates that they're around, nine other pows that served as extras in the film, he himself was flying in a B-24. That was shot down over Northeastern Germany during the war. Hmm.

45:07 All right, Brad, I'm gonna assume that you didn't make up number two because if you did we have some problematic things to discuss after that one. Number one is, Really interesting and I think just because I hope it's true, I'm going to say number three is the falsehood number two. It's Brad did you can't do that, okay, I've 100% did not think of it as a gauge show, how to do this, I mean, one of the most iconic gay songs of all time is about going to the YMCA. Wait, that's a socket. Okay, people are you ever heard of the Village People? Yeah.

45:53 They're all gay. It's didn't know that. You didn't know that the village. I've never seen a picture of the Village People. Yes. I see the yakked in history, dude. Well, filming whiskey Nation, let it be known, Brad made up a number two without knowing his LGBT history and intended intended, no offense with that one you know what that her purse. My gosh. How do we steer out of that one man? I think that's it dude this was our final final scores and I'm gonna go hide in a bunker Right.

46:39 Okay, let's talk about Stalag 17. Brad. What do you want to talk about? Let's talk about some of the slapstick. Comedy. What what was your funniest gag from from animal and Shapiro? Hmm. I mean, I think it's got to be the painting, a line on the ground gag to get over to the women's showers to try to see in there. That was hilarious. Like not just slapstick that felt like a, a cartoon like an actual like Wiley Coyote Roadrunner cartoon, like Thing about it was this could be a Three Stooges skit. Yes, it's perfect. It was yeah, it was hilarious.

47:23 Also, why are there Russian women just hanging out at a prisoner of war camp in their own little compound? I mean, they're also prisoners, it's not like they're just shacking up there. Yeah. But it just seemed weird to me. I was like, maybe I just don't know my World War Two history enough, but when they conquered, you know, Territories. I thought they just kind of let the women and children keep living in the area. They didn't put him in the prisoner camps, I don't know, I don't know. I can I also think that maybe I'm being a little bit swayed by The Great Escape and The Bridge on the River Kwai. But I was thinking in the opening narration, they say that everybody in that p.o.w. camp is at least a sergeant, right? So like they may not all be officers, but it's essentially an officer's camp and yeah, so I don't know why that they weave they would Even have a women's section of that camp, but you know, who knows?

48:19 Maybe the Nazis were just trying to be efficient and save space. Yeah, that's if there's anything. The Nazis are known for the efficiency. Yeah, it's just Bob, did you know that this is the episode? That's just going to end the podcast? Yeah, it's just destroy whiskey, but why? I will say, I really enjoyed this movie. The, I think we kind of have talked about the slapstick side of it. How did the tension work for you? Like what did you think about his the the way he used shots to establish tension and drama and the gimmick of the light being pulled to show, you know, when things are going on? How did that half of the movie work for you? It works great for me.

49:11 I think the thing that didn't work about it is that it's not half the movie. And the slapstick stuff. Not only goes on too long as a percentage of the movie. But I think each and every slapstick gag goes on for about like a minute too long. Just in general, I really wish that he had trimmed those up and I when I look at the runtime of this movie, like you said, it's not super long but I did find myself getting pretty bored in stretches. I think because it wasn't like slapstick, tension, slapstick tension. It was like, yeah, slapstick. Filler slapstick filler tension, filler slapstick slapstick and then he didn't get to the tension Parts until way late in the movie. And between the combo of like it just has too much fat on it. And also they try to Milk The Comedy past the point where it's funny in some places, it really left. Me wanting more.

50:06 And I think the final reveal of who the mole is, is done really well, but I almost wish that it had been like a It almost like a like a courtroom type set piece where it's June monologue, after monologue of, you know, accusing and finding evidence. And it's not it's like a 3-minute like, hey, he did this thing. Here's this light and everyone's like aah. He's the Nazi. And that's the end of the movie and I was like, man, you really built it up well, and it feels like an anticlimax now. Yeah, that was my biggest complaint of the movie is that they build up. Not not just the climax but they built. it up as like Sefton has this impenetrable wall that he has to, you know, blow his way through to convince everyone that he's not the mole and then he just does it in two minutes like and that for me was the biggest Miss of the movie because of like you said, they set it up so incredibly, well that you don't know who the Spy is, and it genuinely could be anyone but Seth Didn't, you know, he has that great line where he says the only people who know, it's not me Army and the guy who did it right? And that line like is the epitome of the problem facing him.

51:28 And it just feels like too easy of an out to just be like yep, here's the explanation. Alright now let's figure it all out and we'll be done with it. One thing that I wish I had paid more attention to is. Does the audience definitively know that it's not him? Like because I feel like right up until the point where Wilder reveals to the audience who it is. And then you find out that Sefton is also kind of he has a good idea because he's like in the room when it's happening, I don't know that we ever actually see any evidence that would exonerate him. It's not like yeah, we saw him outside the barracks then when we come back in we can tell that something had happened in there.

52:09 I think. Oh you know what? In you know, what would have made this a new our movie? Hmm. If he was the Spy, well that's what I'm saying. Like yeah, that would have taken it right back in the classic, Billy Wilder territory, right? And I feel like for such a long time, Wilder is toying with the audience of like, is he the mole, is he not the mole and then he reveals who the mole is, and it becomes a completely different thing where you're on Sefton side now and you're wanting him to find the evidence to exonerate himself and I wish that it had just built into a to be frank like an Aaron Sorkin, e, Few, Good, Men type ending and it doesn't do that. And for, they're all of the Fantastic dialogue and one-liners in this movie. I really wanted some sort of verbal fireworks at the end of this film that I just didn't get. Yeah man, disappointing Movie 2 out of 10 worthless. Well before we jump into final scores, Brad it is time for our final segment of the day that we call. Let's make it a People who nearly end of the episode. So thanks for listening to the film and whiskey show. Let's pair another film with this one. Even if it's a struggle, it's a final segment of the day. Now let's make it a double.

53:22 Let's make it. A double is the part of the show, where we pair this movie up with another film to make the perfect double feature Brad. I think we've pretty much already said, explicitly many times. What the perfect pairing for this movie? Is I have a better one. Oh, okay. Well then, let me say this way. I'm In the Great Escape because that's the correct answer. I think Bridge on the River Kwai could be, you know, at almost as good because it is a William Holden starring prisoner of war movie, like it's just go back to back on those, but then you'd be watching movies for like five and a half hours. So you would same thing with Great Escape. That's a three-hour movie too. So Brad. What's your pick?

54:03 Remember that. My pick is a another prisoner of war movie and B is made with the goal of getting In this podcast, cancelled I am going to pick Tropic Thunder. Oh, now, is it because they let me take a guess as to why you're picking it is it because it's so perfectly balances, the themes of war and actual danger with slapstick comedy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be honest with you. I actually think that they would be a pretty funny pairing together. Yeah. To go from such an old film that. It has slapstick elements to a very modern film that has those slapstick elements. I'm like, actually, as I'm talking convincing myself that this is actually a great idea, but all I'm going to say is Tropic, Thunder is a hilarious movie and should be watched in addition to Stalag 17, which is a great movie as well. Totally agree.

55:03 I think you just wanted to get another Tom Cruise reference in here. I I gave us a Few Good Men and you were like not good enough. My friend We need more crews. References fat fat, dancing. Cruz is what we needed. Is there any other all right, dude, I think it's time to give final scores on this movie. I am coming out weirdly to the same score that I came out to with Sunset Boulevard and it's a massive caveat. I'm giving this movie an 8 out of 10 because I think it works about as well as a movie with this. Premise can work like on paper. If you try to pitch me this movie I'd be like That's really risky. And I think the ceiling for that movie is 8 out of 10. And I really think this movie's pretty much achieves it ceiling. Sunset Boulevard is a movie that I think has much higher Ambitions and works fairly well, but has never worked perfectly for me.

55:57 And so I guess my caveat is I think Sunset Boulevard is probably for talking like Capital C Cinema. Sunset Boulevard is the better made movie, but they work to pretty much equivalent extent to me. Yeah, I'm I'm kind of with you, I mean except for the part where I like Sunset Boulevard said, didn't I I'm going to give this a name. Then I think it's an incredibly funny movie, the drama and the pacing worked pretty well for me. You know, I know you said you had issues with the level of slapstick and filler stuff. I that didn't bother me quite as much. I definitely think this could be like a hour and 42 H 50 minute movie instead of two hours. But overall, I think the performance is a really great. I don't think holding deserves an Oscar for it, but I do think it's a really good performance.

56:48 So, So yeah, I think this is in a pretty easy, 8 out of 10 for me. All right, well, we want to know what you think whoever's out there that's seen Stalag. 17, if you've seen this movie before, reach out to us, and I will give you a sticker because I don't expect that many of you have. And yet it's a really good movie. So if you've seen it, let us know at one of our social media accounts, Facebook Twitter, Instagram or Tick-Tock at film whiskey or jump onto our Discord. You can find a link to the Discord at the end of every one of our Notes and we are on there every single day talking to you guys, the fans of the film and whiskey podcast. Next week, we will be back with Wilders follow-up to Stalag 17.

57:29 1954 is romantic comedy Sabrina which I'm like super pumped for. Yeah, I'm really excited man. Anytime we do. Audrey Hepburn, I get very excited and she's incredible. All right, we'll see you for that one next week, but until then, I'm Bob book, I'm Brad G and we'll see you next time.