Actor William Holden was in top form in 1953 when he delivered the complicated and challenging character that drove the hit film “Stalag 17.”

It screens at Hoquiam’s historic 7th Street Theatre, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12 and 13.

Holden won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Sgt. J. J. Sefton, sardonic cynic, black marketeer and unlikely hero of a POW camp in Germany during WWII.

Beginning in 1951, “Stalag 17” ran 472 performances on Broadway. The play was based on the true experiences of its authors in Stalag 17B in Austria.

With “Stalag 17,” director Bill Wilder successfully brought to the screen an effective mix of comedy, drama and suspense, and did so a mere eight years after the world could find nothing funny about any POW camp. Twelve years later, the film was a loose inspiration for the TV comedy series, “Hogan’s Heroes,” which ran from1965 to 1971.

Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. Saturday showing, and 1:30 p.m. for the 2 p.m. Sunday showing. The theater is located at 313 7th St. in downtown Hoquiam. Tickets are $5 and are available at the door or in advance at Harbor Drug in Hoquiam, City Drug in Aberdeen and at www.brownpapertickets.com.

For more information call the theatre at (360) 537-7400 or check the website, www.7thstreettheatre.com.