Anklage: Hochverrat

Please god. Let the decision makers, stop charging into wars at the behest of those who'll make outrageous profits. Ignoring the thousands of young men and women that come home smashed into pieces, for many irreprably..

If theres a conflict that threatens the security, of the U. S., thats different. But no more 3rd world esoteric, thinly constructed conflicts, in which the ones deciding are future employees of the weapons industry (read Eisenhower on the military industrial complex, and its threats to America).

Way too cozy, classic conflict of interest, having those who'll gain, personally opting to jump in.

This movie, is set on that back drop....tangentially, with a young man (boy), no mom, military dad, trotted down the path to glory. Only his "glory" is in a courtroom, where his behavior is judged by many who never faced what he did,

It was trials like this one that led to a reexamination of the expectations, of a soldiers behavior once hes taken prisoner.

The Rack casts Paul Newman in his third film as a returning prisoner of war who is put on trial for collaborating with the enemy during the Korean War. After the disaster of The Silver Chalice and his subsequent success in Somebody Up There Like Me, Newman's performance in The Rack assured his future stardom.

Making things triply worse is the fact that Newman comes from a military family. His father Walter Pidgeon is in the service, his brother was killed in Korea, and the brother's wife Anne Francis has stayed with Pidgeon. It was after a welcome home party for Newman that Pidgeon receives the word about Newman's court martial. Walter Pidgeon gives the best performance in the film, his scenes with Newman after he gets the news are what great acting is all about.

Prosecuting Newman is Wendell Corey and his defense counsel is Edmond O'Brien a good pair of cinematic legal adversaries if there ever was one. Also in the film is Lee Marvin who was a fellow prisoner and who is the original accusatory witness against Newman. Marvin's scene in the witness stand is also classic.

The Pacific Theater of World War II and later the Korean War put us against enemies of an oriental culture and the second one flavored with Marxism. Their view of prisoners was one radically different from the western one. Someone who didn't die at his duty and allowed himself to be captured was one worthy of contempt. It's why the atrocities that happened and more important the fact that the prison keepers never viewed what they did as atrocities. These were all new issues for the American public to face. It would come even closer to home during the Vietnam War.

The Rack is the story of one man who reached a breaking point while in captivity. Those points are not the same with every individual. That fact is brought out quite clearly in this fine film.

Rack, The (1956)

*** (out of 4)

Paul Newman, in his third film, plays Korean War vet who was a POW for three years. When he returns home he's brought up on treason charges and faces a court marshall. This film is based on a Rod Serling teleplay so the material makes for a good movie, although in the end I'm not sure what type of message it's sending out. The POW was tortured, not physically but mentally, and the film takes a look at this and what one's breaking point is. A lot of questions about loyalty to your country is brought up during the court scenes but some might be confused by what the ending tries to say or the complete turn around that seems to happen half way through the film. There's also the added plot of Newman's character not being able to connect with his hard boiled father (Walter Pidgeon) and connecting to his dead brother's girlfriend (Ann Francis). The film's screenplay has a lot of great sequences in it but it never really becomes clear on what it's trying to say. Is the film trying to claim that everyone has a breaking point? Is it trying to say that everyone should reach a breaking point but keep going for your country? The film seems to want to have its cake and eat it too as both sides are given credit yet neither takes the stage over the other. What works the best here are the performances with Newman stealing the film with his passionate character. The torture Newman displays is very striking and wonderfully done, which is rather amazing considering this was only his third film. Pidgeon has some equally impressive scenes as does Cloris Leachman. Lee Marvin, playing a tortured vet, also comes across very good in his few scenes. Wendell Corey and Edmond O'Brien are also very good. While the film's message might be someone confusing the film still works as a nice drama with plenty of good performances.

Paul Newman has impressed me in "Cool Hand Luke" and in this film his performance ranges from the "cool" to the frail man in the duration of the movie.

Among films based on courtroom trials this one is remarkable. It rates alongside Bruce Beresford's Australian film "Breaker Morant" and the British film "Term of Trial."

A major feather in the cap is the ending, which is a clever touch by the director Arnold Laven. Any other ending would have made the film less poignant.

The development of the relationship between Newman's character and that of Annie Francis' Aggie is again worthy of note. Lee Marvin's small role catches your attention though it is not his finest by any measure.

All in all this film should be given more publicity, as the theme is relevant today as it was when it was made.

Never viewed this film until I noticed it was going to be shown on TCM and was very surprised to see that Paul Newman starred in this film. This story is about the treatment of American Soldiers during the Korean War and how their captives tortured our men with mental punishments in order to brainwash their thinking and find their weakness in order to take complete control over their mental thinking. Paul Newman, (Capt. Edward Worthington Hall Jr.,) played the role of an Army Officer under investigation and also a trial to determine what actually happened in the prisoner of war camp. Wendell Corey, (Maj. Sam Moulton), is the Army Prosecuting Attorney and Edmond O'Brien, (Lt. Col. Frank Wasnick) the Army Defense Attorney who both did outstanding acting defending their clients. Walter Pidgeon,(Col. Edward W. Hall,Sr.,) was the father to Capt. Edward Worthington Hall, Jr. who gave a great supporting role along with Anne Frances (Aggie Hall) who lost her husband in the Korean War. This is a great film to view and it clearly showed how many people who are tortured have breaking points when in captivity and questions everyone how they would be able to endure such treatment and whether they would be able to hold up.