Plädoyer für einen Mörder

There is not a player worth their talent who does not eventually want to do a role in a courtroom drama. The sad thing is that Robert Mitchum got his turn in court in Man In The Middle.

Not that it's a bad role or a bad performance that Mitchum turns in. But ultimately you don't really care what happens to the victim here, an insane and racist army lieutenant played by Keenan Wynn who coldbloodedly shot down a British sergeant in the China-Burma-India theater of World War II.

It's the nationalities here, the American Army in the spirit of interallied cooperation just wants to get Wynn quickly convicted and hung in a proficient military manner. General Barry Sullivan has gotten Mitchum to be the defense lawyer with then presumption that because Mitchum is from a military family he will do the right thing by the army's standards.

But an army nurse and an army psychiatrist played by France Nuyen and Sam Wanamaker make him see that Wynn needs the best defense. The army has suppressed a report where Wanamaker has clearly stated that Wynn is certifiable, but the medical corps have deep sixed the report and Wanamaker. Doing that bit of dirty work is Alexander Knox.

What's keeping this thing alive is Wynn's unseen brother-in-law a Congressman. That will usually do it with the military.

The film was partially shot on location in New Delhi and the biggest problem on set according to Robert Mitchum's biographer Lee Server was keeping Trevor Howard away from the booze. Howard is in the film as well as a British psychiatrist and apparently at the time he was heavily drinking and he couldn't hold the liquor as well as Mitch. Not that he didn't stop trying. The biography goes into what must have been a hilarious scene where the director is trying to tell a drunken Howard on the set to change some mismatching socks which even a black and white camera could pick up.

Man In The Middle is well made and the performances sincere by the players. But in the end I really could not care what the army did with Keenan Wynn.

A first-rate cast, a fine script, a decent plot and a so-so director, (Guy Hamilton), so why wasn't "Man in the Middle" a better movie. It's certainly not a bad film but Hamilton was a dull director, ("Goldfinger" being the notable exception), who lacked imagination and the most he does here is help the movie plod along in an entertaining, if unimaginative fashion. It's set in India in the closing days of the Second World War and begins when an American soldier, (Keenan Wynn, very good), shoots dead a British soldier in full view of witnesses.

Robert Mitchum is the poor sap of an American officer drafted in to defend him and what looks like a cut-and-dried scenario is soon revealed to be anything but. Given the material, (it's based on a good Howard Fast novel), it ought to have been much more complex and exciting than it is but it's certainly a very handsome looking picture, nicely shot in black-and-white Cinemascope by Wilkie Cooper. Never destined to become a classic, it's still fine Saturday Afternoon Matinee fare.

"Col. Adams" (Robert Mitchum) is drafted in to conduct the defence, at court martial, of an American officer accused of murdering a British NCO in India. There's no doubt about the crime, nor that it was committed as charged so it all looks like fait accompli. "Adams" finds his grey cells starting to twitch when seemingly pointless obstacles are strewn in front of him. One witness is transferred suddenly and those supposed to be facilitating his work start to impede it. One conversation starts to ring alarm bells - perhaps his client isn't competent? Might he have a defence of insanity? That causes great consternation amongst the higher-ups who seem content to sacrifice their man for the sake of Anglo-American relationships. Ironically enough, it is the British doctor "Maj. Kensington" (Trevor Howard) who seems to want the truth told at the trial - but can they make their presence felt against some pretty formidable odds? This film benefits from quite an interesting storyline and a lead actor who is on decent form delivering a solid script. There are plenty of familiar faces amongst the supporting cast and there is just enough jeopardy to keep it interesting for ninety minutes before a fairly lively denouement.

Originally titled MAN IN THE MIDDLE, but bearing a different name in the US film circuit - THE WINSTON AFFAIR, if memory serves me right - this is a middling script off a middling novel by Howard Fast.

Director Guy Hamilton, famous for such James Bond vehicles as GOLDFINGER, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, LIVE AND LET DIE, MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, among others, never rose above middling status himself. In MAN IN THE MIDDLE, his mediocrity stamps just about every well shot, effective frame credibly bringing out a most unusual Indian background (I have to admit that I never knew of a British-US Command HQ in India during WWII) where US Army sergeant Keenan Wynn just shoots dead a British soldier for apparently making a noise at night, promptly retiring to his quarters and enjoying a good night's sleep.

Eleven witnesses and a courtroom case later, the middling solution could only be for a competent lawyer like Mitchum - albeit a bit rusty after not practicing law for 15 years - to plead insanity on Wynn's behalf... and even the British expertt psychiatrist portrayed by Trevor Howard pretty much endorses that finding.

Whether the finale that every senior US officer apparently sought - death by hanging for Wynn - actually happened, goes open ended. Instead, we see a smarmy Mitchum bidding farewell to pretty nurse France Nuyen... and, as much as I admire Mitchum, the best bit happens when another US officer taps his belly and suggests that he is putting on weight. For the remainder, Mitchum looks more or less bored. I was reminded of his famous self-appraisal: "I have two acting styles: with and without a horse."

No wonder his performance should be middling, then: no horse and a mediocre script about a courtroom drama in which poor Wynn finally steps forward and acts the madman.

The point of this film? I couldn't see one. 6/10 stars for reasonable standards of acting from Sullivan, Howard, Wynn, and fair cinematography from Wilkie Cooper.

This movie shows what a fine and underrated actor Keenan Wynn was. His performance is sublime.

The story itself is very believable and convincing; adapted from the fine novel The Winston Affair by Howard Fast.

Robert Mitchem gives an excellent performance as does Leslie Howard.

This film addresses many issues of race and responsibility in a much better fashion than most newer films.

Unfortunately the film is not available on video. If you get a chance to see it take the chance! You will not regret it.