Supplizio

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.

Addendum to part 1.

Theres a scene where Paul Newman confronts his son. It brought to mind, an experience that brings home the costs of war. 1966, I had complete my combat medic training, and was waiting for my next class, pharmacology and compounding meds.

I was loaned out to the burn center, at Brook. Army medical center, Ft Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas.

Daily planes would arrive bringing young men, pilots whose planes had crashed, soldiers, marines who were engulfed in napalm, a jellied gasoline. And by far the worst, white phosphorous grenades, with faulty fuses that at times exploded as it left the throwers hand.

What was left looked more like 150 pounds of clay, then a human. All facial features, arms, hands vaporized.

I know how dreadful this sounds....but its the reality combat soldiers face, that I believe makes them more vulnerable to coercion.

I'm 74, and if I live to 174 I'll never forget the young wives, 19-24, thrilled to finally see their husbands, only to stare wide eyed, mouthing the right words, and only when they left the room....would they drop to the ground sobbing. The reality that a part of their psyche was just as horribly disfigured.

Yes, see this movie. Know, none of the gore is in the movie, but offered to help explain the movie. One other movie you must see is, "Johnny got his gun" directed by Dalton Trumbo.

Wars aren't just pork. Not a way to pay back, the folks in your district for getting you elected. They are dirty rotten nightmares, in which our sons and daughters will be ground into hamburger. Rember how gay the mood was as the south, sent their boys off for a 2 week war. Remember the depth of their disillusion?

Fight if we must. Only if we must.

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.

Caught this rarity on TCM. Much heavy duty talent is involved in this production - Rod Serling as writer, and the acting talents of Paul Newman (his second screen appearance), Edmund O'Brien, Walter Pigeon, and Anne Francis, with bits by Lee Marvin and Chloris Leachman, even! The effort must be marked as a success, with an even-handed treatment of the issue of "breaking point" in a war when the Koreans openly sought to crush their POW's thru "brainwashing", a term that came into currency at that particular time. The cut and dried atmosphere of the courtroom proceedings are balanced by portrayals of the personal effects of the tragedy on the principals, especially the searing scenes between Newman/Hall and his father. A thoughtful film dealing with a major issue of the day, that is well worth seeing.

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.