Corporal Brady (Brian Keith) an American soldier captured during the Korean War, is taken to a POW camp. There he meets Sergeant Rand (Robert Francis) a prisoner who is cooperating with the ... Read allCorporal Brady (Brian Keith) an American soldier captured during the Korean War, is taken to a POW camp. There he meets Sergeant Rand (Robert Francis) a prisoner who is cooperating with the North Koreans. Brady is disgusted by these actions, but he soon discovers that Rand is rea... Read allCorporal Brady (Brian Keith) an American soldier captured during the Korean War, is taken to a POW camp. There he meets Sergeant Rand (Robert Francis) a prisoner who is cooperating with the North Koreans. Brady is disgusted by these actions, but he soon discovers that Rand is really an intelligence officer playing along to access important secrets. Rand also becomes c... Read all
- P.O.W. Jackie
- (as Dick Jones)
- Korean Guard
- (uncredited)
- Progressive
- (uncredited)
- Progressive
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
By 1954 tales of the horrors and depredations that Allied prisoners endured were well known and widely circulated in America. But this was the midst of the Cold War and films about the ruthless Red Menace were pretty popular that year. But this one really stands out. It's even got a little romance in it if you can believe.
Robert Francis plays a 'progressive' which means here a prisoner who's seen the light and is now a thoroughgoing Das Kapital believing Marxist converted through reading the 'truth' about Communism in the POW camp. He's in charge of a barracks full of reactionaries meaning the prisoners who resist indoctrination and one of his rewards is decent food and a cot to sleep on.
Brian Keith is one of the other prisoners who is an agent filtered in from the allied side to get information on POW treatment as the peace talks go endlessly on at Panmunjom. How he gets it out is for you to see the film for.
There are some Russians here as well, supervising in the near distance, Commissar Murray Matheson and his wife, former Ballerina Dianne Foster who admits she married him to advance in the Soviet society. Girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. She takes a look at the hunky Francis and she and Francis are kanoodling hot and heavy. Of course he's got his own agenda as does she, but talk about prisoner perks. William Holden didn't have it that good with the Russian women prisoners in Stalag 17.
These Communists just like the Nazis in Stalag 17 have an informer among the prisoners. But when you see who it is, the reaction of the movie-going public in 1954 was, is there nothing these dirty Reds won't stoop to?
Of course the depredations and horrors in Korean POW camps were quite real. North Korea sad to say has had time stand still and they've made the slogan for Korea as the Hermit Kingdom quite real. Like Prussia it's a state supporting an army. This film however is laughable in its Cold War mindset, a relic of bygone and begone years.
But in 1954, "The Bamboo Prison" was released, also co-written by Edwin Blum. The film, like "Stalag 17", takes place in a POW camp. Though it's a Korean War camp, the similarities between the two scripts are noticeable, e.g. the main character (Sgt. John Rand played by Robert Francis) is hated by his fellow prisoners because he carves out a profitable and semi-comfortable life for himself while in captivity.
But director Lewis Seiler is no Billy Wilder, Robert Francis is no William Holden, and "The Bamboo Prison" is certainly no "Stalag 17". Francis, who only appeared in four films before perishing in a crash of the plane he was piloting, tries to bring a weighty seriousness to his role, but struggles to carry the lead. His Sgt. Rand cooperates with the Communists and spouts anti-capitalist rhetoric that might have been polarizing in its day (right after the Korean conflict ended), but is often voiced by the political left in America today. Likewise the calculated black rights sentiments voiced by the Communists.
The comedy elements feel forced and much less successful than in "Stalag 17". The opening scenes of a 40-day Bataan Death March-like struggle by the new prisoners feel tacked on and ineffective. In he end, there is little to recommend this shallow POW story.
Did you know
- TriviaRobert Francis and Jack Kelly appeared in "They Rode West" (1954).
- Quotes
Tanya Clayton: [Sgt. Rand has unexpectedly kissed her on the mouth, leading her to believe he may be abusing his status as a "progressive" - an allied P.O.W. who's converted to Communism] You are taking too much for granted, Sergeant.
MSgt. John A. Rand: Am I?
Tanya Clayton: Yes. Because you see, I do not like "progressives."
MSgt. John A. Rand: No foolin'. How come?
Tanya Clayton: I do not like "progressives" because I hate and despise Communists. They're all of the same breed: men who have ceased to be men.
MSgt. John A. Rand: You can get 50 years in a work camp for that.
Tanya Clayton: I have been threatened with work camp before. Take your hat, Comrade, and yourself and your armband and get out!
- ConnectionsReferenced in Missing Reel: Women in Prison (2014)
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- I Was a Prisoner in Korea
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime
- 1h 19m(79 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1