La chute des héros

I had seen Time Limit three times before, always greatly admiring and appreciating the taut court-martial drama. I find it unfortunate that Malden never took another director's turn after such an impressive debut. The acting and direction still hold up well with tour-de-force performances by Basehart and Widmark. These are complemented nicely by dead-on portrayals by Carl Benton Reid, Rip Torn, Martin Balsam, and Yale Wexler as far less humane military characters. Dolores Costello and June Lockhart also give strong performances.

But, the reason I write this today is to comment upon how timely Time Limit is to today's POW controversies. In this regard, I consider the 1962 film "the Hook" with Kirk Douglas almost as a companion piece. The questions are the same. How far should a soldier suppress his humanity in the name of the Army Code? How accountable should a soldier be held who defies the code in order to act in accordance with his conscience? How accountable should a soldier be held who obeys orders later judged to be inhumane? All these are central issues in wake of the recent Abu Gharib controversies.

Time Limit does an excellent job of examining these dilemmas and convincing those of us who weren't already convinced that there are no easy answers. War, by its nature, is an inhumane activity, ordered by humans and executed by humans who to accomplish their orders must deny within themselves subjugate the very humanity that gives each of us his or her purpose in life. Time Limit and The Hook both provide thoughtful and fairly objective examinations of the issues involved.

Time Limit has always been worth watching. Its renewed relevancy just makes it even more so.

To me, Richard Widmark's best film is Time Limit. It's about an army inquest into a soldier who admits that he helped the enemy when he was a POW during the Korean war. Widmark is the Colonel in charge of the investigation, and Richard "He Walked By Night" Basehart brings his A-game to the role of the soldier. Any other colonel might just connect the dots and recommend a court martial - Basehart's Maj. Harry Cargill admits he gave broadcasts for the North Koreans, signed a paper saying the Americans were doing germ warfare, and was attempting to indoctrinate the other POWs in formal "classes" that the North Koreans had to try to brainwash them. All of the POWs in the same camp he was in verify that Cargill did these things.

But Cargill refuses to tell Widmark's Colonel William Edwards WHY. And he doesn't seem to care he could be, heck, probably will be executed for treason without some defense. With Cargill's past stellar military record, including in WWII, Edwards will not finish this investigation until he gets a "why". But Cargill has talked to nobody about why he did what he did - not even his wife. And Colonel Edwards is being pressured by his superior, a General whose son died in the same POW camp that Cargill was in, and even by Martin Balsam as a particularly irritating sergeant, to recommend prosecution and wash his hands of the matter.

And then Edwards notices that the descriptions of the back-to-back deaths of two soldiers in the POW camp the day before Cargill seemed to turn traitor are identical - as in word for word each time by each soldier. Is there a Manchurian Candidate situation going on here, or something else entirely? The plot twist at the end is the farthest thing from a gimmick, and is infinitely better presented and far less Hollywoodish than the sanctimonious speech by Jose Ferrer at the end of The Caine Mutiny, although I like that film too, for different reasons.

Check it out if you get the chance. WWII films always seem to get the spotlight, but this one is a forgotten jewel about a forgotten war.

One of those movies that lets the viewer try and figure out what really is going on without making things obvious throughout - so many angles to take, so many characters to believe as to which one is telling the truth or not. Many great lines - pulled out a piece of paper and pen to write some down. I thought Martin Balsam was perfect as the the staff NCO who seemed a little over the top (not for his acting) - but for what NCO's are (and are not) allowed to get away with in real life :-)

A young June Lockhart (Later on TV's Lost in Space show) plays the wife of the main character. Rip Torn also gives a fine performance as one of the prisoners. Movie really opens up a lot of good discussions on what real truth and what it is not - when it's just information that suits ourselves.

Good movie - one of those ones I did not plan watching.

Richard Widmark exudes concern and empathy as an army colonel investigating the circumstances behind a charge of treason. The film also contains effective performances by Richard Basehart, as the accused traitor, a major who shares a secret he is unwilling to reveal, and a young Rip Torn as a lieutenant who is also willing to keep the secret even though he knows it will lead to a miscarriage of justice. The film is based on a play, and Karl Malden, in his only directing assignment, tries hard to open it up, but most of the scenes take place in Widmark's office, and there are way too many point of view shots of one person talking while another listens. Malden does make effective use of a few flashbacks to a frigid P.O.W. barracks in North Korea, and there are some interesting shots of the military base at Governors Island in New York City, but the film suffers somewhat from staginess. Piercing, discordant, almost alarmingly loud music by Fred Steiner punctuates scenes in the P.O.W. camps, where a complex mixture of motives lead to actions that have devastating consequences.

Across the frigid nightmare that is the Korean War, there are a thousand nameless graves over which a like amount of ghosts hover. Those haunting's are what drive American writers to pen as many stories onto the pages of that Forgotten War. One of those superb writers is Henry Denker who wrote this story called " Time Limit. " It takes place in one of the many American Army units captured and imprisoned in a P.O.W. camps by the North Koreans. This central story is about one, Major Harry Cargill (Richard Basehart) who having survived the war is now arrested and faces General Court martial and death by firing squad. To see Cargill is given every opportunity to defend himself, Gen. J. Connors (Carl Reid) assigns Col. William Edwards (Richard Widmark) who takes his job seriously. Two surprises hamper Edwards. One, Cargill wants to plead guilty and offers no defense at his trial. Most of the men who come forward to testify agree as to his guilt and find no reason to stop the execution. With the great actor, Karl Malden directing this film and casting such heavies such as Martin Balsam, Rip Torn, Yale Wexler and June Lockhart, this assembly make for a Classic. The movie is assured success with the fine performances and the stark Black and White reality of the Korean War. Excellent vehicle for both Basehart and Widmark. Easilly recommended. ****