Death of a Soldier

1986
R
1h 33m

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James Coburn in Death of a Soldier (1986)

Based on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The... Read allBased on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite th... Read allBased on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite the defense lawyer's concerns that the killer is not fit to stand trial, the US military pre... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

290

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations total

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
This movie is based on the true story of the murders of three Melbourne women by a US Army private stationed near the city during World War II. The series of killings are known as The Brown-Out Murders while the killer, Pvt. Eddie Leonski, was known as "The Brownout Strangler" or "The Brownout Murderer". "Brown-out" was a term used during the war when people would dim the lights in their houses to reduce the chances of enemy airplanes using them as a "beacon" for aerial bombing. At the time of the murders, Melbourne was in the thick of brown-out, in which the streets were dark and shadowy.

Connections
Featured in The Spoony Experiment: Death of a Soldier (2011)

Soundtracks
Sentimental Dreams
music by Allan Zavod
lyrics by Marty Fields
sung by Kerrie Biddell
published by Filmtrax PLC

User reviews14

Featured review

An accurate and important piece of history

It's obvious from the remarks in the previous commentaries by others, that none of them were ever in the military. Coburn was portraying a Military Police major (Maj. Dannenberg) serving as the Assistant Provost Marshal - he was not playing an Army attorney. At that time (and still optional today) an officer from any branch in the military can serve as legal council to an accused soldier - you don't have to be a lawyer (JAG Corps). This particular story was true, and is the event in military history that is directly responsible for the creation and implementation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) applicable to all the Armed Forces. The film is accurate and does not portray any Hollywood political bias. It's a great film and a good piece of history. A little known fact: Gen. MacArthur came close to being court martialed for preventing Maj. Dannenberg from appealing Pvt. Leonski's death sentence and conviction, but political allies in Washington intervened.