How many of us think about the US POW's of the Korean War? How many of us even remember the war itself?
The 1950-1953 conflict seems seldom-mentioned, and yet it produced 36,574 US dead and missing. According to Wikipedia, North Korea routinely tortured and starved our POWS, and two-thirds of them didn't survive the ordeal.
Paul Newman is believable here as Capt. Edward W. Hall, Jr., a Silver Star with cluster recipient who is tried as a traitor. The movie thrusts the viewer into conflict -- we cringe at the horrors Hall endured, and understand what would happen without the rules.
There's no escaping that being a soldier is an unspeakably huge gamble.
Hall suffers from PTSD, and the movie shows its toll. We also sense the gap that exists between combat veteran and civilian life. Family and friends want a happy face.
Ann Francis breaks that mold as Hall's sister-in-law, Aggi, a war widow who urges him to plead his case. (One kept expecting that something romantic would happen, but writer Rod Serling, a WWII vet himself, never quite tosses that bone.)
This is a troubling film, a reminder that our soldiers risk their lives for a shallow citizenry seemingly only focused on ordering up the next bourbon.
The 1950-1953 conflict seems seldom-mentioned, and yet it produced 36,574 US dead and missing. According to Wikipedia, North Korea routinely tortured and starved our POWS, and two-thirds of them didn't survive the ordeal.
Paul Newman is believable here as Capt. Edward W. Hall, Jr., a Silver Star with cluster recipient who is tried as a traitor. The movie thrusts the viewer into conflict -- we cringe at the horrors Hall endured, and understand what would happen without the rules.
There's no escaping that being a soldier is an unspeakably huge gamble.
Hall suffers from PTSD, and the movie shows its toll. We also sense the gap that exists between combat veteran and civilian life. Family and friends want a happy face.
Ann Francis breaks that mold as Hall's sister-in-law, Aggi, a war widow who urges him to plead his case. (One kept expecting that something romantic would happen, but writer Rod Serling, a WWII vet himself, never quite tosses that bone.)
This is a troubling film, a reminder that our soldiers risk their lives for a shallow citizenry seemingly only focused on ordering up the next bourbon.