This was a very good film---and I think better than the current mediocre rating on IMDb. Perhaps a lot of the reason I liked this one is that I used to be a psychotherapist--and I loved the psychological angle of this film. Considering that it's a Robert Mitchum film, I am pretty surprised that it isn't more well-known.
The film begins in WWII with an officer (Keenan Wynn) marching into another soldier's tent and killing him--right in front of many witnesses! This killing seemed pretty mindless and you have no idea what motivated such actions. The scene then switches--Wynn is awaiting trial and Robert Mitchum has been asked to defend the guy in a court martial. However, it's fascinating that Wynn's superiors basically tell him that Wynn is guilty and WILL be executed--and the defense of him in court is merely a formality! And, to make things worse, the murder victim was a Brit--and the Americans don't want to upset their ally. At first, Mitchum is willing enough just to go through the motions--especially when he finds Wynn to be an obnoxious jerk when he tries to meet with him. But, later, he slowly starts to realize that Wynn might be insane--and executed a man with this diminished capacity might be wrong. But, he also knows it might be career suicide to buck the system.
The plot is very interesting and I enjoyed the film--and much of it was because it was so different. One minor problem, though, was the character played by Frances Nuyen. Her character seemed underdeveloped and her actions at the end of the film made little sense. I felt sorry for her, as she just wasn't given a role with any depth--which is bad when her role is so prevalent in the movie. Still, aside from this it's a dandy film.
The film begins in WWII with an officer (Keenan Wynn) marching into another soldier's tent and killing him--right in front of many witnesses! This killing seemed pretty mindless and you have no idea what motivated such actions. The scene then switches--Wynn is awaiting trial and Robert Mitchum has been asked to defend the guy in a court martial. However, it's fascinating that Wynn's superiors basically tell him that Wynn is guilty and WILL be executed--and the defense of him in court is merely a formality! And, to make things worse, the murder victim was a Brit--and the Americans don't want to upset their ally. At first, Mitchum is willing enough just to go through the motions--especially when he finds Wynn to be an obnoxious jerk when he tries to meet with him. But, later, he slowly starts to realize that Wynn might be insane--and executed a man with this diminished capacity might be wrong. But, he also knows it might be career suicide to buck the system.
The plot is very interesting and I enjoyed the film--and much of it was because it was so different. One minor problem, though, was the character played by Frances Nuyen. Her character seemed underdeveloped and her actions at the end of the film made little sense. I felt sorry for her, as she just wasn't given a role with any depth--which is bad when her role is so prevalent in the movie. Still, aside from this it's a dandy film.