''The Rack'' is a 1956 American

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, based on a television play written by

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

. It was directed by

Arnold Laven Arnold Laven (February 3, 1922 – September 13, 2009) was an American film and television director and producer. He was one of the founders and principals of the American film and television production company Levy-Gardner-Laven. Laven was a ...

and stars

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

Wendell Corey Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild. Biography Early years Corey was ...

Anne Francis Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...

Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alth ...

and

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

. After two years in a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n prison camp, an American officer returns home, only to be charged with collaboration by his own side. He is forced to defend his actions in court.

Plot

Having survived two years in a Korean prisoner-of-war camp, Captain Edward W. Hall, Jr. (

), returns home to a US Army post in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. His father (

), a retired colonel, is glad to have his son back despite grieving over the death of his other son, Pete. Pete's widow, Aggie Hall (

), confides to her friend Caroline (

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomin ...

) it is difficult to be around her brother-in-law without painful reminders of her lost husband. A welcome-home party is held for Capt. Hall, surprising Colonel Dudley Smith (

Fay Roope Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from ...

), a friend of Ed, Sr. He finds out that Capt. Hall's father is unaware that his son is about to be tried in a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for collaboration with the enemy. Hall's father asks his son if the charges are true, and receives a stark, simple, reply: "yes, I did". Ed Sr. cruelly challenges his son: "Why didn't you just die?" Major Sam Moulton (

) prosecutes the case. He calls eyewitnesses who testify that at the POW camp in the winter of 1951, Hall made speeches and signed documents on the enemy's behalf. A fellow prisoner and much-decorated officer, Capt. John Miller (

), reveals scars received from enemy inflicted torture, but claims he never conceded to his captors anything but his name, rank and serial number. In unguarded comments on the stand Miller calls Hall a coward. Capt. Hall has his sister-in-law's support, but his father initially refuses even to attend the trial. Hall is disconsolate and wishes to plead guilty. But his lawyer, Lt. Col. Frank Wasnick (

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

), persuades him to take the witness stand and explain his actions. In stark detail, Capt. Hall discloses the torture he underwent. This includes how he was ordered to bury other soldiers, dead or alive; how he carried a wounded man for four days so he wouldn't collapse and be placed in a grave; solitary confinement for months at a time, denied light and company and forced to live in his own excrement. Facing repeated demands to read propaganda statements, Hall relented but wrote one himself, using language that attempted to mock the enemy's purpose. Hall experienced a breaking point when the enemy delivered a letter from his father, revealing his brother Pete's death. Hall's father, who finally attends the trial, is devastated by his son's testimony about his breaking point. He forgives his son, but the official judgment is less kind. Hall is found guilty of treason and the film closes with Hall's contrition on the witness stand.

Cast

as Capt. Edward W. Hall Jr. *

as Maj. Sam Moulton *

as Col. Edward W. Hall Sr. *

as Lt. Col. Frank Wasnick *

as Aggie Hall *

as Capt. John R. Miller *

as Caroline *

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome ''The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Burt ...

as Col. Ira Hansen *

Robert F. Simon Robert Frank Simon (December 2, 1908 – November 29, 1992) was an American character actor. Earlier years Simon began acting with Mansfield's Community Players organization when he worked as a clerk in a meat market. Following that experience ...

as Law Officer *

Trevor Bardette Trevor Bardette (born Terva Gaston Hubbard; November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977) was an American film and television actor. Among many other roles in his long and prolific career, Bardette appeared in several episodes of '' Adventures of S ...

as Court President * Adam Williams as Sgt. Otto Pahnke *

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

as Millard Chilson Cassidy *

as Col. Dudley Smith *

Barry Atwater Garrett "Barry" Atwater (May 16, 1918 – May 24, 1978) was an American character actor who appeared frequently on television from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was sometimes credited as G.B. Atwater. Life and career The son of the landscape p ...

as Maj. Byron Phillips

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $365,000 in the U.S. and $400,000 in other markets, totaling an overall loss of $422,000.

Television

The film is based on an episode of ''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the U.S. Steel, United States Steel Corpor ...

'' written by Serling and broadcast on April 12, 1955.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rack, The 1956 films 1956 war films Films based on television plays Films directed by Arnold Laven Films scored by Adolph Deutsch Films with screenplays by Stewart Stern Korean War prisoner of war films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Military courtroom films 1950s English-language films American war drama films 1950s American films American black-and-white films