''The Silence'' is a 1975 made-for-TV movie about James Pelosi, a

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

cadet who was charged in 1971 with cheating on an exam.''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'', November 1–7, 1975, pg A-55 He remained at West Point but was subjected to "The Silence", a policy that ostracized cadets who broke the

Cadet Honor Code In the United States, a Cadet Honor Code is a system of ethics or code of conduct applying to cadets studying at military academies. These codes exist at the federal service academies, such as the United States Military Academy and the United St ...

Alleged cheating incident

During his junior year at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Cadet Pelosi was accused of cheating on an exam. He was found guilty by the cadet honor committee. Although the officers’ review board's committee exonerated him, his fellow cadets imposed "The Silence" anyway. At the time, West Point's "Honor Instruction" stated that a cadet who broke the Honor Code and did not leave the academy "will not be allowed to have roommates. He will eat at a separate table. He will be addressed only on official business and then as Mister." Pelosi endured "The Silence" for 19 months until he graduated from West Point in 1973.

Television dramatization

A television dramatization was first shown on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on November 6, 1975. The dramatization does not judge Pelosi's guilt or innocence. Rather, it depicts his version of the incident and the systematic ostracism that followed his decision not to resign from the academy. Scriptwriter

Stanley R. Greenberg Stanley R. Greenberg (1927—2002) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He was an important pioneer in the format of docudrama. He was born in Chicago, served in World War II and graduated from Brown University. He got his start in tele ...

based the drama on interviews he had with Pelosi.

Aftermath

"The Silence" was abolished by the Corps of Cadets in 1973. Many attribute that decision to Pelosi's experience. Pelosi went on to serve in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

as a first lieutenant in Army's Berlin Brigade's Special Troops Unit, he received a medal for a May 17, 1975, incident for heroism in rescuing wounded civilians in a nonmilitary traffic accident.www.nytimes.com
/ref> General

Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (December 18, 1912 – July 4, 2002) was a United States Air Force (USAF) general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen. He was the first African-American brigadier general in the USAF. On December 9, 1998, h ...

, a 1936 West Point graduate, also endured "The Silence" from his arrival to the academy to his graduation because he was one of the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

cadets.

Cast

* Richard Thomas as Cadet James Pelosi *

George Hearn George Hearn (born June 18, 1934) is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre. Early years Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before ...

as Captain Nichols * Percy Granger as Captain Harris * John Kellogg as Court President *

Cliff Gorman Cliff Gorman (born Joel Joshua Goldberg; October 13, 1936 – September 5, 2002) was an American stage and screen actor. He won an Obie award in 1968 for the stage presentation of '' The Boys in the Band'', and went on to reprise his role in the ...

as Stanley R. Greenberg * James Mitchell as Colonel Mack *

Charles Frank Charles Reser Frank (born April 17, 1947) is an American actor noted for playing Bret Maverick's cousin Ben Maverick in the 1978 TV-movie ''The New Maverick'' with James Garner and Jack Kelly, and in the short-lived 1979 television series '' ...

as Cadet Captain * Andrew Duncan as Mr. Pelosi * Malcolm Groome as Andy *

Peter Weller Peter Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American film and stage actor, television director, and art historian. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including ''RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel ''RoboCop 2'' (1990), in whic ...

as "Red Sash" * Michael Cooke as Tom Thorne *

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

as Mr. Keene * Cynthia Grover as Elaine *

Polly Holliday Polly Dean Holliday (born July 2, 1937) is a retired American actress who has appeared on stage, television and in film. She is best known for her portrayal of sassy waitress Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry on the 1970s sitcom '' Alice'', which ...

as Mrs. Watson * Elaine Hyman as Mrs. Pelasi * Lionel Pina as Pete *

Richard Shoberg Richard Shoberg (also credited as Dick Shoberg, born March 1, 1950 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is an American actor and writer. He first appeared in soap operas as Mitch Farmer on ''Somerset'' from 1971 to 1972. After leaving ''Somerset'' he retur ...

as Chuck *

Craig Wasson Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in ''Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's ''Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nightmar ...

as Hal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silence, The 1975 television films 1975 films Drama films based on actual events Films set in the United States Military Academy NBC network original films Films directed by Joseph Hardy (director)