The Bamboo Prison ** (1954, Robert Francis, Brian Keith, E G Marshall, Jerome Courtland, Dianne Foster) – Classic Movie Review 11,736

Director Lewis Seiler’s 1954 Columbia Pictures black and white film The Bamboo Prison stars Robert Francis, Brian Keith, E G Marshall, Jerome Courtland, and Dianne Foster.

A good cast kicks some oomph into a below-par, over-familiar war drama in which a US prisoner-of-war sergeant (Francis) in North Korea poses as an informer to get communist secrets with the help of fellow undercover man Keith.

The drama does have its moments of impact, and director Seiler manages some tension and flavourful atmosphere.

Also in the cast are Earle Hyman, Jack Kelly, Richard Loo, Keye Luke, Murray Matheson, King Donovan, Dick Jones, Pepe Hern, Leo Gordon, and George Keynas.

Forgotten star Robert Francis died in an air crash at 25. On 31 July 1955, Francis was piloting a borrowed Beechcraft Bonanza, which stalled and crashed in a parking lot where it burst into flames, killing its three occupants. He appeared in only four Hollywood films, all with military themes: The Caine Mutiny (1954), They Rode West (1954), The Bamboo Prison (1954) and The Long Gray Line (1955).

 © Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,736

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Robert Francis in The Caine Mutiny (1954).