The Rack ** (1956, Paul Newman, Walter Pidgeon, Edmond O’Brien, Lee Marvin, Cloris Leachman, Wendell Corey, Anne Francis) – Classic Movie Review 9522

Director Arnold Laven’s 1956 MGM black and white Korean War drama The Rack is rarely shown and virtually forgotten, despite its inherent interest as drama and a cast that includes Paul Newman, Walter Pidgeon, Edmond O’Brien, Lee Marvin, Cloris Leachman, Wendell Corey, Anne Francis, Robert Blake, Dean Jones and Rod Taylor.

Rod Serling’s classic teleplay about a Fifties US soldier, Captain Edward Hall Jr (Newman), in army legal trouble, charged for collaboration for helping the Korean enemy while being tortured and brainwashed during two years in a prison camp, makes a stodgy, stage bound big-screen drama.

The cast is tremendous, particularly Newman, Pidgeon as his father Colonel Edward W Hall, Sr and Corey as the prosecutor Major Sam Moulton, but there is a lack of excitement, and the material is thin as a feature movie on the big screen.

Stewart Stern writes the screenplay, based on Rod Serling’s teleplay.

Also in the cast are Robert Burton, Robert Simon, Trevor Bardette, James Best and Charles Evans.

The Rack is directed by Arnold Laven, runs 100 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Stewart Stern, is shot by Paul Vogel, is produced by Arthur M Loew Jr and is scored by Adolph Deutsch, with Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons in his last feature film.

There is also a a computer-colorized version.

Serling was a combat veteran in the Pacific in World War Two. It took him a record 19 months and seven rewrites to get to the final version of his teleplay. He liked the film adaptation but thought it should have shown some of the actual POW camp in flashbacks. He generously agreed the scene with the father and son alone was better written in the film.

Marshall Thompson plays the lead in the TV version and Keenan Wynn his lawyer.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9522

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