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Bradford Dillman and Peter Graves starred as dynamic JAG lawyers during World War 11. Dillman played Captain David Young and Graves was his superior, Major Frank Whittaker.The pilot was the two part opener of "Kraft Suspense Theater" in 1963. Lee Marvin played Sergeant Paul Ryker, an accused traitor during the Korean War. Dillman defended him and Graves prosecuted. Dillman gets into big trouble for falling in love with Ryker's stunning wife (Vera Miles). The pilot was an entertaining court-room melodrama and mystery, produced by the great Roy Huggins ("Maverick", "77 Sunset Strip", "Run For Your Life", "The Rockford Files")."Court Martial" could have made a great series. The premise was very viable and the two stars made dazzlingly attractive heroes. Production was moved to England. It was a co-production of Huggins' Roncom productions and England's ITC ("The Saint"). The series was very professionally done, but the stories just didn't have the zing of the pilot, and the overall approach was a little too subdued for Americans. However the show did win the British Society of Film and Television (BAFTA) award for Best Dramatic Series.Guest stars on "Court Martial" included Diane Cilento, Martine Beswick, Darren McGavin, Donald Sutherland, Dennis Hopper, Joan Hackett, Sal Mineo, Anthony Quayle and Oliver Reed. Darren McGavin would later star in the Roy Huggins private eye series "The Outsider" (1968).Executive producer was English actor/director Robert Douglas. Directors included Harvey Hart, Sam Wanamaker, Peter Medak and Robert Douglas.Harvey Hart directed Bradford Dillman again nine years later in a Movie of the Week called "Murder or Mercy" (1974). It was a pilot for a Quinn Martin series where Denver Pyle and Dillman would have played father and son lawyers named Champion.Bradford Dillman was a Yale graduate and a former Marine Corps officer. He got off to a great start on Broadway as Jason Robard's younger brother in a legendary production of O'Neil's "Long Day's Journey into Night". He was also terrific in the movie "Compulsion", with Orson Wells and Dean Stockwell. Dillman was often brilliant as the guest star on other people's series. He received an Emmy nomination for "The World of Charlie Pont" with Diana Hyland and Robert Redford. But he never found that series role that would have brought fame and fortune. I think his best chance might have been "The Man From Uncle", where he could have made an interesting Cary Grant surrogate. Dillman married super-model Suzy Parker, who reportedly was the basis for the Audrey Hepburn character in "Funny Face".Peter Graves, of course, found immortality two years later as Jim Phelps on "Mission: Impossible".
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