The Incident (TV 1990)

Small town lawyer, Harmon Cobb, defends a Nazi prisoner of war against murder charges. Set during World War II, Cobb has to contend with the difficulties of defending the devil when the ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Michael Norell, James Norell

Stars:

Walter Matthau, Susan Blakely, Robert Carradine

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Matthau	...	Harmon Cobb
Susan Blakely	...	Billie
Robert Carradine	...	Domsczek
Peter Firth	...	Geiger
Barnard Hughes	...	Doc Hansen
Harry Morgan	...	Judge Bell
William Schallert	...	Wallace
Ariana Richards	...	Nancy
Norbert Weisser	...	Riefenstahl
Douglas Rowe	...	Clarence
Joe Horváth	...	Major Lilly (as Joe Horvath)
Helen Stenborg	...	Edna Mae Hansen
Henry Crowell Jr.	...	Corporal Sweazy
David Underwood	...	Lieutenant Morton
Robert MacKenzie	...	Sergeant Osias (as Robert Mckenzie)

Storyline

Small town lawyer, Harmon Cobb, defends a Nazi prisoner of war against murder charges. Set during World War II, Cobb has to contend with the difficulties of defending the devil when the town's only doctor (Barnard Hughes) dies while at "Camp Bremen" in the fictitious town of Bremen, Colorado.

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Plot Keywords:

small town | german | lawyer | doctor | 1944 | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Incident at Lincoln Bluff

Filming Locations:

Carnegie Mellon University - 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Qintex Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Billie is seen cleaning swastikas off the porch columns. The amount cleaned/smudged changes between shots.

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Connections

Followed by Incident in a Small Town (1994)

User Reviews

Just a response to earlier review; yes there were German POWs in the US

One of the earlier reviews of this fine little TV movie suggested that it stretched credulity to believe that German POWs would be found so far from Europe. Yet by the end of the war, over 375,000 German POWs were in several hundred camps throughout the United States, mostly in the South and Southwest, far from critical war industries in the Midwest and along the Eastern seaboard. There were over 425,000 total Axis prisoners in the US by 1945.

The Incident is a really well-made movie. Director Joseph Sargent, still at it in his late 70s or early 80s, created memorable TV and theatrical films such as "The Marcus Nelson Murders" (to become Kojak), "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three", "Miss Evers' Boys", and "A Lesson Before Dying."