Word of Honor

Karl Malden gives his "Word of Honor" that he won't reveal a source in this 1981 film, also starring Rue McClanahan, John Marley, Ron Silver, Jeffrey DeMunn, Alex Kenin, and John Malkovich. Both Malkovich and Silver were baby-faced kids when this TV movie was made.

Malden is a newspaperman, Mike McNeill, who gets a line on a pillar of the community, Roger Clements (Dan Crane) from a young woman (Alexa Kenin) who claims that the man is a pedophile and kidnapper. As a result, a search warrant is served on a house he has, and the dead body of a missing girl is found as well as photographs of his victims. He has promised his informant, who has a brand new life with a husband and baby, that he will not reveal her name. However, Clements cannot be convicted without her testimony, or the evidence becomes hearsay and is then thrown out. The Malden character refuses to name his source, is put in jail and ostracized by the entire town.

Nowadays we are much more used to newspapermen refusing to name their sources so the situation the McNeills find themselves in may seem overly dramatic now. However, it makes a point that can't be driven home too often -- people only have ethics until they have something to lose. It's the rare person who sticks to his ethics in adversity. The acting is good, especially from Malden, and it's great to see the young Malkovich in a small TV role!

Sadly, the actress who plays the informant, Alexa Kenin, was murdered a few years later by her boyfriend. Alas, that's often the subject of Lifetime TV movies today.