Solid courtroom drama about a WWII soldier of limited mental capacity being tried for the slaying of his sergeant. A slick lawyer defends him, but in order to save him since the soldier refuses to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court, has to pull out all the stops and play every trick in the book. The courtroom segment is told in flashback, as the episode begins 20 years later with the ex-soldier confronting the lawyer. James Whitmore is the slick lawyer, and he truly carries the episode. He is ably supported by Philip Abbott as the prosecuting attorney and Richard Crenna as the slow-witted soldier. Some grim battle scenes precede the trial, so beware. This is not one for the kiddies.
Kraft Suspense Theatre (TV Series)
The Long, Lost Life of Edward Smalley (1963)
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The Brutal Truth, A Lost Life
telegonus12 December 2009
The Long, Lost Life Of Edward Smalley is a far above average episode from the Kraft theater, thanks to good character development, excellent performances, first rate direction by Robert Altman, his big screen breakthrough still several years away. The story begins when a man named Edward Smalley enters a law office, demands to see a lawyer, Marvin Bean, is asked to leave, confronts the lawyer, whom he claims to know, and who doesn't remember him, pulls a gun on Bean, proceed to tell his story.
Flashback twenty years, to World War II, Smalley is serving in the army in France, seems confused as he and his infantry division surround a farmhouse where some German soldiers are holed up. Smalley doesn't seem to know what to do, doesn't take orders well, shoots a German who has surrendered, has his hands up, for no good reason. The sergeant, furious over Smalley's erratic behavior, berates and threatens him. Later that night, when awakened by his sergeant, Smalley, half-asleep, unaware of what's going on, stabs the man to death. He is jailed, brought to court martial, which is where the drama really begins. The army lawyer assigned to defend Smalley is Marvin Bean. Smalley claims to have killed his sergeant accidentally, having mistaken him for a German. There's considerable pressure on the prosecution to have Smalley found guilty and executed, as there have been a number of similar incidents in recent months and the army wants to use Smalley's conviction to set an example.
Defense counsel Bean, no idealist but a dogged attorney, believes his client and recognizes that he's suffering from a major mental illness, is telling the truth as he knows it, did not intend to kill his sergeant. The tactics he uses to defend Smalley are ruthless and yet in the end effective. Smalley wants to testify on the witness stand, tell the story his way. Bean brutally tells him the truth: that his demeanor, his manner of speaking, the look in his eyes, mark him out as an unstable individual, that no one will believe him. This is the most dramatic and moving scene in the episode, and essentially its climax, as it sums up what it's all about.
The Smalley story is not warm and fuzzy television. Allowing that some dramatic license is taken, it's a harshly realistic episode. No punches are pulled; and it doesn't have a Hollywood ending. The actors are beyond praise. I've never seen James Whitmore give a better performance. He generally played tough guys, some decent, others unscrupulous. Here he plays a man who has innate decency and is yet will to sacrifice scruples to get a job done. Unfortunately for Whitmore, the show belongs to Richard Crenna, known mostly for his work in comedy, here trying to establish himself as a serious dramatic actor, and doing a good job of it; he seems to be "favored" in every scene he's in. Crenna was a good actor, but not so good as Whitmore, and I found this "favoring" off-putting at times. In a key supporting role, Philip Abbott was outstanding. Overall, this episode is a downer, more of a drama than a suspense piece, and as such a solid piece of work.
Flashback twenty years, to World War II, Smalley is serving in the army in France, seems confused as he and his infantry division surround a farmhouse where some German soldiers are holed up. Smalley doesn't seem to know what to do, doesn't take orders well, shoots a German who has surrendered, has his hands up, for no good reason. The sergeant, furious over Smalley's erratic behavior, berates and threatens him. Later that night, when awakened by his sergeant, Smalley, half-asleep, unaware of what's going on, stabs the man to death. He is jailed, brought to court martial, which is where the drama really begins. The army lawyer assigned to defend Smalley is Marvin Bean. Smalley claims to have killed his sergeant accidentally, having mistaken him for a German. There's considerable pressure on the prosecution to have Smalley found guilty and executed, as there have been a number of similar incidents in recent months and the army wants to use Smalley's conviction to set an example.
Defense counsel Bean, no idealist but a dogged attorney, believes his client and recognizes that he's suffering from a major mental illness, is telling the truth as he knows it, did not intend to kill his sergeant. The tactics he uses to defend Smalley are ruthless and yet in the end effective. Smalley wants to testify on the witness stand, tell the story his way. Bean brutally tells him the truth: that his demeanor, his manner of speaking, the look in his eyes, mark him out as an unstable individual, that no one will believe him. This is the most dramatic and moving scene in the episode, and essentially its climax, as it sums up what it's all about.
The Smalley story is not warm and fuzzy television. Allowing that some dramatic license is taken, it's a harshly realistic episode. No punches are pulled; and it doesn't have a Hollywood ending. The actors are beyond praise. I've never seen James Whitmore give a better performance. He generally played tough guys, some decent, others unscrupulous. Here he plays a man who has innate decency and is yet will to sacrifice scruples to get a job done. Unfortunately for Whitmore, the show belongs to Richard Crenna, known mostly for his work in comedy, here trying to establish himself as a serious dramatic actor, and doing a good job of it; he seems to be "favored" in every scene he's in. Crenna was a good actor, but not so good as Whitmore, and I found this "favoring" off-putting at times. In a key supporting role, Philip Abbott was outstanding. Overall, this episode is a downer, more of a drama than a suspense piece, and as such a solid piece of work.
A misfire...
planktonrules5 October 2015
Richard Crenna plays the title character, Edward Smalley. The show begins with him barging into the office of a lawyer, J. Marvin Bean and holding him at gunpoint we are shown a flashback from two decades earlier.
Smalley is a soldier in Europe during WWII and he appears to be suffering from something akin to PTSD. No one seems to notice this, even though Crenna REALLY lays it on thick as he plays the crazy as a jaybird Smalley. After a lot of overacting and bad acting, the jumpy Smalley is awoken by his sadistic sergeant and he reacts by stabbing the man to death. The rest of the show consists of his hot-shot lawyer (Bean) trying to save him from the firing squad.
The episode lost me for several reasons. First, it was super- obvious that Smalley was mentally ill yet no one talked about it at all during the trial. Huh?! Second, Crenna really overdid this aspect of the show. Subtle it was NOT. Third, the show really didn't seem to know what it was saying and the end just left me baffled. Not especially satisfying.
Smalley is a soldier in Europe during WWII and he appears to be suffering from something akin to PTSD. No one seems to notice this, even though Crenna REALLY lays it on thick as he plays the crazy as a jaybird Smalley. After a lot of overacting and bad acting, the jumpy Smalley is awoken by his sadistic sergeant and he reacts by stabbing the man to death. The rest of the show consists of his hot-shot lawyer (Bean) trying to save him from the firing squad.
The episode lost me for several reasons. First, it was super- obvious that Smalley was mentally ill yet no one talked about it at all during the trial. Huh?! Second, Crenna really overdid this aspect of the show. Subtle it was NOT. Third, the show really didn't seem to know what it was saying and the end just left me baffled. Not especially satisfying.
An off-day for Altman (and Crenna)
lor_21 October 2023
Starting with the David Moesinger script (he worked with Altman soon after on a fine TV Movie "Nightmare in Chicago"), this Kraft Suspense Theatre episode directed by Robert Altman is heavy-handed all the way, dooming it to failure. It's all gimmicks, taking some serious subjects (like integrity and corruption by the establishment) and running them into the ground.
An obviously miscast Richard Crenna also sabotages the production, wasting stalwart acting by lead James Whitmore as the most cynical of lawyers having to face up to his failings in the busy final reel. Whitmore behaves as if ethics don't exist, pulling various tricks to get Crenna off from a murder charge (with firing squad looming) during World War II for killing his sergeant.
Most of the show is awkwardly depicted in flashback, which plays like a rejected "Combat!" script, not all that surprisingly since Altman had been fired from that series several months before making this "Kraft" episode. Crenna plays a mixed-up soldier, and his pained facial expressions would be laughed out of any Stella Adler or Lee Strasberg acting class. In a succession of badly written scenes we see him first fail to kill a fleeing German soldier ("freezing up" like so many quasi-cowards depicted in "Combat!" shows), then shoot a German officer who's carrying a white flag to surrender, and then stab his bullying sergeant to death with a bayonet supposedly "by accident".
Whitmore accepts to defend him at court-martial, and several plot twists later, gets the charges against Crenna to be dropped. Yet nearly 20 years later in the present-day story, Crenna storms into Whitmore's law office and threatens to shoot him.
It adds up to a phony type of drama and suspense aimed at the most gullible of viewers, as none of this is believable. Whitmore tries very hard, but the gap between this courtroom drama (and its aftermath) and say, Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men" couldn't be wider. Altman's clunker manipulates, while Sorkin plus director Rob Reiner's movie scintillates.
An obviously miscast Richard Crenna also sabotages the production, wasting stalwart acting by lead James Whitmore as the most cynical of lawyers having to face up to his failings in the busy final reel. Whitmore behaves as if ethics don't exist, pulling various tricks to get Crenna off from a murder charge (with firing squad looming) during World War II for killing his sergeant.
Most of the show is awkwardly depicted in flashback, which plays like a rejected "Combat!" script, not all that surprisingly since Altman had been fired from that series several months before making this "Kraft" episode. Crenna plays a mixed-up soldier, and his pained facial expressions would be laughed out of any Stella Adler or Lee Strasberg acting class. In a succession of badly written scenes we see him first fail to kill a fleeing German soldier ("freezing up" like so many quasi-cowards depicted in "Combat!" shows), then shoot a German officer who's carrying a white flag to surrender, and then stab his bullying sergeant to death with a bayonet supposedly "by accident".
Whitmore accepts to defend him at court-martial, and several plot twists later, gets the charges against Crenna to be dropped. Yet nearly 20 years later in the present-day story, Crenna storms into Whitmore's law office and threatens to shoot him.
It adds up to a phony type of drama and suspense aimed at the most gullible of viewers, as none of this is believable. Whitmore tries very hard, but the gap between this courtroom drama (and its aftermath) and say, Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men" couldn't be wider. Altman's clunker manipulates, while Sorkin plus director Rob Reiner's movie scintillates.
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