Time Limit

Across the frigid nightmare that is the Korean War, there are a thousand nameless graves over which a like amount of ghosts hover. Those haunting's are what drive American writers to pen as many stories onto the pages of that Forgotten War. One of those superb writers is Henry Denker who wrote this story called " Time Limit. " It takes place in one of the many American Army units captured and imprisoned in a P.O.W. camps by the North Koreans. This central story is about one, Major Harry Cargill (Richard Basehart) who having survived the war is now arrested and faces General Court martial and death by firing squad. To see Cargill is given every opportunity to defend himself, Gen. J. Connors (Carl Reid) assigns Col. William Edwards (Richard Widmark) who takes his job seriously. Two surprises hamper Edwards. One, Cargill wants to plead guilty and offers no defense at his trial. Most of the men who come forward to testify agree as to his guilt and find no reason to stop the execution. With the great actor, Karl Malden directing this film and casting such heavies such as Martin Balsam, Rip Torn, Yale Wexler and June Lockhart, this assembly make for a Classic. The movie is assured success with the fine performances and the stark Black and White reality of the Korean War. Excellent vehicle for both Basehart and Widmark. Easilly recommended. ****

I had seen Time Limit three times before, always greatly admiring and appreciating the taut court-martial drama. I find it unfortunate that Malden never took another director's turn after such an impressive debut. The acting and direction still hold up well with tour-de-force performances by Basehart and Widmark. These are complemented nicely by dead-on portrayals by Carl Benton Reid, Rip Torn, Martin Balsam, and Yale Wexler as far less humane military characters. Dolores Costello and June Lockhart also give strong performances.

But, the reason I write this today is to comment upon how timely Time Limit is to today's POW controversies. In this regard, I consider the 1962 film "the Hook" with Kirk Douglas almost as a companion piece. The questions are the same. How far should a soldier suppress his humanity in the name of the Army Code? How accountable should a soldier be held who defies the code in order to act in accordance with his conscience? How accountable should a soldier be held who obeys orders later judged to be inhumane? All these are central issues in wake of the recent Abu Gharib controversies.

Time Limit does an excellent job of examining these dilemmas and convincing those of us who weren't already convinced that there are no easy answers. War, by its nature, is an inhumane activity, ordered by humans and executed by humans who to accomplish their orders must deny within themselves subjugate the very humanity that gives each of us his or her purpose in life. Time Limit and The Hook both provide thoughtful and fairly objective examinations of the issues involved.

Time Limit has always been worth watching. Its renewed relevancy just makes it even more so.

I have to take exception to other reviewers calling Time Limit, a courtroom drama. There are no scenes in any courtroom, military or civilian. Still it's a very engrossing story.

Richard Widmark is acting as an investigative officer for the Judge Advocate General's Office trying to ascertain if there are enough facts to bring Richard Basehart to trial for treason. Basehart was a prisoner of war in Korea who is accused of collaborating with the enemy.

Through a lot of patient probing of Basehart and others, Widmark arrives at a very ugly story that while it doesn't totally exonerate Basehart it does give him the basis for a defense. So much so that Widmark requests he be assigned as Basehart's attorney when he does come up for court martial.

Time Limit ran for 127 performances on Broadway in 1956 and starred Arthur Kennedy and Richard Kiley in the roles Widmark and Basehart play. Widmark's good friend Karl Malden did this one time only job of directing and gets good performances from his cast.

Time Limit asks a lot of disturbing questions about the behavior of prisoners of war and whether we expect too much from them. Ironically when the USS Pueblo was taken by the North Koreans in the late sixties, these same questions were asked for real.

Richard Widmark exudes concern and empathy as an army colonel investigating the circumstances behind a charge of treason. The film also contains effective performances by Richard Basehart, as the accused traitor, a major who shares a secret he is unwilling to reveal, and a young Rip Torn as a lieutenant who is also willing to keep the secret even though he knows it will lead to a miscarriage of justice. The film is based on a play, and Karl Malden, in his only directing assignment, tries hard to open it up, but most of the scenes take place in Widmark's office, and there are way too many point of view shots of one person talking while another listens. Malden does make effective use of a few flashbacks to a frigid P.O.W. barracks in North Korea, and there are some interesting shots of the military base at Governors Island in New York City, but the film suffers somewhat from staginess. Piercing, discordant, almost alarmingly loud music by Fred Steiner punctuates scenes in the P.O.W. camps, where a complex mixture of motives lead to actions that have devastating consequences.

One of those movies that lets the viewer try and figure out what really is going on without making things obvious throughout - so many angles to take, so many characters to believe as to which one is telling the truth or not. Many great lines - pulled out a piece of paper and pen to write some down. I thought Martin Balsam was perfect as the the staff NCO who seemed a little over the top (not for his acting) - but for what NCO's are (and are not) allowed to get away with in real life :-)

A young June Lockhart (Later on TV's Lost in Space show) plays the wife of the main character. Rip Torn also gives a fine performance as one of the prisoners. Movie really opens up a lot of good discussions on what real truth and what it is not - when it's just information that suits ourselves.

Good movie - one of those ones I did not plan watching.