FILM REVIEWS

Rack, The (1956) B

MGM

In "The Rack," Paul Newman gives a strong emotional performance as Edward W. Hall, Jr., a young Army captain charged with collaboration during the Korean War and brought to a court-martial.
 
Prior to defection, Hall's war record had been exemplary, winning several citations, but now he is accused of delivering pro-Communist lectures to his fellow prisoners in a North Korean camp. Hall is also charged with signing treasonable statements written by his North Korean captors, and former peers accuse him of informing and other reprehensible practices. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wasnick (Edmond O’Brien), his defense counsel, tries to win acquittal by pointing out that Hall went through his breaking point, after which he was not completely responsibility for his actions.
 
Wasnick examines the months of mental torture to which Hall’s captors subjected him. He then proceeds to examine Hall’s early environmental influences and emotional conditionings. Major Sam Moulton (Wendell Corey), his prosecuting officer, is concerned only with whether Hall committed his misdeeds. Moulton stresses the “threshold of pain” principle, claiming that other American servicemen had exceeded this, so why couldn’t Captain Hall?
 
Aggie Hall (Anne Francis), Hall’s widowed sister-in-law, stands loyally by him, but his father, the obtuse and insensitive Colonel Edward Hall, Sr. (Walter Pidgeon), at first misunderstands his son and finds his trial humiliating. However, when it is then revealed that his childhood was damaged by his mother’s early death and his preoccupied father’s cold denial of affection, resulting in a crippling of spirit, the father apologizes, and in one of the film’s most moving scenes offers the affection craved by the captain. Newman and Pidgeon are particularly effective in this crucial scene, played side-by-side in the front seat of a car.
 
It is also disclosed the traumatic effect upon him, when his captors had conveyed the news about the death in action of his only brother. Nevertheless, the court finds Captain Hall guilty. In a closing statement, the captain expresses deep regret that he had not risen to “that moment of magnificence” that hardier American prisoners had experienced. The captain emerges as justly sentenced but worthy of compassion and understanding.
 
"The Rack" was made back to back with the sports biopic, "Somebody Up There Likes Me," which made Paul Newman a popular star.
 
Cast
 
Paul Newman
Wendell Corey
Walter Pidgeon
Edmond O’Brien
Anne Francis
Lee Marvin
Cloris Leachman
Robert Burton
Robert Simon
Trevor Bardette
Adam Williams
James Best
Fay Roope
Barry Atwater
 
Credits
 
Produced by Arthur M. Loew, Jr.
Directed by Arnold Laven.
Screenplay by Stewart Stern. based on the teleplay by Rod Serling.
Camera: Paul C. Vogel, A.S.C.
Art Directors, Cedric Gibbons and Merrill Pye.
Set Decorations, Edwin B. Willis, Fred MacLean.
ecording Supervisor, Dr. Wesley C. Milter.
Assistant Director, Robert Saunders.
Music by Adolph Deutsch.
Film Editors, Harold F. Kress, A.C.E. and Marshall Neilan Jr.
Makeup by William Tuttle.
Technical Advisor, Col. Charles M. Trammel, Jr.
Running time: 100 minutes.
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