Out In The Film Night- Robert Mitchum’s Man In The Middle

DVD Review

Man In The Middle, starring Robert Mitchum, Keenan Wynn, based the novel by Howard Fast, 1963

The late novelist and unrepentant communist ( according to his memoirs, communist, American Communist Party variety, who stood up when it counted back in the 1950s against the House Un-American Activities Committee inquisitors) Howard Fast was a prolific writer of edgy little social and class-based dramas (and with The Immigrant series ethnic-based as well). Here we have one from the World War II period where he looked at the military, military justice, and the precarious fate of the individual under the press of more pressing war aims and societal survival concerns.

And into this pile-up enter one Robert Mitchum ( I am currently on a Mitchum retrospective binge which is the why of this review) as the world- weary but still seeking some kind of rough justice in this wicked old world Colonel Adams who has to balance his lifer career goals and that sense of rough justice. He is assigned a murder case in which he has to balance many things, that career, the overall goals of two militaries in the Pacific Theater (American and British, see an American officer, played by Keenan Wynn, has killed a British NCO for what turned to be some very disturbs and retro, well, maybe not so retro, but should be, social attitudes about race and class) and make sure the murderer is given some modicum of justice.

A tough task since, one, the brasses of both countries are interested mainly in seeing the officer hang for his dastardly deed to buck up morale for impending fight against the enemy ahead, two, military justice under any circumstances is a very iffy thing (just ask U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning these days) as the brass is mainly interested in the appearance of justice, not the substance, and three, the officer, is in fact guilty, but bonkers. So hard-bitten, barrel-chested (although there is minimum rough stuff for Robert to handle here), shining white knight, through all kinds of trials and tribulations and enough roadblocks to discourage any attorney works through each problem to attain that modicum of rough justice mentioned earlier.