fiction.wikisort.org - Movie

Man in the Middle is a 1964 British-American CinemaScope war film and starring Robert Mitchum and directed by Guy Hamilton. The movie, set in World War II India, tells the story of the murder trial of an American Army officer who killed a British soldier. Mitchum plays Lieut. Col. Barney Adams, who has been assigned as the accused man's defence counsel. The film is also known as The Winston Affair, the title of the novel the film was based on, which was written by Howard Fast.

Man in the Middle
British quad poster
Directed by	Guy Hamilton
Screenplay by	Willis Hall Keith Waterhouse
Based on	The Winston Affair (1959 novel) by Howard Fast
Produced by	Walter Seltzer
Starring	Robert Mitchum France Nuyen Barry Sullivan
Cinematography	Wilkie Cooper
Edited by	John Bloom
Music by	John Barry Lionel Bart
Production company	Talbot Productions
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	5 February 1964 (1964-02-05)
Running time	94 min.
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,000,000 (US/ Canada)[1]

Plot

Friction develops between American and British troops stationed in India during World War II and fights break out between the troops when, in 1944, American 2nd Lieutenant Winston (Keenan Wynn) shoots unarmed British Staff Sergeant Quinn (Bill Mitchell) several times, seemingly without provocation, in front of 11 witnesses. American General Kempton (Barry Sullivan) assigns Lieutenant Colonel Barney Adams (Robert Mitchum) to defend Winston at his court-martial because, even though everyone thinks it is an open-and-shut case, the general wants Adams to put up a vigorous defence. He is to make it clear that the verdict is not simply a sop to reduce tensions between the two armies before an offensive against the real enemy. Adams later finds out that Winston's brother-in-law, a Congressman, has been applying pressure.

The Army Lunacy Commission has found Winston fit and sane; Adams is informed by nurse Kate Davray (France Nuyen) that Colonel Burton (Alexander Knox), who headed the Commission, refused to accept the report (which he destroyed) of the hospital's psychiatric head, Major Kaufman (Sam Wanamaker), who believes Winston is a psychopath. Burton is anxious to have Winston convicted and hanged to patch the strained relations between the two forces. Adams instructs Kaufman to bring his report to the trial but when Burton is informed of this order he transfers Kaufman to a distant hospital. Adams visits British Major Kensington (Trevor Howard), a qualified psychiatrist who also considers Winston to be psychopathic but has been warned not to interfere. Kensington believes Winston killed Quinn out of a feeling of victimisation because Quinn, a sergeant, had the same duties as Winston, a lieutenant. During a brief love affair, nurse Kate Davray gives Colonel Adams an unsigned carbon copy of Major Kaufman's report, which at first he refuses to accept.

Winston, in an interview with Adams, raves that he killed Quinn for defiling the white race by consorting with a black woman. Though he despises Winston, Adams refuses to rig the trial and he holds back his defence, waiting for Kaufman to arrive as a witness. When he learns that Kaufman has been killed in a jeep accident on the way to the trial, Adams calls Kensington to the stand,after establishing that no member of the lunacy commission is a qualified psychiatrist, to authenticate the unsigned photocopy of Major Kaufman's report. As Kensington describes Winston's mental illness to the court, Winston cracks and begins raving. Adams wins his case and spends a few days of peace and happiness with nurse Davray before leaving the area. The friction between the troops is eased and they prepare to enter battle in complete unity.

Cast

Reception

According to Fox records the film cost $2,800,000 to produce but only earned $1,735,000 in film rentals.[2]

References

External links

• Man in the Middle at IMDb
• Man in the Middle at Rotten Tomatoes
• Man in the Middle at AllMovie
• Man in the Middle at the TCM Movie Database
• Man in the Middle at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Man in the Middle at Box Office Mojo
• New York Times review by Bosley Crowther, 5 March 1964

---