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The Men

1950, Movie, NR, 85 mins

The Men: Review

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This was Marlon Brando's film debut and, as such, set standards not only for his fellow actors but for himself. Brando gives a tremendous performance as Ken, a WWII veteran who has been left a paraplegic as a result of a sniper's bullet in the lower back. In the hospital, Ken is angry, resentful, and uncooperative with his doctors and nurses. His girlfriend, Ellen (Teresa Wright), visits him, but the embittered Ken turns her away. Dr. Brock (Everett Sloane) slowly breaks through Ken's mental wall, however, convincing him to begin his exercise program, through which Ken strengthens his upper torso, later learning to expertly manipulate his wheelchair and to drive a specially equipped auto. Ellen will not give up on him and soon Ken agrees to marry her, but despite the progress he has made, the vet is still consumed with doubt, anger, and self-pity. Producer Stanley Kramer earlier produced such message-filled films as CHAMPION and HOME OF THE BRAVE, the first concerning the corruption of the blood sport of prizefighting, the second dealing with racism and bigotry. Here Kramer, aided by the steady direction of Fred Zinnemann, studies the adjustment of severely wounded men with little hope of complete recovery. Zinnemann rarely steps over the line into mawkishness or bathos, and Carl Foreman's witty, sensitive script was the reason Brando agreed to step off the stage to appear in this film. Brando worked hard at his role, actually moving into a 32-bed ward with real paraplegics and observing their day-to-day agonies, research that resulted in a finely nuanced performance. leave a comment
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