Man in the Middle (film)

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 Lieutenant Colonel 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.

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 shoots unarmed British Staff Sergeant Quinn several times, seemingly without provocation, in front of 11 witnesses. American General Kempton assigns Lieutenant Colonel Barney Adams 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 finds Winston fit and sane to stand trial; Adams is informed by nurse Kate Davray that Colonel Burton, who headed the commission, refused to accept the report (which he destroyed) of the hospital's psychiatric head, Major Kaufman, 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, 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