"The Bedford Incident"

Saw a really good movie tonight : "The Bedford Incident" (1965) starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. I'd seen bits of it a few nights ago on Turner Classic Movies, watching here at Pearl's, and it looked intriguing, so I searched for it in the Library system and watched it in it's entirety tonight.
It is the story of a US Navy ship, a destroyer (The USS Bedford), that is following a suspicious Soviet submarine in waters up around Greenland. The captain of the Bedford (Widmark) is a hard-liner who is itching to push the sub into a position where he can legitimately force a confrontation. Sidney Poitier is an experienced, somewhat cynical journalist who has been approved by the United States Department Of Defense to be onboard during this dangerous exercise. He is writing a story for a major magazine, but his presence onboard and his questioning of the mission irritate Captain Widmark to no end.

Also on board, in a nice, authentic touch, is a former Commander of a German U-Boat, now conscripted into an alliance with his former enemies, the Americans, into a standoff against their mutual enemy The Soviet Union. This is a nice authentic touch because few movies - if any - have ever touched on the US alliance with Nazis after the war was over. We teamed up with them, or at least the Right Wing did, and now you can see how the partnerships have filtered down to the troubles we have in this country today.

But in the movie, the German Commodore actually becomes the voice of reason against the increasing aggression of the Captain, who is continually trying to raise the stakes against the Soviet sub, which we never actually see, except for it's periscope.

I was really enjoying this movie, having no idea what to expect. It was shot in black and white, with interiors on an actual Navy ship. You know I love that stuff. I got to tour battleships and aircraft carriers and subs as a six year old, and I have never forgotten the experience. So the movie takes place entirely on the ship, and there is a lot of plot, and tension as the captain pushes toward his desired confrontation with the Russian submarine. Sidney Poitier is great as always, as is a supporting cast that includes Wally Cox (of all people) and James McArthur (of "Book 'em, Dan-O" fame). Widmark gives one of his best performances in this film. He is like Barbara Stanwyck, a well-known but underrated actor, and when he is good he is really good, and here - as a captain stepping over his bounds - he is first rate.

If you are as big a fan of Submarine films as I am (and if you are not, I understand, lol) then you absolutely must see "The Bedford Incident". I said in the above paragraph that I was really enjoying this movie, and I was, but I was kind of wondering where it was going. We never see the Soviet submarine, and by the 70 minute mark (of a 100 minute film) I was wondering, really, what the film was actually about.

All I can say is that ultimately there is no doubt whatsoever what "The Bedford Incident" is about, and when it was over, I was blown away, simply by the choice of the director and the studio to make such a storytelling choice. This is not a well known film, and I can see why. But I think it is a very important film that, in light of current situations, is once again very timely.

Though it is a tad slow in some places (a minor complaint) and though you don't know at first what to make of all the changes in focus, on different characters and their story details, I still give "The Bedford Incident" five stars, for the performances of Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and the entire supporting cast, and for the tension-building pace set by the director James B. Harris, who I had not heard of before. It's a must see, I think.  ////

That was all the news for today, as it was a Golden Agers Tuesday, and so you know the drill.

I have another TV Series I have started that I forgot to mention, another old Western series issued by Timeless Media. It's called "Tombstone Territory" and it ran from 1957 to 1960. Starred a guy named Pat Conway as the Sheriff of Tombstone, Arizona, who faced down various outlaws in 30 minute episodes each week. I had never heard of Conway, but he is perfect in the role, playing the kind of Straight Arrow Lawman that you never would see in this day and age. The series was rated highly on IMDB, and I heard about it from a recommendation on Amazon. The price was only 14 bucks for the complete series - 91 episodes - and so - needing another Western Fix - I placed my order.

I enjoy watching my movies and TV shows, and reading my books and doing all the things I do on a daily basis. But in the future - can't say when but it's coming - I am gonna push as hard as I possibly can to try and find out the truth about my life, and why the events of 1989 occurred.

In my reading, I heed the examples of people who have experienced extreme situations here in the United States Of America. And what we are seeing is that The United States Of America is absolutely not what it used to be.

And we are learning more and more everyday about the evil organisation known as the CIA, and the monster who was it's first director, Allen Dulles.

We need to learn all we can about people like Allen Dulles, so we can unravel the true history of American politics.

American politics is all about power, of course - ultimate power, as we are the most powerful country in world history.

But American Politics is also about Secrets. Because it is the Keeping Of Secrets that leads to power.

And my life being what it is, at some point it will behoove me to try and uncover the secrets that have affected my life, to a degree that I sometimes wonder what my life has been for.

But I know that I will eventually triumph, and have my story told to the whole world.

It's why I keep going. ////