hakobell

Not only an excellent study of good and evil, this film also explores the conflict of duty vs personal ethics. When the officers are pondering Billy's fate, Wyatt pleads passionately for him. He is told that they are talking about law not justice and he asks pointedly , "Was not the one designed to serve the other?" Of course this opens up for the viewer a question of the real purpose of law. Excellent performances all around. Of course everyone talks about Stamp, Ustinov, and Ryan, but we also see excellent performances by Melvyn Douglas and David McCallum.

This film deserves to be released on DVD. It is a classic. I have shown it to my students in Honors American Literature after we read the novella, and it is always well received. The screenplay by Ustinov improves on the book by including the debate among the officers at Billy's trial.

I know the last user thought the episodes were just average, but you cannot judge very early 60's TV by today's standard and technology. The show was very cool, and so were Napoleon and Illya. Heck, that is why there is still a huge following forty years later.

Yes, the shows look as if they were filmed on back lot. They were. The pace and budget did not allow for on location scenes. Look at old Star Trek and you will see the same limitations.

Many shows were intended to be funny or at least tongue in cheek. The episode with Joan Collins is a riot. The agents are trying to get a low class woman to pass off as a lady. This episode, The Galatea Affair, is a take on My Fair Lady and introduces Noel Harrison as Mark Slate. OF course you will remember that his father had the task of transforming Liza Doolitle in MFL.

Try the very early pairing of Shatner and Nimoy in Project Strigas or The Ultimate Computer Affair, another great MFU episode. There were over 100 of them in this popular 60's show.