grantss Brando's first (cinema) movie, and it's a good one.An army officer, played by Marlon Brando, is shot in WW2 and left paralyzed from the waist down. He ends up in a Veterans Hospital for rehabilitation but he is incredibly bitter and does his best to isolate himself from the other patients.Quite original in that it covers a part of war hardly anyone ever writes about or thinks about - what becomes of the soldiers whose bodies have been irrevocably shattered by the war. Shows well the trauma and bitterness they face, and how the injuries affect them mentally. Also shows how it affects their relationships and other aspects of their personal lives.Brando is great in the lead role - you would not know that it was his cinematic debut. No Oscar nomination but he more than made up up for it with four of his next five movies, getting Best Actor nominations for A Streetcar Named Desire, Viva Zapata! and Julius Caesar and then winning the Best Actor Oscar for On the Waterfront. (Even the one of the five that he didn't get nominated for was great - a certain little film called The Wild One...).Teresa Wright (of Mrs Minever and The Best Years of Our Lives fame) is great as Ellen.Solid supporting cast.Not just worth watching because it's Brando's first movie, worth watching because it's a great, original, sensitively told and well- made movie.

ma-cortes This magnificent film begins with a written prologue as : ¨In all wars , since the beginning of history , there have been men who fought twice . The first time they battled with club , sword or machine gun . The second time they had none of these weapons. Yes , this by far was the greatest battle. It was fought with abiding faith and raw courage and in the end victory was achieved . This is the story of such a group of men . To them this film is dedicated¨ . It deals with an ex-GI named Ken (Marlon Brando who follows the Stalislawski method from Actors' Studio) who as a result of a war wound suffers paralysis and is wheel-bound. In the hospital back home, he is depressed and the isolation young thanks the approval and help of the good Dr. Brock (Everett Sloane) and his former sweetheart Ellen (Teresa Wright) who manage to bring him out of it , as ken gets redeem himself . Ken's depression caused for his paralyzed below the waist is also overcome with the witty friendship of his fellow patients, especially the sly Norm (Jack Webb), the sympathetic Leo (Richard Erdman) and hunk young Angel (Jurado). Soon Ken throws himself into the job rehabilitation and later a long period of physical therapy even suspects he may regain the utilization of his feet. After that , he and Ellen marry, but on their wedding night both have sadness, misgivings and grief about their future , then bitter Ken reverts to self-pity. Ken drives nutty a car and takes place a crash accident . The newspapers publicize : ¨Paraplegics cited for drunk driving¨. Then he goes back to the hospital.. .This is a thoughtful flick with interesting storyline by Carl Foreman relies on wonderful interpretations and slick realization . Subtle performance from Marlon Brando in his screen debut as depressed paralysed young who pass through an initial period of bitterness and sorrow to spontaneous blazed anger and splendid Teresa Wright as his faithful fiancée . Everett Sloane steals the show as intelligent and realist doctor . Marvelous relationship among the main players , both of whom must attempt to build their new life full of difficulties and problems . Furthermore , special mention to ¨ Forty five of the men veterans of Birmingham Administration Hospital ¨. Though the characters and events depicted in this Photoplay are fictitious and similarity to persons , living or dead is purely coincidental. Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Robert De Grasse A.S.C . Sensible musical score composed and conducted by the classic musician Dimitri Tiomkin. Atmospheric production design by Edward Boyle though is mostly set at a Hospìtal .The motion picture well produced by Stanley Kramer - National Film Release- and is stunningly directed by Fred Zinnemann who had a lot of experience from his formers classic films as ¨Act of violence , Seventh cross , Eyes in the night , The search ¨, among them. Rating : Above average . Well worth watching.

Michael Neumann Several paraplegics in a veteran's hospital learn to cope with the physical and emotional scars of war, but if one of them wasn't a young Marlon Brando the film wouldn't be half as interesting. His typically vital performance greatly improves what would otherwise be just another earnest but melodramatic civics lesson, presented in the manner of an Armed Forces instructional movie: How To Treat Our Homecoming Heroes. To its credit the film was considered quite daring when first released, for its forthright depiction of an unpleasant (and thus generally ignored) reality. And with a running time of only eighty odd minutes it fairly zips along at an unflagging pace. The film was produced (you might have guessed) by a young Stanley Kramer.

edwagreen Hollywood began to show films dealing with the psychological, physical, and emotional problems of returning World War 11 veterans in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Films such as "The Best Years of Our Lives," as well as "The Men," and "Bright Victory" are such films."The Men" deals with a group of guys suffering from spinal injuries in a hospital for them.This film was Marlon Brando's first and certainly established himself as an actor with a future. He captures the desperation and hopelessness of one such paralyzed soldier. Jack Webb, the future king of television's "Dragnet," is marvelous here in a supporting role as an embittered veteran who comes around.Teresa Wright does well here as Brando's girlfriend. She desperately wants marriage and has Brando eventually come around to her thinking. You would think that the film would end with their wedding but Wright soon realizes on her wedding night the difficult road ahead of her and she can't take it. This forces Brando to leave and return to the hospital.Howard St. John is wonderful as Wright's father-in-law. He steals his scene as he warns his daughter of the difficulties she would face. Everett Sloane, as the hospital physician, is compelling in his scene outburst when a beloved soldier succumbs to spinal meningitis. His experiences has toughened him but Sloane does show his human side in a memorable scene near the end of this film.The film shows us the exercise regimen that the paraplegic soldiers go through in order to gain their strength. This is a remarkable film, directed by the veteran director Fred Zinnemann.