Sergeant Ryker (1968) - full transcript
During the Korean War, Sergeant Paul Ryker is accused of defecting to Communist China and then returning to his unit as a spy. He's court-martialed and sentenced to death, but his attorney believes in Ryker's innocence and pleads for a new trial.
- Ryker?
Captain Young is here.
- I'm not sure how long this'll take.
I'll call you.
- Sergeant.
- Ryker!
- Forget it, soldier.
- But sir, I saw him try to-
- Forget it, I said.
- Don't do me any favors, huh?
- Won't you just shut up?
Okay, come on, put it away.
He's been convicted of treason, you know?
He's gonna hang.
He's a little off balance.
He stumbled, okay?
Fine.
Well, obviously you've heard all the news.
- I like the part where Colonel
Merriam and General Bailey
found you and my wife in a
loving embrace, in her room.
What did she do, give you the
whole indoctrination course?
Paul William Ryker, classic misfit?
Every man's failure?
- She came 6,000 miles
to be with you, Ryker.
- And ended up with you.
Now how about that?
- Even if it were true, it
wouldn't be important right now.
- Oh, it wouldn't?
I mean, you prosecute
me at the first trial.
You convinced the jury that I was guilty.
Why the sudden change of heart?
- Nothing has happened to change my mind.
- Oh, then why are you
trying for a new trial, huh?
I mean, why so hot to defend me now?
What do you got in mind?
- Now look, if Ann was what I had in mind,
all I had to do was fake a
defense and let you hang.
- Now you're being realistic.
- Okay.
- Hold it, where are you going?
- To find you a counselor you can trust.
- Just one thing.
Is Ann in love with you?
- You have responsible witnesses
who found your wife and me together,
so everything I say just
makes it sound worse.
Which by the way, is exactly
the same spot that you're at.
Every time you open your mouth,
you sound more like a traitor.
Now, whose guilt are we going
to discuss, yours or mine?
Because you can prove me guilty,
and all I have to do is live with it.
But if the court finds
you guilty a second time,
brother, that's all she wrote.
- What a Section 8 situation.
Snafued Section 8 situation.
I gotta go with you 'cause
nobody else wants it, huh?
But you could be a Judas.
A smooth, slick-tongued Judas.
- How is he?
- Comfortable.
Difficult.
All right, Mrs. Ryker.
You can see your husband now.
- Oh, thank you.
- Ann, he knows about
everything that's happened.
- About us being found together?
- Major Whitaker, Captain
Appleton to see Colonel Pervis.
Can you tell me where he is?
- Right down the hall, Major.
- Thank you.
- Good morning, Major.
I'd like to speak to you about the-
- Excuse me, Captain.
- You were expecting maybe a small medal?
You have violated the code, old buddy.
A swirlin' skirt.
I beg your pardon, I beg your pardon.
The army thinks a swirlin' skirt,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
- And now the army is going to prosecute
the lot of us, right?
The traitor, the traitor's wife, and me.
- What you have made of
yourself is called a pariah.
Pariah, pariah, pariah,
pariah, pariah, pariah.
- Frank, I mean it.
I honestly don't think that
Ryker was properly defended.
- Not properly defended?
David, where were you?
What trial did you attend?
I sat here and watched Major Norton
haul out every trick in the book.
- Well, maybe that's what was the trouble.
He was tricky all right, but he didn't
put the burden of proof
on me where it belonged.
He let me make him try
to prove their alibi.
- Well, then you blew it apart.
You tore Ryker to bits on the stand.
You showed him to be a liar,
and his whole story a
desperate grab at thin air.
- I didn't show Ryker to be a liar.
Just cornered, and scared,
and mad at the world.
- Oh, well that's too bad.
What did you want to do,
throw a forensic fit and
plead both sides of the case?
- Well, I had an idea
there was justice involved
and the majesty of something or other.
You know, I wanted to feel
like a victor, and I don't.
I feel like a toastmaster.
- Well David, I'm not going to get
into a massive thing about this with you,
because I don't know
exactly what hair it is
that you're splitting, but I do know this.
The matter's on its way
to the board of review.
Your job is done, so forget it.
Have a drink, that's an order.
- Okay.
- Captain Young.
- Yes?
- I'm Ann Ryker.
Mrs. Paul Ryker.
I arrived less than an hour ago,
just in time to hear my husband
has been tried, convicted, and sentenced.
The army doesn't waste much time, does it?
- Well, the procedure
with a court-martial is-
- Now the only thing procedure
means to me, Captain Young,
is that my husband is going to hang,
because he wasn't properly defended.
Yes, yes, I was eavesdropping.
Should I apologize?
- No, no, no, certainly not,
but don't misunderstand what you heard.
The court conducted your husband's trial
fairly, and impartially.
- And they're going to just
as impartially take his life?
Because he couldn't prove he was innocent?
Well, now isn't that the opinion
you were expressing to the Major just now?
- Well, my opinion doesn't
count for very much.
You gotta understand that.
- Do you believe my husband is a traitor?
- Yes, I'm sorry, I do,
but that's irrelevant too.
- Well, didn't anyone believe,
really believe he was innocent?
- I'm afraid I can't answer that.
Now, if you'll please excuse me.
- Captain?
Will you talk to my husband?
- But what would be the point, Mrs. Ryker?
Now, the trial is over.
From here on, I'm not
involved in what happens.
- But you don't think he
was properly defended.
See him.
If you decide he's innocent,
there must be something you can do.
- I'm sorry, there isn't.
- So the cop says to the bank president,
"Now this teller we're
supposed to look for,
"how would you describe him?"
Well, the bank president
thinks for a minute.
Then he says, "Officer, I'd
say he was six feet tall,
"and $10,000 short."
- That's pretty funny.
- Hey Mike, fill up a
glass for the counselor.
As a matter of fact, make it a double.
Counselor's earned it, Mike.
He just knocked off one of the enemy.
- Ah shut up, Leonard.
- Language, Captain.
This is an officer's club.
David, you know Colonel
Merriam, my new CO.
He took over when Colonel
Chambers bought it.
- Yes, of course.
I've had the pleasure of
working with the Colonel.
- I want to congratulate you, Captain.
Speaking for counterintelligence,
I think you handled this
Ryker thing very, very nicely.
- Thank you, sir.
- Back to normal, David?
- Never knew I was away from it, Major.
I met Mrs. Ryker.
- His wife?
- Uh-huh.
- Where?
- She was waiting in the
hall when the trial ended.
- Yeah, I saw her.
That blonde?
Very nice.
- She overheard our talk, Frank.
- Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
- She got the impression
that her husband didn't get a fair trial.
- Well, you're responsible for that.
I hope you straightened her out.
- I tried, but you know,
she asked me to talk to Ryker.
For what reason?
Not quite sure I know myself.
- David, you were assigned to prosecute.
You won a conviction for treason.
You have completed your assignment.
I'll give you another one in the morning.
Am I getting through to you?
- Yes, sir.
- All right, if the air has been cleared,
I'll say goodnight.
- I'll walk along with you, Frank.
- Fine.
Goodnight, Leonard.
- Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
- Goodnight.
Hey, what's going on here?
I thought you two were friends.
- Oh, we are.
It's just one of those times
when he's being Major Whitaker.
- Argument over a girl, or a 30 day leave,
now that I can understand, but Ryker?
No need for an argument there.
You won your case.
He's gonna hang, boy.
Or maybe it was an argument over a girl.
Hm?
Oh no, I think not.
- Sure, now it comes to me.
The lovely Mrs. Ryker
needs a champion, see?
A bleeding heart.
So you listen, you
offer a little sympathy,
a few well chosen words about
how it's all a dirty shame.
It's a workable plan, boy,
and I'd be the last one to blame ya.
Put her curves on a baseball,
and you got yourself a no-hitter.
Got a date with a small
curved friend of my own.
Don't ever sell these Korean
ladies short, old buddy.
Strictly for the cognizante.
No sir, on me.
I'm going into town.
Can I drop ya off?
- Thanks, I think maybe I'll have another.
- All right.
Very workable plan, old buddy.
Very workable.
I'll have to
lock you in, Mrs. Ryker.
Oh, Ann.
I thought they'd never let you in.
- I finally got a pass.
I need you so badly.
- I've been waiting for days.
Didn't they tell you?
- So glad to see you.
You know what they're doing to me?
They're gonna send me to Tokyo tomorrow.
They're gonna hang me.
The board upheld the sentence.
Well, do you understand
what that means, Ann?
This is our last farewell.
They really mean this.
Yeah, they let my wife in to say goodbye.
- Paul, that isn't why they let me in.
- Oh, please Ann.
Come on, let's face it.
- Please, Paul.
- Why did you come here?
Didn't I treat you badly enough?
Didn't I hurt you often enough?
Did you really have to come 6,000 miles?
- I don't know how all this started.
All I know is it seemed so unfair.
So unreal that it would
be happening to you.
- Is that all?
- Paul, I don't know how much
time they're gonna give us.
- How much time do we need?
What are we gonna do, shake hands?
- Listen to me, Paul.
There's still a chance.
Paul, let me tell you what I've done-
- Oh, please forget it.
- And who I've talked to.
No, there is a chance!
I talked to the prosecutor, Captain Young.
- Brilliant!
But don't you understand he's
the guy that put me here?
- But that's why!
I overheard him talking
to a Major Whitaker,
and he said he didn't think
you were properly defended.
Now if he thinks that, Paul,
we do have a chance, now listen to me!
- Oh you don't understand, Ann.
You're fighting privilege of rank.
Sanctity of influence.
You know, I should get
a medal for what I did.
But that way, I'd get the headlines.
This way, those boys look like the heroes.
Safeguarding the old system.
Oh Ann, look, go ahead,
try anything you want.
If you have a heart, they'll break it.
And in the end, they'll
turn you against me too.
See what I mean?
The buzzards.
- I'm sorry, they didn't
tell me you were here.
- What is it, Captain Young?
- If you're hoping to be
the first to break the news,
I hate to disappoint you.
I already know that I'm being
flown to the gallows tomorrow.
- I was never sure what the
board of review would do.
I just read their decision.
- My wife tells me you think
that my lawyer did a
lousy job defending me.
I agree with you.
She also tells me that you
think that I was railroaded.
I agree with you again,
but you're the hired party
on that count, right?
So what else is there?
- I didn't say that to your wife.
I doubt that she said it to you.
- Did you ever prove in
court that Colonel Chambers
didn't leave classified orders?
That he didn't confide
in anyone about this?
- He didn't consult his
own commanding officer,
or yours, or his own staff.
He didn't leave an envelope to be opened
in case of his death, nothing.
- Okay.
I was with Merrill's Marauders
in the CBI in World War ll.
That was the toughest
duty in the Pacific, huh?
I got the Silver Star for valor,
above and beyond the call.
I even got my picture in magazines.
It's in my service record.
Now that proves one thing,
that I'm a good soldier, all right?
- That's also in the record of your trial.
- Yeah, well Colonel Chambers knew that.
That's why he got me.
He needed some guy that wasn't
afraid to stick his neck out
for his lousy country,
'cause it might be a suicide mission, huh?
So he gets me, I go along,
but this one's not on the record,
'cause he gets knocked off
before he can put it in the record.
Now I'm to hang, huh?
Hurray for the red, white, and blue.
- Are you through?
Okay.
That's been covered, too.
Now, give me something to go with it.
Give me something I can use.
One little thing.
- Something you can use for what?
- If there's any chance,
no matter how remote,
that you deserve a stay of execution,
I'll try to get one for you.
You?
I don't get it.
- He's going to help us, Paul.
Don't you understand that?
- Yeah, but how many ways
can I tell the truth?
I lie to the commies, they believe me.
I tell the truth here, I'm a traitor.
- How many times did you say
you talked with Colonel Chambers?
- Oh, I only saw him once.
We talked about two hours.
- Tell me about him.
Tell me.
- What'd he look like?
Blue eyes, gray hair, something like that.
I could've seen him anyplace.
- Were his eyes blue?
- Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Any gray in his hair?
- I didn't notice.
- Now, you testified that in your presence
he wrote a note about this
mission of yours, huh?
- Yeah, that's right.
" How?
With a pencil, or a pen?
- He reached inside his jacket, a pen.
Yeah, in a little notebook, I think.
- What kind of a pen?
What color?
- Blue, with a silver clip.
- His right hand?
- Yeah.
No, no I think it was his left hand
because I noticed he had a wrist watch on.
- Any rings, a signet ring,
class ring, wedding ring?
- No, no, he said his wife was dead.
- Describe the wrist watch.
- Well, it was round,
stainless steel, I think.
You know, one of those self-winders
you can buy up at the PX.
- That note is the one
thing that could save you.
- Yeah.
- But you don't remember
what he wrote it on.
You say you think it was a notebook.
And you're not sure what he wrote.
- Well, I mean-
- Yet you know at the time
it was a matter of vital importance,
maybe life or death for you.
- Yeah, but I'm only a Sergeant.
- But you don't remember it clearly,
because you didn't notice
it clearly at the time.
Is that right?
- Yeah, that's right.
- Then how is it you do clearly remember
his fountain pen, and his wrist watch?
You may be a pretty fair liar,
but you're a fatally bad witness.
- How are you gonna help
me if you don't believe me?
- If what I believed
was important, Sergeant,
I wouldn't even be here.
- Guard!
Get him outta here.
Ann.
I don't think I told you that
I'm very grateful to you.
- He's only trying to help us, Paul.
I know he is.
- I like the way he tries
to justify his conscience.
I wish I knew his secret.
I'm even grateful that
you're not in love with me.
- They're wrong, aren't they Paul?
- What difference does it make?
Either way, as usual, I lose.
- Captain Young?
- Thank you.
I was wondering what you were going to do.
- Well now, what do you think, Mrs. Ryker?
- Not just drop it, please.
- All right, I'll drive over to Seoul
and check out a few details.
- Thank you.
- But don't field any hopes, Mrs. Ryker.
This is all on my own, you know,
and very unofficial.
- Captain?
Could I go with you?
- No, I'm afraid not.
The Reds are closing in on Seoul.
- Oh please, it's only a short ride.
I may be of some help.
- Okay.
- Thank you.
And then I took a plane to Tokyo,
and hitched rides to Sasebo.
- Well, that's still Japan.
How'd you get across the strait?
- I bribed a warrant officer.
- Oh?
And from Busan?
- I stole this Red Cross
uniform from a supply depot.
Ann!
You hurt?
- No, are you all right?
- Yeah, I'm a poor target.
- We better get outta here.
- Sir, Colonel Chambers was my CO,
so I went down to Wangsu myself
to supervise his personal effects.
- It wasn't on the 32P report,
but was there a notebook in his blouse?
You know, the kind that would
fit inside his breast pocket?
- No, sir.
- How about a fountain pen?
- No, sir.
- Did he own a fountain pen?
- Probably, you'd have to look
through his personal effects.
- Are they still here in Seoul?
- I believe so, sir.
- But Colonel Chambers was
buried in Wangsu, is that right?
- They shipped his body out here
before the Reds took over.
General Bailey's orders.
- I understand the Colonel was a widower.
His wife had died just recently?
- Used to talk about her a great deal.
- Sergeant, what color were
Colonel Chambers' eyes?
- They were brown.
- Sergeant, I'd like to
see his things, if I may.
- Captain, we're in the
middle of evacuating the post.
- I know that, but a man's life
could depend on this, Sergeant.
- All right.
I want you to burn all the
classified papers in the cans.
- Did he have another watch?
PX variety, stainless steel?
- No, sir.
That's the only watch he ever wore.
- And this was his wedding ring, huh?
- Yes, sir.
He had a sentimental streak.
He never took off that ring.
- You're sure that this
is all he had on him?
- Yes sir, I'm sure.
- Well, no notebook, Mrs. Ryker.
Not an inexpensive PX watch,
but a solid gold one, custom made.
Not a blue fountain pen, but a maroon one.
An expensive and somewhat
unusual wedding band,
which he always wore,
when your husband said-
- No rings.
- And, the Colonel's eyes were brown.
- General Bailey!
- Those reports are all duplicates.
No use transporting
them, have them burned.
Captain?
- Young, sir.
Major Whitaker's staff.
- Yeah, how's it happen that you're...
What's going on here?
- General Bailey, Mrs. Ryker.
Ma'am.
Well, Captain?
- Well sir, we were going through
Colonel Chambers' effects.
I thought it possible that something
might've been overlooked,
something significant.
- Significant, with regard to what?
- Sergeant Ryker, sir.
- Who ordered this?
- My own responsibility, sir.
- Responsibility?
This Ryker's a traitor, isn't he?
- Well, he's been condemned to death, sir.
- Well, for your information, Captain,
there are several thousand men out there
who are not traitors,
who are doing their best
to evacuate this city.
There is an army out there,
which is being driven back into the ocean.
Now, do I understand
that you feel a sense of responsibility
to a man who has done his
best to bring this about?
- Sir, I'm sure the General
doesn't have time to discuss this now.
I'm sorry if-
- Sergeant.
- Sir.
- Pack up that stuff.
Have it put on one of
the evacuation trucks.
And you'd better get
yourself and Mrs. Ryker
back to your base at Incheon.
Is that clear?
- Yes, sir.
There's still one more
thing I want to check out.
Since we're here, and since
the general didn't specify
when we were to leave,
if Colonel Chambers ever did
write a note about Ryker,
there's only one place left to look.
The only place where it might
possibly have been overlooked.
On his body.
In his uniform.
- Oh, now Captain.
- Can you locate the grave?
- Sir, General Bailey
ain't a man to fool with.
He's as tough as an alligator steak.
I mean, he'd court-martial me
just as soon as blow up a commie tank.
And on top of that, sir, if
you don't mind my saying so,
he could nail you for direct
disobedience to a command.
And don't think he wouldn't do it!
So you see, Captain Young,
unless you come right out with it,
and give me a direct order, sir.
- Doubts?
General Bailey got me out of bed
at six o'clock this morning.
There's no doubt about that.
He chewed my hips to the bone, Captain,
and I don't blame him.
We're getting our tail
scorched in this war,
and you, you go flitting
around, opening graves,
discrediting the CIC,
sticking your fingers
into a dead man's personal effects,
and you top it all off with a joyride
through a combat zone
with a female civilian!
What are you trying to
do, wreck your career?
- I'm trying to get a stay of execution
for a man who's going to hang tomorrow.
- Ryker's a turncoat and
a liar, and you know it.
Or you knew it yesterday.
And now, all of a sudden, overnight,
you wanna blow this
double barreled traitor
to a dinner at the Stork Club.
- I won't be satisfied until
we find Chambers' body,
and search his uniform for that note.
- David, I do not hunger
for this man's blood.
His defense was my responsibility
as well as his prosecution.
But the trial was fair, and
I know the verdict is right.
Leave it alone, David.
Leave it.
- Paul, please, please,
let me talk to him a minute, Paul, wait.
- Hey, come on will ya?
- Okay.
- Paul, I want you to know
we haven't given up hope.
Captain Young is still trying.
- Don't let 'em forget this, Ann.
Don't ever let 'em forget
what they're doing to me now.
- Did you talk to Major Whitaker?
- He refuses to intercede.
- But why, after
everything that's happened?
Will they take him straight to Tokyo?
- Yes.
- Will they fly me there tomorrow?
Tomorrow morning, probably.
I'll see about arrangements.
- Thank you.
- Hello, Leonard.
- Hi.
- With a water, please.
- Any last words, old buddy?
Want some company?
- No, Leonard.
- Can't say that I blame ya.
A man's entitled to die in peace.
Business of a man lying on his deathbed,
surrounded by mourning
friends and relatives
always seemed a floundering bore to me.
- You're trying to tell me something?
- I see you lookin' down the muzzle
of a hair trigger army
issue .45, old buddy.
And you know whose finger
I see on the trigger?
Your finger, Captain sir, yours.
- Go away, will ya?
I'm in no mood for...
- Just one thing, David.
Tell me why.
- Well, if you have to ask,
as the poet says, you'll never know.
- You're up for a
reprimand, you know that.
For open insubordination,
disobeying General Bailey's
specific orders in Seoul.
Now what are you trying to do?
- What it comes down to
is that I'm trying to get Ryker
a stay of execution, that's all.
- Why?
'Cause he's got a good-lookin' wife?
All right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, David.
I had no cause to say that.
I'm sorry, David.
But what is it, then?
Zola and Dreyfus all over again?
David, that world is dead,
along with millions of people.
Old, young, innocent,
guilty, what's one more?
- There's another way
to look at it, Leonard.
Suppose that one more were you?
- Oh, that's real corny.
It isn't me, it's you.
It's your career, it's your whole future.
Now why put it all on the line
for a dirty, two bit traitor?
So now we all know
that you have the courage
of your conviction.
If you'll forgive a, David.
David, I'm sorry, I take it all back.
You don't have the courage
of your conviction.
- I really did not believe
that you'd go so far as to come in here
and get the general out of bed!
- What the devil do you hope to accomplish
by coming in here and starting a riot?
- At ease, gentlemen.
Captain, I don't wanna
burden you with my problems.
- General, sir.
- But, we happen to be engaged
in a delicate tactic
of an all out retreat.
I need the few hours
sleep that I can steal.
Now just why, precisely,
did you get me out of bed?
Your fine record indicates you
to be a man of some
stability and intelligence.
I can't believe this to be
all a matter of a traitor.
- Sir, it is about Ryker.
He has only a few hours left,
and I request permission to
present my findings to you.
- I apologize, General.
Against my explicit orders, Captain Young-
- All right.
The man was convicted, wasn't he?
The appeal board upheld.
- Yes sir, but-
- And is it not true
that the death penalty
must be confirmed by the
president of the United States,
or the Secretary of War acting for him,
and has not all this been done?
- Yes, sir.
- All right, Captain.
Let me take some of your time
to point out a few of the side
effects of this Ryker case.
We have some 200,000 troops in Korea.
Almost every last man is aware
of Ryker's court-martial,
conviction, and sentence.
To them, it is a matter
of deep satisfaction
that this man, this traitor,
who conceivably has put
all our lives in jeopardy,
is to be promptly hanged for his crime.
- Sir, I can understand-
- Don't interrupt me.
Right now, the war we are
fighting is going badly.
We are losing its biggest battle.
We need every ounce of endurance,
and determination that those men possess!
Can you imagine the effect
it will have on them
if it should suddenly be headlined
that Ryker is getting a retrial
because of some stupid technicality?
Well, that's one side of the ledger.
I assume the reason for this meeting
is that you are going to
show us the other side.
Is Ryker innocent?
- Uh, well sir,
I have no reason to believe
the man is innocent.
In fact, before the law, he's guilty.
I established that in court.
- What is it now, Captain?
The point of honor?
A plea for mercy and
payment for favors received?
He spent the night with Ryker's wife.
- Just what kind of a mind have you got?
- Reasonably dirty.
- Reasonably dirty-
- Captain, is that true?
Did you spend the night with her?
- I was with her for a night, yes sir.
A night that nearly got both of us killed.
You were with us for part of that night.
- All right.
We'll drop that.
And since you admit that Ryker is guilty,
if you'll give a little thought
to the things I've said, I
believe that you'll agree
to drop the whole thing, Captain.
- I'm sorry, General.
- If I made that an order?
- Sir, with all due
respect, I must say this.
If there is no stay of execution,
a cablegram will go to
the Secretary of War,
and the president, along with my report.
- What in heaven's name
has gotten into you?
- How do you propose
to justify such an act?
- By the official record, sir.
In the case of Paul Ryker,
enough irregularities exist to
warrant a stay of execution.
- That is simply not true!
- The first interrogation!
There is no record that Captain Appleton
warned him of the charges against him,
or advised him of his rights.
Now, this is mandatory under the code.
- That was not an official interrogation.
Captain Appleton was not conducting
a pre-trial investigation.
- That's subject to interpretation!
Sir, sir, did you study the
brief prepared by defense
for the extenuation
and mitigation hearing?
In my opinion, it's an incompetent brief.
And whether it makes sense
to any of you or not,
Colonel Chambers' uniform was
not searched for an order,
or a note of explanation about
a possible secret mission.
There was no Ryker problem at the time.
It was just the routine gathering
of a dead man's personal effects,
but no sir, now,
Colonel Chambers' body has disappeared!
- Disappeared?
- Oh, a foul up!
- We don't know that.
- Well.
I will say this,
Captain Young is a man
who does his homework.
- Sir, you mentioned morale.
Well sir, I think that faith in justice
has a lot to do with our morale.
Now, if we made mistakes in Ryker's trial,
and they're exposed by anyone publicly,
after we put him to death?
Well, it's going to make every
court-martial in the future
look like a totalitarian star chamber.
Sir, no one wants to set a traitor free,
but I submit for your reasons, General,
that this is a time to display
the full effect of our concept of justice.
That's all.
- Well.
You certainly earned
your stay of execution.
In fact, I'll see to it
that arrangements are made
for a new trial.
But this time, I am going to recommend
that you defend Ryker.
Just to be sure that he
has all the advantages
of all your principle and all his rights.
Major, I'm going to leave the selection
of opposing counsel to you.
- With your permission, sir,
I will serve as trial judge advocate.
- Well, suit yourself.
And now, if no one objects,
you're all dismissed.
- Who is it?
David young.
Come in.
Your husband's
going to get a new trial.
- Oh, thank God.
Want some coffee?
- Please, don't bother.
It's so late.
- Sit down.
Take off your coat, and sit down.
- I would've waited until morning,
but I just took a chance
that you might still be up.
- You knew I would-
- Ann?
You don't love him, do you?
- How can you say that?
- I don't think you love him.
- Would I have come all this way,
and gone through everything I've gone...
- You know, when we talked about him.
When I saw you with him
that night in the cell,
I sensed what you felt about him.
You felt pity, distress,
belief in his innocence, loyalty,
all the things that you should've felt,
except love.
But it wasn't until tonight,
not 'til just a moment ago,
that I was really sure.
- I did once.
We were married right after the war,
and he was all full of life,
and confidence, and he was a hero.
That wasn't important to
me, but it was to him.
Then after a year of a dozen jobs,
100 disappointments,
that was the end of it.
It was just over.
And then this war started,
and he re-enlisted.
End of story.
And a very dull one, at that.
Well, what about this new trial?
It's more than you'd hoped for, isn't it?
- It'll be held in Tokyo.
I'll be defending him.
- It's wonderful, David.
That'll give him a real chance, won't it?
- I hope so.
I think if I can get enough evidence-
- I love you, David.
I love you.
We're back to
my dirty mind, Captain.
- You have no right to be here.
- We have every right.
You're not a civilian here, Mrs. Ryker.
You come under the Articles of War.
- You had me followed?
- With my permission, Captain.
He told me where you'd go.
I let him try to prove
it, because I was so sure
that I was dealing with
a man of principle.
You will be court-martial on
charges of insubordination,
and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Sir!
- Well?
- The new trial for Sergeant Ryker.
Does that decision stand?
- Don't add to your problems
by questioning my integrity.
I promised the lady's husband a new trial,
and that you would defend him.
That order stands.
You will be placed in arrest
after you have finished that assignment.
- You have made of yourself.
It's called a pariah,
pariah, pariah, pariah.
That's something like a martyr,
only with more suffering and less class.
Don't say I ever said I told you so.
- Investigation the first,
your honor, about 20 October, 1950,
the accused did desert in
the presence of the enemy.
Second, but subsequent to that date
for a period of about one month,
he did remain and willfully
consort with the enemy.
Third, that he did provide the enemy
with information injurious
to the United States.
Fourth, that he attempted
to return to our lines
under orders from General
Nam of the Red Chinese Army
to aid the enemy cause and subvert our own
as a secret agent and spy.
Fifth.
- Thank you.
Captain Leonard Appleton.
- Misery, sir.
Human misery.
- I direct your attention
to these uniforms, Captain.
I ask you to tell the court if,
and under what circumstances,
you've seen them before.
- Paul Ryker was wearing the
red Chinese Major's uniform
when he was captured.
He was trying to change
into the American uniform.
Mm-hmm.
Captain, why was Ryker brought to you?
- I'm chief interrogator
for the counterintelligence corps unit
then stationed in that area, sir.
Sergeant, do you honestly expect me,
or anyone else to believe
this story of yours?
- Captain, everything
I've told you is true
if you'll just check it out
with the commanding officer,
Colonel Chambers, he'll-
- Paul William Ryker.
The Paul William Ryker
in this service record
has been around long
enough to know something
about the functions of,
for instance, the CIC.
- Yes, sir.
What are the
functions of the CIC?
- Counterintelligence, Sergeant.
- But you are not in counterintelligence.
Have no intelligence
training at all, am I right?
- That's correct, sir.
- How long had you known Colonel Chambers?
- Well, I didn't know him
'til I finally met him.
- Yet you're trying to tell
me that Colonel Chambers
pulled you out of a line outfit,
without even so much as a word
to your commanding officer?
And the Colonel had a whole section
of trained experts at his disposal,
but he bypassed all them and picked you,
and sent you behind enemy lines
on a secret intelligence mission?
Very hush-hush.
- Captain, sir.
- I was Colonel Chambers' aide.
He never mentioned anything
about this mission of
yours, or you either.
- Sir, Colonel Chambers
had reason to believe
that there was an intelligence
leak in his own unit.
That meant he had to go outside,
and find somebody he could trust.
And when he learned that I spoke Chinese-
- How'd he know you spoke Chinese?
- With all due respect, Captain,
just check it out with
your commanding officer.
- Sergeant, Colonel Chambers is dead!
Killed by a sniper's bullet
less than 24 hours after
you were reported missing.
So let's stop kidding each other, Ryker.
Colonel Chambers didn't
send you on any mission.
You defected.
You were on your way back
to our lines as a spy
for your commie friends.
You were caught getting out of
your Chinese Major's outfit,
so now you're trying to
feed me a cover story.
- Now, you listen to...
Colonel Chambers must've
left a note, or an order,
something that'd clear me.
I mean, he'd have to do that.
- The Colonel most certainly
would've left a note,
if your story is true.
But no such record has turned up.
As far as I'm concerned, Ryker,
you're a lying commie.
- Now until his death by a sniper's bullet
on October 21, 1950,
was Colonel Chambers in command
of that particular CIC unit?
- Yes sir, he was my CO.
I was his acting executive officer,
and his close personal friend.
- In the period immediately
preceding his death,
did he confide in you in any way
that he was worried about
a leak of information
from his own office, from your office?
- He did not.
Do you know
that Colonel Chambers
ever made an assignment of
a completely secret nature?
- Objection!
Completely secret is, by
definition, completely secret.
- Sustained.
- All right.
Now Captain, as an officer
of counterintelligence,
if you were to assign a
man to special secret duty,
would you, under any circumstances,
do so without in some
way recording that order?
- Would be mandatory to record it, sir,
for everyone's protection.
- But to the best of your knowledge,
did Colonel Chambers leave
any verbal or written record whatsoever
of assigning Paul William
Ryker to special secret duty?
- No sir, Ryker was not in our unit.
The Colonel had no authority
to assign him to anything.
- Thank you, Captain.
Your witness, sir.
- Captain, did you mean to say
that Colonel Chambers absolutely could not
have given an assignment
outside his own organization?
- Well, it'd be very, very unlikely.
- Thank you.
- Does the court have any questions?
- No questions.
- Witness is excused subject to recall.
Witness is reminded that
he's still under oath,
and is not to discuss his
testimony or the case with anyone.
But Captain Young
did not obey General Bailey's order.
- He did a little later, sir.
But not immediately?
- No, sir.
He requested me to show him
where Colonel Chambers was buried.
- Colonel Chambers was killed at Wangsu.
- Yes sir, but some of
the bodies were sent back
before the Reds took over up there.
General Bailey ordered Colonel
Chambers' body sent back,
so he was buried at Seoul.
- Mm-hmm, so you took
Captain Young and the lady
to Colonel Chambers' grave.
- Yes, sir.
- And what did you do there, Sergeant?
- We dug up the Colonel's coffin.
- Flashlight.
- Now Sergeant, of all the coffins
shipped back from the
battlefronts to Seoul for burial,
how many have been found to be
empty by graves registration?
- I heard about maybe three, four.
- So an empty coffin is a somewhat rare,
but not unknown mistake?
- I suppose, yes sir.
- Now, however, if there
were an important note
on a body, in a coffin, in a grave,
and you were to exhume
that body to get that note,
would you bother to
carry off the whole body,
or just simply the note?
Just the note, I guess.
- Oh, and not the whole body?
Not even if you were
some nefarious culprit
who for some dark reason
wanted Paul Ryker to hang?
- Objection!
- Improper, Major.
Strike that whole conjecture.
- My apologies to the court.
I withdraw the question.
Cross examine.
- Sergeant, you saw Colonel
Chambers' body at Wangsu?
Yes, sir.
- Would that be a logical place
to look for the Colonel's body now?
- Yes, sir.
Except the Reds hold Wangsu now.
Mm-hmm.
Now, did you carefully
search the Colonel's body
for any secret documents?
- No sir, just routine.
We weren't looking for any note.
This was before Sergeant
Ryker was arrested.
- Thank you.
Oh, one more thing, Sergeant.
When I asked you to take me
to Colonel Chambers' grave, you refused,
and only agreed because I
gave you a direct order.
Correct?
- Yes, sir.
- That's all, thank you.
- Thank you, Captain.
- Does the court have any questions?
- No questions.
- Sergeant, you're
excused subject to recall.
- Call Captain Alexander Dorn.
- Captain Alexander Dorn.
Raise your right hand, please.
- Who's he?
- I don't know.
Testimony you're
about to give is the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God.
I do.
- Please be seated.
Will you state your name, rank,
organization, and armed force?
- Alexander Dorn, captain,
infantry, United States Army.
- Captain, I understand you only recently
returned to active duty.
- That's true, sir.
I was captured by the North Koreans
and held as a prisoner of war.
I was captured on the 30th of November,
and escaped on the 24th day of December.
We congratulate
you on your escape, Captain.
Now, while you were in prison,
were you interrogated by the enemy?
I was taken to a
Chinese general, General Nam.
He questioned me.
Was it just a general probing?
No, sir.
General Nam's questions were based
on the information of our situation.
They were pointed,
knowledgeable questions, sir.
Was there an
interpreter present?
No, sir.
General Nam speaks perfect English.
Mm-hmm, were
there other Chinese present,
the members of his staff?
Yes sir, and one American,
wearing the uniform of
a Red Chinese Major.
Did the American participate?
He guided
the questioning, sir.
- Is that American present in this room?
- He is, sir.
That man.
- Indicating the accused,
Paul William Ryker.
Thank you, Captain.
Your witness, sir.
Does the
defense wish to cross examine?
- I move to strike Captain
Dorn's entire testimony.
- State your grounds, Captain.
- His testimony is irrelevant,
unless it's construed to confirm defense.
We don't deny.
On the contrary, we insist
that Sergeant Ryker,
acting on orders from Colonel Chambers,
deliberately established
himself on General Nam's staff
as an American secret agent.
Now, the defendant necessarily
had to conduct himself in such a way
as to convince General Nam,
and indeed Captain Dorn,
that he was devoted to
the cause of communism.
We even stipulate that Colonel Chambers
provided him with
supposedly vital information
to give to the enemy.
Any other course would've
been totally ineffective.
- Motion to strike is denied.
You may cross examine.
- No questions, sir.
Does the
court have any questions?
No questions.
- All right, Captain.
You're excused subject to recall.
Call your next witness, Major.
- Call Mr. Thomas McKnight.
- You do know this one.
Thomas McKnight.
- Who is he?
- Will you raise your right hand, please?
Do you swear the testimony
you're about to give
is the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
I do.
- Please be seated.
- Thank you.
- Will you state your name
and occupation, please?
- My name is Thomas McKnight,
and I'm chief engineer
aboard the freighter Clinton
out of New York and London.
- Mr. McKnight, is there
a man in this courtroom
who you recognize and know, personally?
Yes.
Yes, I know Paul Ryker.
Now, will you tell
the court why you're in Tokyo?
- Well, I was brought here as a witness
because I recognized these pictures
in the San Francisco paper.
- Where did you know Paul Ryker?
From school,
Western State University.
- Where you lived
together, roomed together?
- That's right, for about a year.
Well, that is until Paul failed
his exams and dropped out.
You see, the four of us roomed together
in this sort of small dormitory.
Paul and me, this other kid, and Kim Lee.
- Kim Lee, Chinese?
That's right.
- Mr. McKnight, I assure you
this San Francisco newspaper
entered as prosecution
exhibit number four,
containing an account
of the trial of Paul Ryker
for traitor December the last.
Is this the newspaper you read?
That's it.
- And these are the
pictures you recognized?
- Paul Ryker and Kim Lee.
- Will you please read aloud to the court
the name in the caption
of this picture of the man
you identify as Kim Lee?
- Yes, it says here that this is a picture
of a Chinese officer named General Nam.
- General Nam?
Thank you, sir.
Your witness, Captain.
- No questions.
All right, turncoat.
Come on, swing now.
Take a swing at me now.
- Captain-
- You yellow, lying, sinner.
All right, I'm sold out.
Oh baby, I begged for it, but not her!
She did not.
Your wife, and the
United States of America,
God help 'em, did not.
- Captain, I didn't know-
- The only thing that you didn't know
was that your rotten lies
were gonna catch up with you.
- But Captain, I couldn't tell them
I went to school with General Nam.
On top of everything else,
they'd hang me for sure if that came out.
- Well, it's out brother, it's out,
and you have branded
yourself a rotten liar
in the court's book, in my
book, all the way down the line.
- Captain, I was plainly
and simply scared.
I'm a combat-
- Oh come on, Ryker!
- I got the Silver Star, but look,
I am not a mental acrobat.
Okay, so maybe I'm a lousy liar.
But when Captain Appleton
told me that morning
when the brought me in that
Colonel Chambers was dead,
and that my story could get me hung
without a trial, I got scared.
I'm still scared.
Okay, so maybe I made a
few mistakes, you know?
But I am innocent, I swear to God-
- Oh yes, I swear, oh I swear-
- I swear to you!
- Now watch it, mac.
- I swear to you that Colonel Chambers
knew about Kim Lee and me.
That's why he came to me.
- Oh, that's beautiful!
Chambers knew that
General Nam and Kim Lee,
your old college buddy
were one and the same, huh?
- That's right.
- And how did Chambers know that?
- Well, I told him.
- Oh, excuse me.
See, I thought that you only talked
to Chambers once, you know?
For about two hours.
- Oh yeah, that's true,
but I wrote him a letter before.
- Oh, you wrote him a...
- Maybe I should've mentioned it before,
but what's the use?
He burned that letter right
in front of my own eyes.
Oh boy.
- And then he came to our outfit.
We were bivouacked in this
gully outside of Langon.
He was wearing a POC's uniform.
Well, we had a smoke and he
asked me what I had in mind.
Well, back in college Kim Lee and I
were pretty good friends.
Kim Lee, General Nam.
Then he told me about
this information leak.
Then he asked me if I'd
be willing to desert,
you know, fake a desertion,
and see if I could sell
myself to General Nam.
Then maybe we could plug up the leak.
You know something else that
Colonel Chambers told me?
He said that, "Sergeant, if
you fail on this mission,
"you might have to have the courage to die
"as a spy or a traitor."
I don't wanna hang.
- Guilty or innocent, you have one chance.
Now, tell the story beginning
with Western State University
up to, and including,
the present conversation, every detail.
I told you I wouldn't
go on that stand again.
- Let me challenge them.
I don't think they can
prove that you're lying.
Let me put you on the witness stand.
- No, no, I don't want to go-
- Now look, Ryker.
All you have to do is go
through it once, calmly.
- No, I won't do it.
- You have to!
- I do not!
- Ah, here we are, David old buddy.
Just what you need most,
a jolt of gladiator tonic.
Especially concocted
for benighted idealists
who go around tilting at windmills.
Most especially welcome
on those rare occasions
when the windmills tilt back.
Justice sharpens her sword
on the skins of lawyers.
Little motto I just made up.
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
- Thank you, Leonard.
You are a balm and consolation to me.
- David, having disobeyed orders
by trying to get this second trial,
you now have a court-martial
hanging over your own head.
Now, why not throw in the
sponge on this nature's mistake?
Show General Bailey that
you are properly contrite,
and he'll most likely drop the charges.
I know he won't court-martial you
just for making a little
time with Miss Ryker.
- Oh, come off it, Leonard.
- David, you have to get
yourself off this lousy hook.
- Leonard, thank you for the drink.
Now why don't you just get lost, huh?
- 'Cause I'm trying to help you.
I'm try...
- Uh-oh.
Didn't you tell me once at Incheon
you'd become a one-woman man?
- Well, this is the one, old buddy.
Some of my best friends are pilots.
They flew her in from Incheon.
Captain Young, may I present
a small Korean passionflower, Nari?
- How do you do?
- How do you do?
Am I early?
- Not at all.
A chair.
Princess, prithee seat thyself.
- Thank you.
- Yuki?
Another double here,
a single for the lady.
David?
- Would you excuse me, please?
- Oh, don't run off, old buddy.
- No, there's somebody that I have to see.
- Well, if you feel you must.
Well, he's a little old and
slow for us anyway, huh?
- Captain, Captain.
I just wanna tell you,
I appreciate what you did
for me in the courtroom.
- It's all right, Sergeant.
- If I could return the favor.
I just promoted a Jeep.
If you want me to drive you around town-
- Well thanks, I may take
you up on that, excuse me.
Ann?
- David, I just got
through talking to Paul.
- Look, I have to talk to you, come on.
Did you manage to convince him
he's got to take that stand?
- No, I didn't.
- Oh, Ann.
- And I think he's right.
I think he would blow up.
- All right.
So he won't testify tomorrow.
- Well David, why can't
you put me on the stand
as a character witness?
- Ann, you're his wife.
Your testimony as a character
witness wouldn't mean a thing.
I got into this because there
was a principle involved.
Now I'll try the only thing left to try,
a lousy, hair-splitting technicality.
Now Sergeant Ryker was
interrogated by Captain Appleton.
Captain Appleton didn't
apprise him of his rights.
Captain Appleton has stated under oath
that he did not conduct an
official pre-trial investigation,
and therefore, he didn't have
to apprise him of his rights.
But the regulations are clear, sir.
Captain Appleton can claim that exemption
only if he was actually
in command of the post
at the time of the interrogation.
- Very well.
Seems Colonel Merriam had left the post,
and therefore, Captain Appleton
was in fact in command.
- Defense wishes to establish
at what time Colonel Merriam returned?
- Seems here he returned
after the interrogation.
- Well, that is the subject
of examination, sir.
- To what purpose, counselor?
One way or the other.
- There are precedents in support of this.
In one case, where an accused
was not properly apprised of his rights,
a general court-martial was reduced
to a special court-martial.
So the time when Colonel
Merriam actually returned
and assumed command of
his post is pertinent
in determining whether or not
this court ought to dismiss.
Very well.
Proceed.
- Thank you.
Were you on the post at
the time of interrogation?
- No, I was not on the post
at the time of interrogation.
- At what time did you return?
- I don't remember the time exactly.
- Did you go immediately to your office
after you returned to the post?
No, I first
stopped off at my quarters.
And how long did
you remain in your quarters?
- Well, to the best of my recollection,
about 30 minutes.
- Could it have been an hour, 45 minutes?
- Objection, the witness has
already answered that question.
- Sustained.
- Did you note the time
after you first arrived at your office?
I object to this
whole line of time questioning.
- Sustained.
- If the court please,
precise time is the essence
of my argument here.
- The witness has testified to
the best of his recollection,
and he is not to be harassed unduly.
Proceed.
- But how am I going to
establish exactly when the-
- The court is well aware
of what you're trying
to establish, counselor.
Proceed.
- Do you wear a watch, Colonel?
I do.
- Did you happen to look
at your watch at any time?
- Objection!
- Sustained.
- Didn't you even glance
at the office clock?
- Objection!
- Sustained!
- If the court please!
Now how is it going to be possible for me
to determine exactly who was in command
at the time of the interrogation?
- The court is not obligated
to advise you, counselor.
Please proceed.
- But you are sustaining every
objection by trial counsel.
I haven't got a chance-
- Since we're embroiled in
technicalities, Captain,
I'm sure you understand
that the court does have an
obligation to the witness.
Now will you please proceed?
- No more questions.
I have no questions
for this witness, sir.
Does the
court have any questions?
No questions.
- All right, the witness is
excused subject to recall.
Next witness, Captain.
Well?
Captain?
- Captain Young.
- Yes, sir.
All right, Ryker.
This is the end of the line, either way.
Now you can do as you see
fit, but I'm not gonna quit
until I give you one last
chance to tell your story.
Defense calls Paul William
Ryker to the stand.
- Raise your right hand, please.
Do you swear the testimony
you're about to give
is the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?
I do.
- Be seated.
State your name, rank,
organization, and armed force.
- Paul William Ryker,
Sergeant, infantry, US Army.
- Now Sergeant, I want
you to tell this court,
in your own words,
how you met Colonel Chambers,
and about all the subsequent events.
- Well.
It all started with this
photograph in the newspaper,
and the caption under it
identified the photograph as a General Nam
in the Red Chinese Army.
But I recognized him as a man that I knew
as Kim Lee at Western State University.
I thought it was my duty to bring this
to the attention of the CIC.
I thought the information
might be valuable.
Well, I didn't know Colonel Chambers,
but I knew of him,
so I sent him the information
in an envelope marked confidential.
- Poor devil, I wonder
what lies he's telling now.
Anyway, that means they're gonna wrap
this whole thing up in a few hours.
- And that's the truth.
So help me God, that is the truth.
It's the whole story, just as it happened.
- Cross examine.
- Now that's interesting, Sergeant.
Fascinating.
Well, now you've told the
whole thing, haven't you?
The whole truth.
- Yes, sir.
- The letter that you
wrote to Colonel Chambers,
I'm kind of curious as to
why you didn't mention that
in your first version of your story.
I mean, at the first trial.
- Well, maybe I should have,
but I just felt everything was against me.
- Well then at your first trial,
you did not tell the whole truth.
You lied under oath.
- No sir, I just left out one thing.
- Left out any mention of
your 10 year friendship
with Kim Lee, General
Nam as we now know him.
I wonder why.
- I already told you.
- Were you ashamed, perhaps?
- Objection, the question's
already been answered twice.
- Sustained.
- Sir, this man is
self-confessed perjurer.
When is a liar not a liar?
- Major!
- My apologies to the court, sir.
Did you desert in the field
in the presence of the enemy?
- I did not.
- You did not desert?
- I was operating under
Colonel Chambers's orders.
- A Colonel in the United States
Army ordered you to desert.
Is that your statement?
- When I accepted this assignment,
I pretended to desert.
- You pretended to be a communist,
and then you came back here
and pretended not to be one.
- I was not pretending.
- Pretending here, or pretending there?
- Pretending here.
Sergeant, you
re-enlisted in the army
just before the outbreak
of hostilities in Korea?
- That's right.
- Did you know the Red
aggression in Korea was coming?
- How could I know that?
- Well, with a friend like Kim Lee,
you might very well have
known, isn't that true?
- Objection!
- Isn't that true?
- No, don't bother to answer that.
- Did you give vital military
information to the enemy?
- You know I did.
Colonel Chambers gave me
information to give them.
- Colonel Chambers gave you
vital military information
to hand down to the enemy?
- No, not vital.
- By what means were you
passing the information
before you crossed the lines to join them?
- Before?
- I object, sir.
- Yes, before!
He's badgering my witness.
That will do!
Now both of you have been
badgering this court.
Now at the next violation
of proper conduct,
I'm going to suspend and
write letters of reprimand.
- What does that mean?
Does that mean they can
call me a liar and a spy
as long as they're polite about it?
- That will do, Ryker.
- No, I'm beginning to
see who's on trial here,
and it's not me.
It's that lousy rulebook.
- Ryker.
- Yeah, Paul William Ryker,
may he rest in peace.
Where am I?
Did you look at my cell?
Did I fall off the world or something?
Words come out of my mouth,
they don't mean one lousy thing?
- Sergeant, I'd better advise you.
Anything you say-
- I don't need any of your
advice, just let me outta here.
Sergeant, you
have not been dismissed.
Sit down.
- Shut your mouth-
- I don't have to shut my mouth.
Captain, I don't give a hoot
about your conduct here.
I open my mouth, nobody hears, huh?
I told you not to put me on that stand,
but you put me there anyway.
It's all pretty clear to me now.
You and my wife, oh boy, just great, huh?
And you!
Boy, just great, huh?
Great American tradition.
Okay boys, gonna hold a
little honest trial here,
and then we're gonna hang him, huh?
Oh boy.
Look, go ahead and do
anything you wanna do,
but you're not gonna make
a patsy outta me anymore.
You know, I put my life on the line.
My life on the line!
And you put me through this!
Go ahead, hang me.
But I'mma tell you something.
You're dead already.
When I think of what I did in
China-Burma for guys like you,
and nobody cared, 'cause when
the little guys were gone,
the fat-mouthed brass hats took over, huh?
A sick society that despised me
'cause they owe me so much!
Now you won't even give
me a credit card, huh?
You wanna know what happened over there?
They believed me.
They made me a Major, with honors.
And you are gonna make me a patsy?
Go on, put a rope around my neck.
Stop my mind.
I tried to save
some American lives, but
forget what I did, huh?
Just hang me, stop my thinking,
what I think about you.
You and your proper conduct.
You and your lousy,
everything that you stand for.
Because I only made one mistake, boys!
I came back!
- I'll go back tomorrow
and go through the motions.
General Bailey's in Tokyo.
I've asked him to appear, but
it's just mechanical, Ann.
I can't save him, it's over.
- Captain Young?
- Yes, Sergeant?
- I don't know whether
this is important or not,
but I heard this scuttlebutt today.
About the trial, something
about you trying to find out
if Colonel Chambers was in the habit
of sending guys out on
strictly secret assignments.
- That's no scuttlebutt, Sergeant.
- Well, he was my CO, sir.
Always used to run around
doing things for him, you know?
And he actually only sent
me out once, on the QT,
so you couldn't exactly say
he was in the habit of it.
Besides, it was no big deal or anything.
- No, wait a minute, hold on.
Are you saying that Colonel Chambers
once gave you a secret assignment?
- Well, I guess you could call it that.
He asked me not to tell anybody, sir.
- All right, Captain.
You may proceed.
- Defense wishes to recall
a prosecution witness, sir,
for further cross examination.
Sergeant Max Winkler.
- If the court please,
I've been requested to appear here.
Now, hasn't my deposition
been received and noted?
- Yes, General.
Thank you for coming, sir.
If you'd just sit down?
Counselor,
would it be possible
to accommodate the General now?
- Well, I'm sorry sir,
but I have another witness
to present before the-
- Captain Young,
do you realize the General
is on a very tight schedule?
- Sir, I have no power to do anything
but request your appearance here,
and I appreciate that
you've honored that request,
but naturally, if you feel
that your duties elsewhere require it,
I'll excuse you as a witness.
Would you like to sit down here?
Call Sergeant Winkler.
- Sergeant Max Winkler.
Sergeant,
you're still under oath.
Please take the stand.
Proceed.
- Sergeant, you were attached to CIC?
Yes, sir.
- And Colonel Chambers was
your commanding officer?
- Yes, sir.
- Captain Appleton has
testified that Colonel Chambers
never gave confidential assignments.
Do you agree?
- No, sir.
He once gave me a confidential assignment.
- But wouldn't the
Colonel's personal aide,
Captain Appleton, know about this?
- No, sir.
- Why not?
- The Colonel told me not to tell him.
He told me not to tell anybody,
not even members of
his own personal staff.
Now Sergeant,
what was this confidential,
secret mission?
- Well, he wanted to find
out about this Korean girl.
Where she lived, things like that.
- And did you give him
the information he sought?
- No sir, I was getting it all together,
and then he was killed.
- Would you please mark this
as defense exhibit number
one for identification?
Thank you.
Major?
Sir.
- Defense exhibit number
one for identification
is admitted in evidence as
defense exhibit number one.
- Sergeant, I show you this notebook.
Do you recognize it?
- Yes, sir, that's my book.
When Colonel Chambers gave
me the name of the suspect,
I wrote it in that book.
- Well, would you please
indicate where you wrote it?
- Yes, sir.
It's right here, the very last page.
- Your witness, Major.
- No questions.
- Court have any questions?
- No questions.
The witness
is excused, subject to recall.
- Defense recalls Captain Appleton.
Captain Leonard Appleton.
Captain,
you're still under oath.
Please take the stand.
- Yes, sir.
- Leonard?
How long have we known each other?
- Oh, six, seven months.
- And from time to time,
you've confided in me.
I was going to say about your romances,
but I don't mean to imply
they've all been confidential.
I don't want to embarrass you, Leonard.
I simply want to establish
that we've had drinks together,
and you've talked to me
about the girls you've dated.
- Have to be more
careful who I drink with.
- You say too much when
you've had too many?
- Makin' that very clear, old buddy.
- For several months now,
you've been keeping steady company
with one particular Korean girl.
Yes or no?
- Yes.
And this girl recently
flew from Korea to Tokyo
to join you here?
- Yes.
- Were you with her two nights ago?
- Well, you know I was, you saw us.
- And the night before that?
- Yes.
- And last night?
As a matter of fact, you've
been with her every night
since she arrived here in Tokyo.
Now isn't that true?
- Yes.
- Tell me.
Did you usually have a
few before these visits?
- Did I have a-
- Drinks, a few drinks.
- Had a highball or two.
- No, come on, Leonard.
More like five or six.
Five or six doubles?
- Doubles?
- Shall I subpoena the hotel bartender?
- I did not keep tally.
- When you visited with this woman,
didn't you customarily bring
along a supply of liquor?
- What in the name,
where's the relevance of all this?
- Captain?
What is the name of this woman
whom you've been seeing regularly?
Drinking and talking with regularly
for the past four or five months?
Nari.
You see this
Korean name written here?
- Yes, I see it.
Would you read it aloud, please?
- You're trying to
humiliate me, old buddy.
And Lord knows for what reason.
Sir, do I have to take this
kind of personal abuse from him?
- Captain, I see no reason
why you shouldn't cooperate
unless you're afraid that
you'll be incriminated.
- Incriminate?
Course I don't think
I'll incriminate myself.
I mean, I don't understand how I could.
Now, the name written here is Nari.
It is the name of the Korean
lady at my acquaintance.
Leonard, the court
has just heard evidence
that Colonel Chambers did
indeed give a secret assignment.
So secret that the man involved was told
not even to inform you of his mission,
which was to investigate this
particular Korean girl, Nari.
- No, no, no, no, that can't be.
I mean, I know this lady's character.
Sure, there might've been a
routine investigation, but-
- Last night, I tried to subpoena Nari.
She ran out on the MPs that
were sent to serve her.
This morning, I learned
that she's asked for
and been granted political asylum
in the Soviet embassy.
- Oh my god.
Oh my god.
- No questions.
- Does the court have any questions?
- No questions.
- Captain, you're excused
subject to recall.
- Have Appleton placed under arrest
and confine him to quarters under guard.
- The defense rests.
- This court will reconvene
tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock
if a verdict has been reached.
Adjourned.
- Are they going to set him free?
- There's no question of that.
The only question is,
what comes after?
- Regardless of the verdict,
he'll never be completely cleared.
There'll be those who won't believe him,
or trust him.
He'll have his life,
just his life, that's all.
- You think he's innocent?
- Yes.
- Well, he'll have that too, won't he?
They'll let you see him now.
- Sergeant Paul William Ryker?
This court, in closed session,
and upon secret written ballot,
has found you not guilty of the charge
and all specifications.
This court is adjourned.
- Thank you, counselor.
- You are a persistent,
stubborn, hard-headed man.
But whatever else you did,
you plugged a security
leak that was costing us.
- Thank you, sir.
- And you saved the life
of a man who might be
one of the war's great heroes.
You corroborated his story.
- I corroborated the part
about the security leak, yes.
And I believe that I
raised a reasonable doubt
about his guilt.
- You mean that you're not
convinced of his innocence?
- General, there are only two men
who could ever really know for sure
whether Ryker's a traitor or a hero.
Colonel Chambers, of course, was one.
- And the other?
- Sergeant Ryker.