The Bedford Incident
Director: James B. Harris
Year Released: 1965
Rating: 3.0
Harris does a magnificent job in creating tension on board a U.S. battleship during the Cold War, using the inherently claustrophobic sets to maximum potential. Richard Widmark is positively brilliant as a Queegesque Neo-fascist bent on destroying a Russian sub, while his crew (made to feel sexually inferior?) obey his every command. Sidney Poitier plays the photojournalist trying to decipher the appeal of Widmark, and acts as the moral conscience of the ship, questioning where others mindlessly submit. Fails in some of the scenes with extensive dialogue - namely the scenes where Poitier and Widmark argue ethics outright - and in the ending straight out of Stanley Kramer, but the rest of the picture is compelling.
