In the waning days of the Korean War, a small group of American soldiers is responsible for loading oil onto a neutral freighter. Before the job is completed, an enemy plane shoots at them, killing one of the GI's. The remaining three soldiers capture the downed bomber, taking him aboard the freighter with them. Speaking with his South Korean headquarters, Sgt. Briscoe (Kirk Douglas) receives an order to execute the prisoner, and with 19 years of service under his belt and a military pension on the line, Sgt. Briscoe is determined that the orders be carried out; he instructs Private Dennison (Robert Walker) to do the job.
Insisting that killing a man out of combat is murder, Pvt. Dennison refuses to do as commanded, which puts him at odds with his superior. Having seen a fellow GI refuse to kill a Japanese soldier at Guadalcanal during the last war, Sgt. Briscoe insists that to refuse to kill the enemy is to be soft and that being soft will result in one's own death at the hands of the enemy. Besides, he tells Dennison, an order is an order, and it must be obeyed. But Pvt. Dennison will not be swayed---he will not execute the prisoner, whom he has come to see as a man like himself, with a name, a wife, a child.
Sgt. Hackett (Nick Adams), too, begins to suffer an agony of conscience and will not obey the command to kill the prisoner. If the man is to die, it will be at the hands of the one given the order---Sgt. Briscoe. But will he do it? Or will Privates Dennison and Hackett be able to convince him that such an order is one not to be obeyed? How it all plays out is the balance of the film.
Based on the French novel L'Hamecon, The Hook is a gripping, wonderfully-acted film. Kirk Douglas gives a terrific, mesmerizing performance. He is absolutely superb. Nick Adams is very good too, as is Robert Walker, in his first film appearance. Though billed as Robert Walker, this is Robert Walker, Jr., son of Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker. Wow, does he look like his dad. Enrique (Pancho) Magalona is also terrific. Because of the language barrier between the men, his character speaks very little---at least with his mouth. His eyes, on the other hand, speak volumes.
One word of warning---the racial slur "gook" is used dozens of times in this film. Of course, given that it is a war film and was made in the 1960's, that is to be expected, but I always want to point out those things which viewers will find offensive. The final line of the film---"Any day a war ends is a good day"---is as meaningful and powerful now as it was then.
A great discussion-piece kind of film, The Hook may, unfortunately, be a little difficult to track down. I don't believe it is out on DVD, nor is it on the TCM schedule anytime soon. I think it's well worth keeping an eye out for, though. For me, it is easily a 4-star film.
Happy viewing!!
