1954 film
Prisoner of War is a 1954 American war–drama film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Ronald Reagan, Steve Forrest, Dewey Martin and Oskar Homolka.[2]
Plot
An American officer volunteers to be captured in order to investigate claims of abuse against American POWs in North Korean camps during the Korean War.
Production notes
The working titles of this film were The P.O.W. Story and The Prisoner of War Story. Production Dates: 12 Dec 1953–2 Jan 1954
Capt. Robert H. Wise, who lost 90 lbs in a North Korean POW camp, served as the film's technical advisor and said that the torture scenes in the movie were based on actual incidents.
Release of the film created a minor controversy. The U.S. Army had assisted production and made edits in the script, but approval was abruptly reversed on the eve of release. The depiction of mistreatment of prisoners complicated the courts martial of POW collaborators that were proceeding at the time.
The brainwashing and abuse of American prisoners of war during the Korean War was also dramatized in P.O.W. (1953), The Bamboo Prison (1954), and The Manchurian Candidate (1962, starring Frank Sinatra).
Reception
According to MGM records the film made $785,000 in the US and Canada and $292,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $111,000.[1]
Historical accuracy
Author Robert J. Lentz of the book Korean War Filmography: 91 English Language Features through 2000 states that the film was "undeniably overstated".
