The Men (1950)

If there was ever a movie that screams “remake,’ it’s The Men.

This 1950 classic, which marked the screen debut of Marlon Brando, is a gritty look at the lives of a group of paraplegic veterans trying to cope with life without the use of their limbs. Of course, The Men was made more than half a century ago, long before ‘gritty’ meant lots of violence and gore in glorious Technicolor. The grit here is emotional and it’s as raw and honest as anything being portrayed on film today.

The story focuses on Bud Wilcheck (Brando), a moody loner who lost his will to live when he lost the use of his lower half. Frustrated by Bud’s lack of progress, his doctor (a wonderful performance by Everett Stone) takes him out of his private room and put him in the ward with the more hardened veterans, hoping a hard dose of the reality he will face for the rest of his life will snap him out of his self misery.

The interaction of the men on the ward – some of them not actors but actual patients of the Birmingham Paraplegic Hospital where the film was shot – is fascinating to watch, even though it feel more than a little dated at times. The conflict between Bud and his new wife (Teresa Wright) is equally poignant.

The Men may focus on the generation who fought the ‘good fight’ of World War II, but its message has the potentially to be more powerful when applied to the men and women coming home from the war today.

Starring Marlon Brando,Teresa Wright.

IMDB Site.