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Title: An ingenious story-line and very well acted
Review: Harmon J. Cobb (Walter Matthau) is a small town lawyer who is ordered by District Court Judge Bell (Harry Warren) to defend a German prisoner-of-war, Sergeant Wilhelm Geiger (Peter Firth), who is accused to murdering the local prison camp doctor, Doc Hansen. It seems a straightforward case and Cobb is as convinced as everyone else at the start of Geiger's guilt. But then a `confession' by the doc. is discovered which casts a doubt about a previous camp death as well as his own. And as Cobb investigates, much to the annoyance of Judge Bell who wanted a quick verdict, some disturbing facts emerge about the p.o.w. camp, Camp Bremen, and its supervisor, Major Lilly(Joe Horvath). Cobb engages the help of the local town marshal (William Schallert) to investigate further and a whole conspiracy emerges. This is an excellent film with a convincing plot and very well acted.
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