''Three Brave Men'' is a 1956

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Philip Dunne and starring

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

and

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

. The film was based on real-life events arising in

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New Dea ...

,Knepper, Cathy D. ''Greenbelt, Maryland: A Living Legacy of the New Deal''.

JHU Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, 2001. , 9780801864902. p
107
the investigation of

Abraham Chasanow Abraham Chasanow (December 1, 1910 – June 11, 1989) was a United States government employee who was suspended from employment in July 1953, during the McCarthy era, on the grounds that he was a security risk. He was later reinstated. Career ...

, a U.S. government employee, as a security risk in 1954-55.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the film a "plainly pussyfooting picture" in which "the obvious point of the real-life drama is avoided and an imaginary target is devised." The film assigned blame to a vague personal enemy and local gossips while the role of those responsible for the investigation, in his view, was "sweetly glossed". Chasanow's name in the film is Bernie Goldsmith. Chasanow served as an adviser on the film.

Plot

Communist conspiracies seem to be everywhere in the 1950s, particularly in Washington, D.C., where word has reached John Rogers, the Secretary of the Navy, that one of his subordinates is strongly suspected to be a Communist sympathizer. Bernie Goldsmith has no idea that he is the man in question as he enjoys his daughter's school essay on patriotism. The news that he is being suspended from work and investigated comes as a complete shock to him. Friends and neighbors, including a Protestant minister and a Catholic neighbor, rally to Bernie's side after others begin to shun him. Joe DiMarco agrees to represent him in court, where a female lieutenant, Mary Jane McCoy, paints a suspicious picture of Bernie in the Navy's eyes. Others recant their original testimony against Bernie. Some witnesses discredit themselves when they issue antisemitic tirades about Jewish control of industry or a Jewish-Communist conspiracy. Joe's diligent work results in conclusive testimony that Bernie is not a Communist and all charges against him are dismissed. A grateful Bernie can not wait to be reinstated at work. Secretary Rogers, however, has stubbornly decided that he still cannot trust him. Months go by, with Bernie unable to find gainful employment. Those who believe in Bernie go to great lengths again to get the Secretary to apologize and restore the innocent man's good name.

Cast

as Joe DiMarco *

as Bernard F. "Bernie" Goldsmith * Frank Lovejoy as Capt. Amos Winfield U.S.N. *

Nina Foch Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appea ...

as Lt. Mary Jane McCoy *

Dean Jagger Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). Early life Dean Jeffrie ...

as John W. Rogers, Secretary of the Navy *

Virginia Christine Virginia Christine (born Virginia Christine Ricketts; March 5, 1920 – July 24, 1996) was an American stage, radio, film, television, and voice actress. Though Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television, she i ...

as Helen Goldsmith *

Edward Andrews Edward Bryan Andrews Jr. (October 9, 1914 – March 8, 1985) was an American stage, film and television actor. Andrews was one of the most recognizable character actors on television and films from the 1950s into the 1980s. His stark white hair ...

as Mayor Henry L. Jensen * Frank Faylen as Enos Warren *

Diane Jergens Diane Jergens (born Dianne Irgens; March 31, 1935 – October 9, 2018) was an American film and television actress. Early years Jergens was the daughter of Norman C. Irgens, an alderman in Minneapolis, and his wife. In 1944, at age 8, she au ...

as Shirley Goldsmith *

Warren Berlinger Warren Berlinger (August 31, 1937 – December 2, 2020) was an American character actor, with Broadway runs, movie and television credits, and much work in commercials. Early life Warren Berlinger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, ...

as Harr6 Goldsmith *

Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage. Background Duggan was born in ...

as Pastor Stephen Browing *

Joseph Wiseman Joseph Wiseman (May 15, 1918 – October 19, 2009) was a Canadian-American theatre, film, and television actor who starred as the villain Julius No in the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No'' in 1962. Wiseman was also known for his role as Manny We ...

as Jim Barron * James Westerfield as Chief of Police Timothy Aloysius O'Reilly *

Richard Anderson Richard Norman Anderson (August 8, 1926 – August 31, 2017) was an American film and television actor. Among his best-known roles was his portrayal of Oscar Goldman, the boss of Steve Austin ( Lee Majors) and Jaime Sommers ( Lindsay Wagner) i ...

as Naval It. Bill Horton *

Olive Blakeney Olive Blakeney (August 21, 1894 October 21, 1959) was an American actress. Early years Blakeney was born in Kentucky and attended the Cincinnati School of Expression. Career Blakeney played as a super in visiting stage shows at $1 per perfor ...

as Miss Victoria Scott * Jason Wingreen as Perry *

Robert Burton Robert Burton (8 February 1577 – 25 January 1640) was an English author and fellow of Oxford University, who wrote the encyclopedic tome '' The Anatomy of Melancholy''. Born in 1577 to a comfortably well-off family of the landed gentry, Bur ...

as W. L. Dietz

Production

The film was originally called ''The Chasanow Story'' and was announced in March 1956. It was based on a series of articles by Anthony Lewis. The producer was Herbert Swope and the writer director was Phillip Dunne, who had just collaborated on ''

Hilda Crane ''Hilda Crane'' (also known as ''The Many Loves of Hilda Crane'') is a 1956 American drama film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Philip Dunne and produced by Herbert B. Swope Jr. from a screenplay adapted by Dunne from the play by S ...

''. The title was eventually changed to ''Three Brave Men'', based on the title of a newspaper editorial after Chasanow had been reinstated. Producer Swope wanted

to play Chasanow and

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

to play his attorney. Eventually the leads were played by Borgnine and Ray Milland. Filming began in September. Borgnine was loaned out by Hecht Hill Lancaster. He later sued that company for money owing him on the fees he (and they) earned on ''The Catered Affair'', ''The Best Things in Life Are Free'' and ''Three Brave Men''.

Script

In July 1956, Twentieth-Century Fox submitted to the U.S. Navy a copy of the screenplay for review as a general cooperative "voluntary censorship" act routinely practiced at the time when a film involved the U.S. military. The acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas S. Gates, Jr., found it misleading and at his request Dunne produced a revised version making it clear, in the Navy's words, that "the Chasanow case was far from being a typical case and that under current procedures it could not happen again." He also removed direct references to antisemitism as a motivation for the proceedings against Chasanow. Another draft was required to identify international Communism as the threat that required rigorous security procedures. In his autobiography, Dunne regretted that he did not make the film he first imagined, "a Kafkaesque tale of the denial of human rights," "a story (the true one) of unseen terror, of a man fighting in the dark against unseen enemies," unable to draw upon his constitutional rights to defend himself. The point of view, he wrote, became that of the Navy and its crusade to maintain security, making only a rare mistake. The film's closing words delivered by a Navy official whitewashed the Navy's responsibility for Chasanow's persecution: "A free country learns from its mistakes. I offer you the Navy's apology for the grave injustice you've suffered."

References

Sources

External links

* {{Philip Dunne 1956 films Films with screenplays by Philip Dunne Films directed by Philip Dunne Greenbelt, Maryland 20th Century Fox films CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films American drama films American films based on actual events 1950s American films