Sergeant Ryker (1968)

During the Korean war, an Army sergeant by the name of Ryker (Lee Marvin) has been court martialed and found guilty of treason for deserting and going over to the Red Chinese. However, he insists he was under a secret assignment by a high ranking Colonel that no one knew about. The only problem is that the Colonel is now dead and cannot corroborate his story. Directed by Buzz Kulik (VILLA RIDES), this was originally made for television some five years earlier (1963) when Marvin wasn't yet a Star but released to cinemas as a feature film after his Oscar win for CAT BALLOU made him a box office leading man. It looks like a TV movie and its limited budget didn't allow location shooting so the Universal back lot subs for Japan and Korea with obvious stock footage inserted into the film for an air attack by North Korea as well as the landscape. That aside, the film works as a decent if unmemorable courtroom suspenser even though Ryker's guilt or innocence is purposely left ambiguous. The underscore is an early effort by John Williams. With Vera Miles as Ryker's wife, Bradford Dillman as his defense attorney, Lloyd Nolan, Peter Graves, Murray Hamilton and Norman Fell.