The Incident

One of the earlier reviews of this fine little TV movie suggested that it stretched credulity to believe that German POWs would be found so far from Europe. Yet by the end of the war, over 375,000 German POWs were in several hundred camps throughout the United States, mostly in the South and Southwest, far from critical war industries in the Midwest and along the Eastern seaboard. There were over 425,000 total Axis prisoners in the US by 1945.

The Incident is a really well-made movie. Director Joseph Sargent, still at it in his late 70s or early 80s, created memorable TV and theatrical films such as "The Marcus Nelson Murders" (to become Kojak), "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three", "Miss Evers' Boys", and "A Lesson Before Dying."

This movie was interesting and unpredictable. Walter Matthau is ordered by a federal judge to defend a German POW accused of killing the town's doctor. He doesn't want the job and has no defense to present. The townfolks react badly at times to him having the case, but fortunately the reaction is mild and the movie doesn't dwell on that, as a million other movies have done. There is no real threat to him or his daughter-in-law or granddaughter.

William Schallert, the town cop and a family friend, ends up helping Mr. Matthau look for evidence of what happened the night the doctor was killed. They find out something shocking. Just as it's revealed the judge has a shocking agenda. But is the prosecuting attorney in on it, too? A well-done film that balances the events of a murder trial with a family dealing with the war on a very personal level.

This is a fantastic movie about the home front during WWII. The performances by Walter Matthau and Peter Firth are outstanding. William Schallert, that wonderful character actor, is superb as well. Also, Robert Carradine does a good job in a small role. I was happy to see that this movie is available on DVD because it was originally a made for TV movie. Highly recommend. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 4/9/2021.

Top-notch acting, excellent research, and interesting characters punctuate this intriguing story. Deftly mixing humor with personal anguish and political intrigue, the plot twists it way towards a surprising conclusion. The production values are so good, It's hard to believe that this is a made-for-TV movie. Appropriate for the entire family.

I was pleasantly suprised by this made for TV murder movie.

Walter Matthau plays his part well and the storyline has enough twists and turns to keep your attention up. Added to this is that there is a strong storyline that doesn't insult the intelligence too much and has elements of realism to it (although not quite sure how German POW's managed to make it to the USA from Germany)

Worth a look 7/10