The Incident

In the early to mid-1990s, three TV movies were made starring Walter Matthau and Harry Morgan. Each story is about the same characters and it follows them over several years during the 1940s. I saw the second, "Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore" and had no idea it was a sequel or that there was a sequel to it. However, the acting and production were so good in "Against Her Will", I decided to find the other two films, "The Incident" and "Incident in a Small Town"...and, fortunately, all three are on YouTube.

This first movie has an impressive cast of familiar faces. In addition to Matthau and Morgan, Barnard Hughes, Robert Carradine, and William Schallert are on hand to provide support.

This film is set in Colorado* during WWII and soon after the story begins, a doctor (Barnard Hughes) is beaten to death at a nearby Prisoner of War camp. A German prisoner is soon charged with his murder and Herman Cobb (Walter Matthau) is shocked when he is chosen to represent the German. After all, Cobb's own son is in Europe fighting the Nazis and Cobb has no interest in the case. But the presiding judge (Harry Morgan) is insistent...and even threatens Cobb to get him to take the case.

Soon after taking the case, it becomes obvious that the prisoner's conviction is pretty much a foregone conclusion and perhaps that is why such a small-time lawyer was 'persuaded' to take the case! But there's far, far more to the story than this...and, believe it or not, it's based on real cases which occurred during the war...cases in which German prisoners were murdering other German prisoners!

The acting in this film is simply supurb....which is what I'd expect with such a cast. Additionally, the writing and production itself clearly are stellar as well. In fact, it's so good that it's surprising it was made for TV...but not at all surprising that the film led to the sequels.

*Oddly, the film is set in the Colorado area but the sequel is in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Apparently, the Judge moved from Colorado to Maryland...though this was never explained.

Great story, sensitive direction and superb acting from Peter Firth and Walter Mathau. Firth best known for Flipside of Dominic Hide, Rome and Spooks plays against character but is utterly convincing as a Nazi charged with the murder of a fellow POW.

Mathau as always turns in wonderful performance as the small town lawyer his style contrasting brilliantly with Firth's powerful but minimalist acting. Story raises many issues that are especially powerful in today's highly partisan political climate when we strangers living in our midst.

Watch this movie you will not be disappointed.

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."

I've *just* finished watching this movie on a fuzzy, out-of-range over-the-air television station and I completely agree with the previous comment that this is a good little made for television movie and it could have made a pretty enjoyable series. It's undeniably Matlockesque, but with Walter Matthau as the nosy attorney it has a markedly different tone than that of the popular series starring Andy Griffith.

The "differentiator" for this show is that it's set as a period piece, though the writing isn't especially deft at pulling you into the time period and some of the details (such as prisoner's clothing) is likely incorrect for the period.

IMDb indicates that there are two more of these shows... and sure enough, even as I write this comment, the second "episode" of this "movie series" has started running on that over-the-air station. You can't help but think that this may have been an abortive (or unsteady) attempt to take these characters into a regular series.

Really, if you have the chance to catch it on cable or order it from your favorite DVD rental house, give this show a whirl. If nothing else, you'll enjoy seeing Harry Morgan (of M*A*S*H fame) playing a crusty old judge with a strange hate/pity relationship with Matthau's lazy-man attorney... good stuff!

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.