Military Prisons in Popular Culture
Military prisons and the treatment of military prisoners have often figured prominently in modern literature, cinema and even politics. In the 19th century, written accounts of the barbaric treatment accorded prisoners on both sides during the Napoleonic and Crimean wars helped lead to the founding of the Red Cross and the promulgation of the Geneva Conventions.
There are numerous examples of 20th and 21st-century cinema dealing with military prisons, including Hart's War (2002), starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell as American POWs in a German prison camp, continuing in a cinematic vein begun by Stalag 17 (1953). Stalag 17 portrays the struggles of a group of American airmen in a German Luftwaffe prison and is based on the play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. The Dirty Dozen (1967) features General Worden (Ernest Borgnine) ordering Major John Reisman (Lee Marvin) to recruit, train, and arm 12 convicted felons sentenced to the death penalty or lengthy sentences to parachute into Occupied France prior to D-Day to assassinate German generals and their staff at a chalet used as a rest centre. The Caine Mutiny (1954) starring Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray and Van Johnson dealt with the military legal system during World War II.
The Hill (1965) starring Sean Connery was set in a British military penal camp in North Africa during World War II. The Great Escape (1963), starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn, Richard Attenborough, details the true-life adventures of a mixed group of Allied prisoners attempting to escape from a German Luftwaffe stalag.
Andersonville (1996) and The Andersonville Trial (1970), both TV movies, dealt with the conditions at Andersonville Prison and its aftermath. George C. Scott directed and starred in the latter, along with William Shatner; the movie was based on an earlier play by Saul Levitt, who worked on The Untouchables TV series. The Last Castle (2001) shows Robert Redford as an important US Army General who is sent to a military prison after contradicting a direct order given by the Commander-in-Chief. Once in prison, he begins to gather the support of inmates, much to the despair of the director of the facility, a Colonel played by James Gandolfini who dislikes losing his authority to a convicted felon.
Some of the late-20th-century military novels of American writer W.E.B. Griffin make mention of the former Portsmouth Naval Prison facility. In Semper Fi, Book I in The Corps series, the main character, Cpl. Ken McCoy finds himself assigned to a prisoner detail, which is riding on the same civilian train that McCoy is taking to his new post.
The Last Detail, 1973, starring Jack Nicholson and Otis Young is a film that tells the story of two sailors assigned to a temporary detail transporting a prisoner (Randy Quaid) from Norfolk to Portsmouth to begin serving a sentence for theft.
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