Home of the Brave is an extremely important movie, but no one has ever heard of it. Produced by Stanley Kramer, who was famous for coming in on time on a shoestring budget, it took a handful of non-famous stars and a shocking script by 1949 standards. James Edwards, a black actor whom no one has heard of, pre-dated Sidney Poitier and undoubtedly hated his stardom for the rest of his life. While Poitier played doctors, policemen, teachers, and the like, Edwards created that persona the year prior to his screen debut. Edwards played a soldier who experienced racial tensions when he was transferred to an all-white platoon during WWII. As anyone who knows their history knows, the Armed Forces were segregated at that time. Edwards's unexpected transfer would have been not only rare, but very disconcerting to the rest of the platoon.
Lloyd Bridges, Steve Brodie, Frank Lovejoy, and Douglas Dick are the other soldiers. This is a very intimate story, easy to imagine being performed on the stage (although in the original version, the ostracized character is Jewish and not black). Dimitri Tiomkin's music is very distracting, nearly ruining it, but the movie is important enough to get past it. Thankfully, the most important scenes have very little music. Jeff Corey plays Edwards's doctor who guides him through some intense psychological breakthroughs. It's one of the largest roles of Corey's career, and it's worth watching. Despite a moving, emotional performance, Edwards, unfortunately, didn't have a career full of leads. He was replaced the very next year by Sidney Poitier and took bit parts until his death. Now, all he's known for are playing Patton's valet and the crewman who scoops the strawberries in The Caine Mutiny.
Lloyd Bridges, Steve Brodie, Frank Lovejoy, and Douglas Dick are the other soldiers. This is a very intimate story, easy to imagine being performed on the stage (although in the original version, the ostracized character is Jewish and not black). Dimitri Tiomkin's music is very distracting, nearly ruining it, but the movie is important enough to get past it. Thankfully, the most important scenes have very little music. Jeff Corey plays Edwards's doctor who guides him through some intense psychological breakthroughs. It's one of the largest roles of Corey's career, and it's worth watching. Despite a moving, emotional performance, Edwards, unfortunately, didn't have a career full of leads. He was replaced the very next year by Sidney Poitier and took bit parts until his death. Now, all he's known for are playing Patton's valet and the crewman who scoops the strawberries in The Caine Mutiny.