The screenplay for The Bamboo Prison (by Edwin Blum and Jack DeWitt) was obviously influenced by Billy Wilder's recent (and very successful) WWII comedy-drama Stalag 17 (1953). It freely "borrows" several aspects of that film's plot and character types, but introduces a brainwashing motivation as well as a major female character. Following a 40-day death march, the 70 survivors from a group of 166 U.S. and United Nations soldiers and peacekeepers are led into a North Korean Prisoner-of-War camp. The new arrivals in Barracks #3 are furious to learn that the only cot available is reserved for MSgt. John A. Rand (Robert Francis), who is, in the words of one prisoner, a "stinking collaborator. Commies have a fancy name for it Progressive." The other men are treated terribly, lacking proper medication and food, while mornings are brutally interrupted by blaring music played though loudspeakers. Father Francis Dolan (E. G. Marshall) does what he can to help morale by smuggling occasional bars of soap or other items to the men. A constant at the camp are the lectures by Li Ching (Keye Luke) and other brainwashing attempts by the Chinese Communists. During one lecture, "Arkansas" (Jerome Courtland) mocks the session by leading the men in a sarcastic song called "Oh, We've Never Had It So Good Before." When Rand points out the mockery, "Arkansas" is sent to the Icehouse solitary confinement because, "you have answered Proletarian hospitality with Bourgeois ingratitude." One of the new arrivals, Cpl. Brady (Brian Keith), observes the men's treatment of Rand, and learns the truth about Rand's beliefs during a private conversation. Rand continues to earn special privileges, including contact with Russian brainwashing expert Comrade Clayton (Murray Matheson) and his wife Tanya (Dianne Foster), a former ballerina.
In his book A guide to films on the Korean War, Paul M. Edwards writes that The Bamboo Prison "...attempts to be the Korean Stalag 17 (1953). ...[It] tries, and generally fails, to provide an excuse for those prisoners who, after years of confinement and re-training, made their decision not to return to the United States. The film's suggestion, that some Americans who were called 'turncoats' in the Korean and Chinese prisoner-of-war camps, were there as agents working for the United States, does not hold water. There is no evidence this was true for Americans, but was in fact the case for the Chinese, who deliberately sent men to be captured in order to organize the camps and cause difficulty later on." Edwards asserts that producer Foy sought out approval from the Defense Department, but the U.S. military did not offer any assistance to the film, "...because at the time the film was being prepared, the United States government was planning to prosecute some returned POWs. It was felt that the projected film would mislead Americans about the prisons as well as the prisoners."
Edwards also wrote, "Despite its many flaws and limited accuracy, this film did provide a strong introduction to the experience that has been identified as 'brainwashing.' And, despite efforts to the contrary, it showed Americans as being rather weak when dealing with captivity. The captured Americans displayed little or no confidence when placed under serious stress or crisis." This latter point may have been one reason that The Bamboo Prison ran into some censorship trouble upon release. In January of 1955 local censors in Memphis, Tennessee announced that they would ban the film, and called it "unpatriotic" and "[not] a good picture for our young people to see." Columbia Pictures responded in April by threatening suit against the Memphis Board of Censors. In an April 9, 1955 article in Boxoffice magazine titled "Memphis 'Chickens Out' On Censorship Test," a lawyer for Columbia, William W. Goodman, said that he was actually disappointed that the ban was not challenged in court. "We did not ask the board to reverse itself," he said. "Frankly, I wish they hadn't. We don't like censorship per se, and not the kind used on The Bamboo Prison. I believe we would have had the matter reversed in the lower court, but if not there, in the higher court." The article noted that the chairman of the censor board, Lloyd T. Binford, was 88 years old, and that the other three members of the board, all women, were divided on the ban reversal. One of the women, a Mrs. St. Elmo Newton, agreed to the reversal but told Boxoffice, "I still think it's a rotten picture, though."
Keye Luke makes a memorable appearance in The Bamboo Prison as Comrade-Instructor Li Ching, a Chinese officer in charge of "thought reform." Humor is wrung from the fact that he is clueless to sarcasm, so the POWs have some fun at his expense. Nicknames are common and at one point a prisoner spies Li Chung approaching the barracks and says, "Here comes Charlie Chan." This gag serves double duty as an inside joke, since Keye Luke played Lee Chan, the #1 Son of the famed detective, in numerous films dating back to 1935.
The Bamboo Prison was the third of only four films featuring Robert Francis, all made for Columbia Pictures. Following an impressive debut as the lead opposite Donna Reed in the Phil Karlson western They Rode West (1954), Francis appeared in Edward Dmytryk's The Caine Mutiny (1954). His final film was The Long Gray Line (1955), directed by John Ford. Francis was a pilot and was killed on July 31, 1955 after crashing following takeoff from Burbank Airport in a small private plane; he was only 25 years old.
Producer: Bryan Foy
Director: Lewis Seiler
Screenplay: Edwin Blum (screenplay); Jack DeWitt (screenplay and story)
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Art Direction: Cary Odell
Music: Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Film Editing: Henry Baptista
Cast: Robert Francis (MSgt. John A. Rand), Dianne Foster (Tanya Clayton), Brian Keith (Cpl. Brady), Jerome Courtland (Arkansas), E.G. Marshall (Father Francis Dolan), Earle Hyman (Doc Jackson), Jack Kelly (Slade), Richard Loo (Commandant Hsai Tung), Keye Luke (Comrade-Instructor Li Ching), Murray Matheson (Comrade Clayton).
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By John M. Miller
