SWORD AND SCALPEL

The court-martial of Captain Paul Scott of the Army Medical Corps, after his release from a Chinese P.O.W. camp, brings into play an assured triple-acting combination, romantic, medical, moral. Accused of capitulation to and collaboration with the Communists, Paul has only the suspect testimony of the girl he loves- Kay Storey- in his defense. The Padre, Tim Fallon, who has shared the ordeal with Kay and Paul, died in the camp, and Paul now faces the vindictive reprisals of the C.O.- Hardin- a drunk and a brute. The court-martial, a lost cause, alternates with the past; Kay takes the stand and is more damaging than helpful. But it is finally through her that the Padre's confession book, a written record of Hardin's unfit command, is introduced during the last phase of the trial, and reverses the decision.... A sure specific for rentals and some sales, this has a solid situation and a fervor to which this audience will respond.