Time Limit (1957)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Military investigator Colonel Edwards (Richard Widmark) is assigned a case involving Major Cargill (Richard Basehart), a Korean War POW who is accused of treason. Although Cargill admits his guilt and Edwards' superiors are impatiently pushing Edwards to move this case to court martial, Edwards becomes convinced of Cargill's innocence.
- Actors:
- Richard Widmark, Richard Basehart, Dolores Michaels, June Lockhart, Carl Benton Reid, Martin Balsam, Rip Torn, Khigh Dhiegh, Yale Wexler, Alan Dexter, Manning Ross, Joe Di Reda, James Douglas, Kenneth Alton, Jack Webster
- Directors:
- Karl Malden
- Producers:
- William Reynolds, Richard Widmark
- Writers:
- Henry Denker, Ralph Berkey
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of Time Limit
Curmudgeon With a Conscience - Time Limit review by griggs
There’s something really watchable about a curmudgeon who keeps getting ambushed by his own conscience. Richard Widmark is great here: clipped answers, stiff posture, and a soft spot he’d deny under oath. He’s the kind of officer who slows down a well-oiled system simply by insisting the truth matters — and by forcing a bit of humanity into military procedure and code.
Most of Time Limit plays out in offices and interview rooms, and you can feel the stage-play skeleton underneath: people talking, pausing, circling the same case from different angles. Still, Henry Denker keeps the tension moving, and the supporting cast keep it lively.
Then the POW-camp flashback hits and the film suddenly bites. It gets properly grim about survival, compromise, and how quickly “rules are rules” becomes moral cover. I liked it, I’m glad I watched it… it just didn’t floor me. More solid think-piece than knockout.