Fred Zinnemann

Men (1950) Fred Zinnemann

Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) set the mark for a brilliant career in the Men, his film debut. Brando plays an ex-WWII GI, Ken who returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his Fiancée (Teresa Wright) and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock (Everett Sloane) cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm (Jack Webb), Leo (Richard Erdman) and Angel (Arthur Jurado) begin to pull him out of his spiritual miasma. High Noon writing and directing greats, Carl Foreman (The Guns of Navarone), and Fred Zimmermann (From Here to Eternity) worked together for the first time in this rousing drama nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar. Produced by the great Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind) with a haunting score by the legendary composer, Dimitri Tiomkin (Rio Bravo).