313:, assume that the young men are guilty, but Detective Captain Curt Maddox is unconvinced. Meanwhile, the defendants get a court-appointed attorney who strives valiantly to show that the four must be innocent of the crime because of time-line conflicts with the best estimate of when the beating took place. The trial of the four ends abruptly when Lieutenant Murdoch, at the height of an at-the-bench discussion between the judge and the two opposing counsels, abruptly draws his service automatic and shoots the lead defendant twice in the head, killing him.
298:(white) and they are variously of Hawaiian or Asian descent. At the hospital, Hester's mother Doris assumes that the four are to blame, but Hester says, "It's nobody's fault; I was the pregnant one!" The shocked Doris tells her daughter that she must cooperate in Doris's campaign to blame the young men, saying that Hester must think of Doris's "position" in
472:"captures a remarkably authentic sense of period and Miss Alexander, coldly elegant in her relatively small role, creates a scheming villain with an aplomb that leaves Joan Collins looking like an amateur". He added the film "robustly roots for the underdogs as it exposes the diseased underbelly of power and exploitation".
324:
Murdoch's trial climaxes with
Bergmann summing up by claiming that Murdoch's action was excusable: "Those animals beat her!" Then Hester, plagued by her conscience, blurts out, "They're innocent! They're innocent!" Although Bergmann roughly escorts her from the courtroom, the damage is done: Murdoch
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in the company of a man who is not her husband, Lieutenant Lloyd
Murdoch, but rather Murdoch's best friend. The friend coldly announces that he is terminating their relationship, though Hester is carrying his child. Outraged, she announces that she will tell her husband and the commanding admiral on
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The case is further complicated when some Navy petty officers, all friends of
Murdoch, kidnap the three remaining defendants, tie them in spread-eagle fashion to an improvised rack, and beat them to get them to confess. The Navy men repeatedly use the word "bilge", which, according to the film, is
328:
Subsequently, Doris hires an interior decorator to redecorate her home. In the middle of her interview with the decorator, Detective Maddox arrives with a warrant for the arrests of Doris and Hester. Hester, crushed, rushes to her bathroom and hangs herself from the shower head. Doris discovers
321:
common Navy slang for useless information or known falsehood. The defense lawyer interviews the three after they are taken to a hospital. There, they finally blurt out, "They said, 'Bilge!'" This gives the lawyer the vital clue he needs. Maddox follows up the clue and has the three arrested.
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Now
Murdoch must stand trial (in a civilian court) for murder in the first degree. Doris hires famed criminal attorney Walter Bergmann to defend him. The pretrial investigation is complicated by an affair between Detective Maddox and Bergmann's wife Leonore.
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The film's acting, courtroom scenes, Hawaii scenery, and insights into Hawaii's territorial history were praised. Critics felt the subplots involving romances among the lead characters were unnecessary.
274:, fatally shoots one of them and later stands trial himself. The trial brings into stark relief the racial tensions that tear at the social fabric of Territorial Hawaii in the years prior to
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in 1937, four young men find a white woman, beaten nearly to death, and take her to a hospital, only to be charged later with her rape and assault. During their trial, the woman's husband, a
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critic John J. O'Connor gave a positive review in which he wrote
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on DVD on
February 2, 2010 as part of the Archive Collection.
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The Massie Case: Injustice and
Courage (Honolulu Advertiser)
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99:Charles Fox
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477:Emmy Award
407:Lieutenant
399:community)
375:George Coe
351:Sean Young
268:lieutenant
224:is a 1986
210:1986-02-23
125:Production
89:Sean Young
51:Written by
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571:August 3,
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528:August 3,
494:released
455:Reception
282:Socialite
138:Producers
103:Mark Snow
714:AllMovie
672:DVD Talk
389:as Sarah
286:Honolulu
244:Honolulu
95:Music by
69:Starring
39:Based on
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160:Editors
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34:Drama
31:Genre
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