Twilight of Honor

TV's Dr. Kildare, Richard Chamberlain, a huge matinée idol back in the '60s, was given "Twilight of Honor" by MGM to cash in on his popularity and make him into a movie star. To do that, they gave him excellent support in the form of Claude Rains, Nick Adams, James Gregory, Jeanette Nolan, Honor Blackman, and Pat Buttram. The result by today's standards isn't very hard-hitting, though it's certainly well acted. The film is directed by Boris Sagal, who did a lot of television, and as a movie, it isn't as good as "Anatomy of a Murder," from which the script is pretty much ripped off.

Chamberlain plays a young attorney and widower, David Mitchell who's assigned a rotten case, that of an unstable soldier accused of murdering one of the small New Mexico town heroes, and he's confessed - twice. The special prosecutor (Gregory) is hoping to sweep into political office with the case, and the judge sides with him through most of the trial. Mitchell turns to the distinguished attorney and his friend, Art Harper, who is ill but nonetheless is full of fire and gives Mitchell some guidance. The defense is a New Mexico law that allows a man to kill because of adultery, something the victim's widow (Jeanette Nolan) and his friends would like to keep quiet.

Joey Heatherton plays the slutty wife of Nick Adams, and she gives a very overt performance. Nick Adams, who would die of an overdose five years later, has a good role and does an excellent job; it earned him an Oscar nomination, and he allegedly spent over $8,000 advertising to win it. He lost to Melvyn Douglas. Jeanette Nolan is lovely and serene as the victim's wife. Claude Rains in one of his last films is marvelous. He looks unwell but his acting is wonderful. Richard Chamberlain even then had a strong enough talent to hold his own against the more experienced actors. As David, he's passionate and determined. Although in the last 46 years, he's had a decent film career, certainly it doesn't compare to his King of the Miniseries crown or some wonderful stage work, including Night of the Iguana and My Fair Lady, both of which I saw and loved. As a baby boomer, he has a special place in my heart.

This film was probably intended for the teen crowd, Chamberlain's fan base, which is why there's a lot of talk about sex but no real action.

"Twilight of Honor" is a film with a rather mediocre overall score on IMDB of 6.3. Well, after seeing it, I cannot believe the film has such a rating, as it's a top-notch courtroom drama....and a film you'd likely appreciate.

This film is Richard Chamberlain's first starring role in a movie, though he'd done TV before this. He plays a young and very inexperienced lawyer who is set to defend a rather dim man for murder....and the town's atmosphere is definitely hostile towards him. On top of this, the state has brought in a cocky special prosecutor (James Gregory). All the young lawyer has is his idealism and some advice from his mentor (Claude Rains). Can he possibly get a light sentence or a verdict of not guilty with so many things working against him?

This is a very intelligent and well written drama...one that never was dull and managed to get the viewer to care about the dumb schnook on trial for his life. All in all, a nice little film well worth your time.

This is the infamous film for which Nick Adams was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar owing to his spending a great deal of his own money and time campaigning. He had promised best friend, actor Robert Conrad, that he was going to be the first TV actor to get a nomination and he did, after sparing no effort to browbeat Academy members. According to Hollywood legend, he even invited a bunch to his home for a big party and then fell asleep just as they arrived. Also, he was supposedly dumbfounded when Melvyn Douglas received the award for his old cowboy in Hud. Adams is okay, nothing more, in this film - he actually should have campaigned for another film he did that year, The Hook with Kirk Douglas, because that was his best role ever in a film. Here, he wears a black leather jacket and does a James Dean routine (they were in Rebel Without a Cause together, Dean with the lead, Adams with one line) as a misunderstood loner he gets accused of murder. His love interest, a wild child, is played by Joey Heatherton, who had been depressed ever since her father, TV's Merry Mailman, refused to let her play the title role in Lolita - which is pretty much what she does here, only doing so after Tuesday Weld passed up the part in this film. Richard Chamberlain, in his bland leading man days before he learned to act by doing Hamlet in London, is the defense lawyer, Joan Blackman his classy girlfriend, and the great Claude Raines provides the real reason for watching as an older lawyer. Watchable but routine, and not very different from any halfway decent TV lawyer show of the time except that it runs twice as long.

As a break from his Dr. Kildare series, Richard Chamberlain got to get some good exposure on the big screen in Twilight of Honor. He didn't stray too much from his character of Dr. James Kildare though. Chamberlain is an idealistic young doctor on the small screen, on the big screen he's an idealistic young lawyer.

Twilight of Honor does have the potential for a television series. Claude Rains is the older and wise lawyer mentor here, just as Raymond Massey was on television for Chamberlain. Rains also has an attractive young daughter in Joan Blackman who aids both of the men in her life.

The real acting honors go to among others Nick Adams as the poor dumb hick of an Air Force veteran who is arrested for the murder of one of the town's leading citizens. The whole small New Mexican town is quite stirred up by the homicide and there's a lynch mob mentality brewing. A lot of very influential folks want to see Adams given a death sentence with at most a perfunctory trial. Adams is quite touching in his performance and was given an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Two other cast members worthy of note are James Gregory as the smarmy ambitious special prosecutor brought in for the judicial lynching. And the real surprise to me is Pat Buttram who plays the deceased and who's story gets told in flashback. For those of you who remember Pat from Green Acres, Hee Haw, or as Gene Autry's sidekick on his television series, this is quite a revelation. He's quite good in a serious role as a man going through a midlife crisis. But I'm sure the public just didn't accept him in a serious part, I can't recall him ever getting another one.

I'm sure MGM had a problem with this one. A few years later when made for TV movies started, Twilight of Honor would have been one of the best acclaimed. It sort of slipped in and out of the theaters before real notice was paid attention. That's a pity because it is a good film and catch it the next time TCM runs it.

I was introduced to Nick Adams on the set of Twilight of Honor by my then girl friend Joey Heatherton. He was one of the nicest guys i had ever met and we became fast friends in the few days i spent with him and Joey while they were filming this movie. When I was about to go back to NY, I asked Nick for an autograph and he gave me a very large photo of himself and Kirk Douglas. i just took out that picture after many years and read the inscription that Nick wrote on the photo. It reads, "For Paul- This is the only big picture I have left so I hope you don't mind Kirk staring at you too. Only I just want to say I think you are a great guy and am very happy to be able to call you a friend. Looking forward to seeing more of you. Your Friend, Nick."

Soon after he wrote this to me I was told that he died...and later was told he took his own life. I was shocked and to this day do not know the story behind his suicide. I will treasure this photo forever.