LeonLouisRicci Memorable but Overshadowed by Bigger more Expansive WWI Anti-War Movies like Paths of Glory (1957) and Others going as Far Back as 1930 with All Quiet on the Western Front, this is Nonetheless a Striking Example of a Filmed Play Using Still Photos and some Subtle but Effective Cinema Techniques like Dissolves.It is a Downbeat Affair that one would Expect from such Material and the Comedic Touches of the Bored and Drenched Trench Combatants Playing with Rats makes more of a Pathetic Statement about the Mental Disintegration of All the Soldiers and not just the Ones who Snap and go for a Walk back to England.The Film doesn't say Anything New on the Futility or the Mismanagement of the War to End All Wars, but Rather Reiterates the Ridiculousness of an On Field Court Martial with Little Substance to Prosecute on Hand as Everyone on Both Sides of the Mock Trial tries to Verbalize that which No Words can Describe.The Movie has Many Touches of Symbolism and the Final Scene is Unforgettable. The Movie was Mostly Forgotten but has been Rediscovered along with a Newfound Appreciation for Director Joseph Losey's Work. He is one of the those that Contemporaneously was Ignored but has since Gained a Cult Following.

bkoganbing The obvious comparison that can be made with King & Country is Paths Of Glory. Both are concerned with people being tried for desertion and cowardice in World War I. Both are outstanding films though I would give the edge to Paths Of Glory.One important distinction must be made. Paths Of Glory is an American made film with a French setting about wholesale French desertion during a battle and three guys being courtmartialed and shot as examples. King & Country is a British film with an American director at the helm about the British experience in trench warfare encapsulated in the story of one poor English Tommy. With the last American dough-boy dying this year, World War I is a memory now with no first hand account of what it was like in those trenches. I know the last French veteran also passed away, I'm not sure of the British forces including those in the Commonwealth. America entered in 1917 and our Expeditionary force saw its first action in Belleau Wood in the spring of 1918. By November 11 of that year it was over. We had six months or so, the Allies and the Central Powers had four years. All fought for ground gain measured in yards. A stalemate of opposing trenches stretching from Belgium to the Swiss border of France. And both sides throwing everything including poison gas in attempt to break through and score the decisive knockout blow.Tom Courtenay plays Private Hamp who just saw the slaughter of his entire battalion and just went into shell shock and walked out of the trench in the direction of the coast of France and Great Britain. When he was caught he became a symbol of resistance to the futility of war that the British Army could not tolerate.Like Paths Of Glory the verdict is already fixed though his defense counsel Dirk Bogarde makes a gallant attempt to save Courtney who is a total innocent as to the forces around him. One particularly good supporting performance is that of Leo McKern who plays the officer bringing the charges. He's a complete fool and there were many like him in all the armies of World War I who had not the wit or imagination to just call a halt to the slaughter.Unlike Paths Of Glory, Dirk Bogarde has a humiliating indignity that Kirk Douglas did not have placed on him. King & Country is a fine film showing if not the futility of war itself, the futility of that particular war that scarred the world for generations and is still scarring it yet.

MartinHafer "King & Country" is a film about a man who deserted from his unit during WWI. After over three years of fighting, the naive young man had frankly had enough and began walking home from France. Considering he grew up in Britain, he seemed either a bit dumb or just so psychologically damaged that the impossibility of his task eluded him. In many ways, this film is reminiscent of the exceptional Stanley Kubrick film "Paths of Glory"--about an entire unit of French soldiers who simply refused to fight due to the utter stupidity and waste of life of this so-called 'Great War'. In fact, both would make an excellent double-feature.The film begins with an officer (Dirk Bogarde) being asked to defend a deserter. It's obvious that he assumes the man is guilty and deserves to be executed and is doing this only out of obligation. As for the deserter (Tom Courtenay), he is an odd fellow. While he obviously was brave for volunteering and fighting in so many god-awful battles, his reaction to all this is a bit odd--like he doesn't fully appreciate the horrible predicament he's in at this time. He seems guileless and naive.As far as the trial goes, you know that the court must find him guilty and execute him, lest they admit that the war was a horrible mistake--futile and an atrocity upon the people....and they certainly were not about to admit that. It is simply preordained and Bogarde seems to have little care about the doomed man--he is only doing it out of obligation--even after he gets to know the man and pleads his case. Only towards the very end of the story do we see Bogarde regard the man as anything other than a coward--and then the accumulated horror of the war and its stupidity is revealed. However, at the same time, the momentum of the film slows down to a crawl--and the film unfortunately ends with a bit of a fizzle. Overall, it's quite good in some ways but just barely misses the mark.

Stephen Tilley (Yellit) One of the best stage-to-film adaptions ever.Made in black-and-white it captures the futility and claustrophobia of life in the trenches in World War One like no other film. It also gives compelling insights into the British class system.This is a 'must see' film for all genuine students of the medium.