Film's basic premise makes no sense (SOME SPOILERS)

The basic premise of this movie is contrived and absurd. Sloan (Ronald Reagan) is told by Major Hale (Harry Morgan) that while we know the North Koreans are violating the Geneva Convention, they need him to become a POW so that they can obtain proof of this, using men who can report the facts back to the Americans.

First, what kind of "proof" could Sloan give them? He can report, but all he can do is provide the same kind of eyewitness testimony genuine prisoners could. Second, how could he get these reports -- meaningless as proof, as opposed to just being further reports -- out anyway? Even when he turns fake traitor and then goes on the radio, most of what he says is deliberate lies, and anyway, once again, constitute only further personal observations -- not the sort of physical proof Hale seemed to want. Other than by filming the activities in the camp, or militarily capturing a camp to see what methods of torture were employed there, neither Sloan nor anybody could offer anything in the way of "proof" other than the same sort of testimony any prisoner could provide. So what's the point in sending him?

Also, how did the Americans know where to parachute Sloan down to so he could tag onto a line of POWs? How did they know where these POWs were? Not to mention the nonsensical way in which he simply ran over and hooked up onto the line without being noticed. Ridiculous.

Too bad this movie resorted to so many silly (and insulting to actual POWs) histrionics, cliches, and impossible situations (like kidnapping and killing the Soviet Commander near the end). There was a great, terrible, grim story to tell of the real horrors of the torture of American and Allied prisoners by the North Koreans, who acted with unadulterated barbarity against their POWs. Some of this is shown in the film, but it's so interspersed with asinine plot contrivances that they lose much of their meaning. A classic example of how a horrific real-life situation was turned into a standard Hollywood "Boys' Adventure" flick that even has to resort to having Stanton (Steve Forrest) invoke the names of four MGM contract players during his interrogation by the Reds.

Oh, yeah -- Jesse was given a comb for turning "traitor", which Sloan thought showed how low a guy could sink, to be bought off with just a comb. So how did Ronnie manage to keep his thick hair so neatly combed throughout the movie?

And could they come up with any more excuses to stick in that phony, awful song one more time? "Oh, this joint is really for the birds, it's certainly not for us/And you would really have a right to be a gloomy Gus." Et cetera. A gloomy Gus? Please! Crucify me, send me to Moscow, but don't sing that damn song again! Now that was one torture Reagan certainly didn't report!

What a wasted opportunity this film was.