MovieChat Forums > The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Discussion > Doesn't make sense that Shears feels for...

Doesn't make sense that Shears feels forced to go on the mission

posted 12 years ago by iraqiwarbride
21 replies | jump to latest

The implied threat to turn Shears back over to the American military where he would be prosecuted for impersonating an officer unless he agreed to go on the mission seems pretty hollow. It's a very weak threat when you weigh the prospective outcomes on each side.

Shears had to know that if he went on the mission there was a better than 50 /50 chance he would not come out alive ----on the other hand if he refused to go on the mission and was turned over for prosecution he may not have even been court maritaled and if he was court martialed and convicted (worst case scenario) he might have got anything from a slap on the wrist to a couple of years in the brig. There were a lot of mitigating circumstances in his favor. It would have been in keeping with this character to take a course of action most likely to allow him to come out with a whole skin. He would not have gone on that mission -- he would have said: "I ain't goin --send me back".

[–] cwente2 12 years ago

Shears didn't volunteer as Warden generously claimed to his superior. He was "turned over" by the American Navy. So, he would have been willfully disobeying an order in wartime had he not "volunteered". He would have been court-martialed for much more than impersonating an officer, possibly desertion, and just as possibly shot for it.

[–] iraqiwarbride 12 years ago

Of course it's just a book /movie but............
It's not even remotely possbile to me that the American Navy would "turn over" one of their own who had been a prisoner of war already and survived great hardships to be used by the British in a special ( almost suicidal) operation for which he had no previous training at all ----I guarantee you that no similar thing occurred in the Pacific Theatre in World War 2. At the most the American Navy might have heaped some charges on him --but desertion? Not creditable at all....the death penalty ? No -----Shears arguably deserved a medal and probably would have been invalided out or sent back to the States. At the worst maybe a slight reprimand for his impersonating an officer which he (or his lawyer) could have attributed to the great and undeniable ordeal that he had suffered under. I think a real life Shears would have taken his chances and refused to go along.

[–] cwente2 12 years ago

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Shears "was" turned over to aid the British mission (same as orders). Warden said so, AND explained "why" the Navy did it. Seems a credible scenario to me.

If you refuse orders during wartime, it's desertion (or its equivalent) . . . and you can be shot. And, where could he have gone but to prison, since his Navy had "ordered" him attached to the British mission and he decided, on his own, to take a walk? Apparently Shears was unaware of your guarantee re the courtmartial's outcome and decided on obeying his orders, ah, just to be on the safe (and honorable) side. There is a certain, however peculiar, nobility in Shears' personality too -- which he proved in the end. Another important irony in this irony packed film.

[–] rimnod 12 years ago

It doesn't seem very credible to me. Even Warden's character had to lie to his superiors about the "deal" and about Shears "volunteering". And Shears knew that Warden's character was lying. The idea that a Major in the British Army could make a couple of phone calls (going outside his own chain of command in the process) to the American Pacific fleet and get them to agree to "turn over" an American enlisted man who had been held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and who had been wounded and managed by a miracle to escape and to agree to bascially send him to his death on a suicide commando mission for the British--wow --I mean that's fine for the movie but not for real life.

I have to agree with the earlier posts that Shears character would have been crazy not to have called Warden's bluff. Question: How many American enlisted men in the Pacific Theatre were shot for "desertion" for refusing to follow orders? --I will research it --but I doubt it was more than a handful and mainly related to instances where other soliders were left in the lurch and not for not "volunteering" for suicide missions for which they had not even underwent training for. ---As for being sentenced to prison ---one to two years at most. Actually he would have been due some recognition for his escape from captivity. Also--no matter what Warden's character was saying I find it hard to beleive that the British would have sent Shears back to the Americans in chains if he refused to volunteer. If they had that intent why does Warden's character have to lie?

[–] cwente2 12 years ago

Warden didn't "lie" in the conventional sense. It was a "gesture" to set-up a comradeship with Shears -- start a difficult mission ("not" a "suicide" mission) on a friendly, cooperative footing, so to speak. There is nothing "voluntary" about these events (as Shears says, "Since I'm hooked, I may as well volunteer."), and Warden's superiors certainly knew that (and probably did the actual arranging), despite the psychological play-acting done for Shears' benefit and to help make the mission a success.

Speculation about how this was arranged with the American Navy, or how a trial for disobeying combat orders during wartime would turn out is just that -- interesting speculation.

We'll have to continue to agree to disagree.

[–] lmh-10 12 years ago

Question: How many American enlisted men in the Pacific Theatre were shot for "desertion" for refusing to follow orders?

None. There has been only one American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War and that in Europe: Pvt. Eddie Slovak.

[–] rimnod 12 years ago

Thanks for the information --

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

None. There has been only one American soldier to be court-martialled and executed for desertion since the American Civil War and that in Europe: Pvt. Eddie Slovak. - lmh-10

True, but with a slight correction--his name was Slovik, not Slovak--and a slight clarification: Although there were more than 21,000 American military personnel sentenced for desertion, including death sentences, only Slovik was actually executed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Slovik

I first learned of this as a kid in the 1970s, when I watched the television movie that starred Martin Sheen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Execution_of_Private_Slovik

If the photograph of Slovik on his Wikipedia page is authentic, then Sheen looked a lot like the real Slovik.

------------------
If I were a comedian, I'd incorporate myself so I could become a laughingstock.

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 12 years ago

Why do you think Warden was the one who arranged Shears' transfer? He mentions being in touch with Lord Mountbatten so it's likely someone higher up the chain of command handled the situation.

"Haven't they replaced you with a coin-operated machine yet?"

[–] austinhackmusician 10 years ago

Zero. None. At the time when this was set there had not been a US military execution for desertion since the Civil War. There was only one person shot for desertion in WWII, Eddie Slovik, and that was in Jan 1945. If they weren't executing people for desertion they damn sure wouldn't do it for a petty crime like impersonating an officer. The idea that he would have been bluffed into participating in a suicidal mission by the threat of prosecution for that is just ludicrous.

[–] bccct 11 years ago

Perhaps a better question is what information did Shears have that was so invaluable to the commando team?

[–] cwente2 11 years ago

Shears' own question. . . Warden's reply -- "There's always the unexpected."

[–] vinidici 11 years ago

Perhaps a better question is what information did Shears have that was so invaluable to the commando team?

Although it's been over 20 years since my last viewing and, therefore, I've surely forgotten many key narrative elements by now, I've always assumed that Shears' knowledge of the lay of the land was essential to the British commandos, who otherwise would have gone blindly on the mission and its accomanying long journey into enemy territory.

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

[–] cwente2 11 years ago

vinidici,

I think you did forget one narrative element. The commandos planned an entirely different route to the camp than the one Shears used to escape it. That and a couple of other things had changed since Shears' escape which were also made clear to Shears before the mission set out. Thus, Shears asked the same question the poster did -- "So, why am I so important to this operation?" (or something like that). Warden's answer (repeated later by Shears) was -- "There's always the unexpected, isn't there?"

[–] bradford-1 11 years ago

I watched BRIDGE on TV a coupla times with my father, who was a Seaman First Class in the Pacific Theater in WWII. His thinking was that the US Navy would NEVER have let Shears go on a British commando mission for which he had no special training. The Navy may have been p.o.ed by his impersonating an officer, but he would've been far more valuable being labeled a hero and sent around the U.S. to speak at War Bond rallies and such. Shears coulda been safe and sound sitting out the rest of the war back home. Just one ex-swabbie's opinion...
"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

[–] liching1 11 years ago

I don't think a real-life Shears would have been bluffed into this mission.

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 10 years ago

Actually, I seem to recall they were planning to use Shears' approximate route until the parachute drops alerted the Japanese to their presence. Warden mentions Japanese patrols being sent out and thus they had to scrap their initial plans. The discussion you mention didn't happen until after they'd linked up with Yai.

"I'm afraid that you underestimate the number of subjects in which I take an interest!"

[–] cwente2 10 years ago

The American navy turned Shears over to the British. Period. There was no bluffing or volunteerism involved. He had to go. Shears knew that, which is why he said something to the effect of -- Since I'm hooked, I might just as well volunteer.

[–] foster1234 10 years ago

My take on this

Remember what Shears said. He impersonated the officer only as a means to maybe get better treatment, at the time I imagine few in the service were aware that Japan had NOT signed onto the articles of war or the Geneva Convention. Particularly swabbies. When he escaped and was rescued, well one look at enlisted mens conditions and the officers conditions, smart choice there also

Now

Had he refused the mission and took his chance with the Navy

The navy was not going to charge him with impersonating an officer because a good sea lawyer would get him off he'd just escaped a prison camp he was a hero. While he was under British care, why not keep the con going as long as he could. Until American authority arrived

No-ONE can be ordered to volunteer. PERIOD

Had he been sent back to American Authority. he would have been greeted as a hero for his escape in a backhanded sort of way. Admonished for Impersonating an Officer, given another stripe, sent to the states, gone on a couple war bond drives, then would have been shuffling paper until the end of the war

You don't have to stand tall, but you have to stand up!

[–] liching1 10 years ago

Yes ---the consensus if with the OP on this ----"Bridge" is a great movie but the plot line there between Warden and Shears is a bit hokey.

[–] rimnod-17089 7 years ago

Have to agree with the OP on this one.