... then she kills herself and then you go on a suicide mission to atone for the crime? Someone needed to tell Preminger, "Hey Otto what do you say we go another way"
That is the one thing that drags this movie off my watch whenever it comes on list.
It would have been difficult to prove the rape.
All they would have had would have been Dorn's letter. While that would be admissible is court as a "dying declaration" and would hold a good deal of weight, it would have been relatively easy for Eddington to get a crack lawyer to beat that. Remember in the 1940's there was no DNA evidence and there would have been no evidence to test given the time frame of at least 4-6 weeks (remember Dorn only took any actions once she thought she might be pregnant and that wouldn't have been the next day). Even if she had been pregnant and the were able to test the fetus, there wasn't any way in a 1940's war zone to test it for paternity beyond *possibly* blood type and given the large numbers of people on that island...well, you see the problems there.
Eddington knew what he had done, how it had hurt Torrey. He made ammends the only way he could have at that point. Had he not been able to get into the plane and fly the mission, he *probably* would have confessed to Torrey and ended up arrested and Court Martialed.
It was OK to rape girls in the 1940's, especially if they were asking for it
"If I'd been a ranch, they would have named me The Bar Nothing"
I think it was a reasonable scenario. Do you feel it was corny or too obvious?
I don't know why Jill Haworth had to kill herself, though.
What's wrong wih the scenario? It sounds logical to me.
shareWhat would have been ironic would been Cdr. Edrington surviving his suicide mission and still having to answer for what he had done to the girl.
shareyatman,
Eddington made sure it was a suicide mission when he dove down from the clouds while the Japanese fighters were buzzing around. He oculd have possibly survived but for that, perhaps (as mentioned in passing) being picked up by a submarine. At least he might hvae had a chance, but not after he dove down from the clouds.
On the OP's point, while Eddington was clearly guilty of rape and should have been punished, the motivations people have for seeking some form of redemption I think do not admit some and banish others. Yes, if he had survived, his actions might have somewhat lessened his punishment. But only somewhat. Still, in death did he save his soul?
I am feeling generous today, and say yes.
Interesting question.
Perhaps a more interesting one is: did the poor raped girl save her soul by not just her own suicide, but killing her perfectly innocent unborn baby?
Not for me to answer, of course...
is the OP aware that otto didnt write it,he directed it?
shareWhy did the ensign have to save her soul? I don't understand your post.
shareIn Catholicism and most major Christian denominations suicide itself is considered a mortal sin - doubly compounded if a pregnant woman does so because she kills ANOTHER person (with a soul) as well - her unborn baby.
I was merely responding to your OWN post that somehow Eddington "saved his own soul" by his own suicide mission. What religion could possibly believe this rationally??? (You cause someone else to kill themselves by treating them so very terribly. This is an immoral sin. Then you yourself do ANOTHER immoral sin by killing yourself. And this action somehow merits "saving your own soul"? How and why? Two evil things make a "right" somehow?)
And what person could believe in a soul - sans religion? IOWs - what actual logic were you employing? (Yes - no wonder you don't understand my post.)
Eddington made it a suicide mission when he took off, almost. Earlier in the film it was pointed out that they didn't have an airplane with the range to undertake the mission he did and then make it back before running out of gas. He was going down in the water one way or the other after he passed the rather melodramatically-styled (see THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY) "point of no return", i.e., the point in the flight where you have used up one-half of your fuel, and if you keep going, you won't have enough to go back to where you started from.
The industry was just beginning to tell realistic human behavior stories, so I understand why those scenes were shot. Both reactions were credible, in my opinion. Edit: Neither came to terms with the abuse, nor sought help.
Edit: so many stories were "whitewashed" or not told to " protect the viewers". Today, viewers would expect credible characters and resolutions
Your second life is never like your first. Sometimes it's even better
Nothing at all wrong with that part of the story. What are you going to do after you rape a girl and she kills herself, eat some tacos and play video games?
share