Sergeant Ryker: That this 1960s’ Cold War Movie about a Soldier Accused of Treason Contains a Brilliant Performance by Lee Marvin is Nothing Unusual; in Those Days, Marvin was Always Brilliant; but the Circumstances Surrounding the Movie were Highly Unusual; See It for Free, Complete, and Without Commercial Interruption, at WEJB/NSU (also: John Williams’ music video)

By Nicholas Stix

In 1963, Lee Marvin starred in a two-episode drama on the anthology series, Kraft Suspense Theater, “The Case against Paul Ryker,” in which an American soldier is accused of treason. He says that he was on a mission in which he was assigned to impersonate a traitor, and act as a double-agent. However, the commanding officer who was the only person who knew of the mission, has since died.

Marvin’s star turn served as the premiere and second episode of Kraft Suspense Theater, on October 10th & 17th, 1963 (imdb.com).

Marvin was then not only the hottest actor in movies, but he was still turning in amazing performances on episodic tv that people could view for free at home.

Marvin was so sensational, and this two-parter so influential, that I believe it partially inspired Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece 1965 novel, Mother Night, which was adapted by Keith Gordon into the eponymous 1995 or 1996 movie, which starred Nick Nolte as Howard Campbell. Mother Night is on my Top 100 list of pictures.

Buzz Kulik, who would go on to fame and fortune directing episodes of the original Star Trek tv series (1966-1069) for Lucille Ball (the money-losing series broke her production company, Desilu), was nominated for an Emmy for Best Director for the two episodes of “Ryker.”

Kraft Suspense Theater’s production company, Roncom Films, Inc. (I couldn’t find the producer’s name) then stitched together the two tv episodes into the feature-length movie you see below, courtesy of Universal. Some observers have claimed that the decision to release the movie version was due to Marvin's box-office success in The Dirty Dozen in 1967. Could be.

(Two anonymous youtube commenters claim that Roncom’s producer, who had named the company for his son, Ronnie, was actually Perry Como! Ninety-nine percent of what you read in youtube comments is sludge, but certain posts attract intelligent, knowledgeable commenters.)

Through its early decision to jump into tv production, Universal went for a time from being bankrupted by founder Carl Laemmle’s nepotism (he had to sell it in 1936) Universal became, for a time, the biggest movie studio in Hollywood, and has since merged with NBC.

(Carl Laemmle’s great gift to the world to some may have been in pioneering the monster movie genre in the early 1930s, but I maintain that it was in inviting a Swiss cousin named Willi Wyler, better known as William Wyler, to come work for him circa 1920.)


Kraft Suspense Theatre Theme (John Williams: Two Versions)

(N.S.: Hang around for the second version, it’s even better than the first!)

David Gideon: “Kraft Suspense Theatre (retitled Crisis in syndication) was an anthology series like Alfred Hitchcock’s. Top guest stars and writers, and generous (by tv standards) production quality helped make this series stand out. Johnny Williams (as he was known then) composed a dynamite theme for the show’s first season. But somebody wanted a new theme, so Williams did the honors again, and wrote a second dynamite theme. Hear them both and pick your favorite.”





Segreant Ryker (movie version)









The WEJB/NSU Theater, 1902-1981:

Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902);

The Great Train Robbery (1903);

C.B. DeMille’s The Squaw Man (1914);

D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915);

D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Through the Ages (1916);

Harry Carey and John “Jack” Ford’s Straight Shooting (1917), the First Feature-Length, “Cheyenne Harry” Western;

Charlie Chaplin’s Shoulder Arms (1918);

The Outlaw and His Wife (1918), Starring and Directed by Victor Sjöström (Seastrom);

Starring “Jack”: See the 1920 Silent Picture Classic of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde;

Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920);

Buster Keaton’s One Week (1920);

D. W. Griffith’s Way Down East (1920);

F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1921);

The Kid (1921), Charlie Chaplin’s First Feature as Director;

Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s First Pictures Featuring the Evil Genius, Dr. Mabuse: Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, Teil I (Dr. Mabuse, the Player, Part I); and

Dr. Mabuse, Teil II: Inferno (Dr. Mabuse, Inferno, Part II, both 1922, released one month apart) with English subtitles;

James Cruze’s The Covered Wagon (1923);

John Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924);

Charlie, in The Gold Rush (1925);

Lon Chaney, in The Phantom of the Opera (1925);

King Vidor, Laurence Stallings, and Harry Behn’s The Big Parade (1925), Starring Gilbert and Adore!

Buster Keaton’s The General (1926);

John Ford’s 1926 Western, 3 Bad Men;

When a Man Loves (1927), Starring “Jack” and Dolores Costello;

Josef von Sternberg and Ben Hecht’s Underworld (1927), the First American Gangster Picture;

Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lodger (1927);

“Wild Bill” Wellman’s Restored, Classic Silent Picture, Wings (1927), One of the First Two Best Picture Oscar Winners;

F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927, One of the First Two Best Picture Oscar Winners);

Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s Dystopian Science Fiction Epic, Metropolis (1927), the Greatest S/F Picture Ever, Plus Its Soundtrack Suite;

Frank Borzage and Austin Strong’s Seventh Heaven (1927);

Samson Raphaelson, Alfred A. Cohn, Jack Jarmuth and Alan Crosland’s The Jazz Singer (1927), the First-Ever Talkie, Starring Al Jolson, by Warner Brothers;

King Vidor's The Crowd 1928;

St. Louis Blues (talkie, short, 1929);

Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou’s First Talkie: M: Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931) (M: A City Searches for a Murderer);

Paul Robeson in Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones (talkie, 1933);

The Man Who Knew too Much (1934): The Original Version of the Early Hitchcock Classic;

John Ford’s Judge Priest (1934), Starring Will Rogers, with Hattie McDaniel;

Kate Hepburn in the Super Chief’s Quality Street (1937);

Cary Grant and Roz Russell in Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and Howard Hawks’ His Girl Friday (1940);

Zero’s Since You Went Away (1944);

William Dieterle’s A Portrait of Jennie (1948);

Jules Dassin, Albert Malz, and Malvin Wald’s The Naked City (1948), Plus Music;

Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966);

Lee Marvin as Sergeant Ryker (1968); and

Paul Newman, in Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981).