Death of a Soldier (VHS) [1986] Philip Mora

http://bayimg.com/caHeAAADm Death of a Soldier (1986) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092858/ Death of a Soldier is a 1986 Australian film based on the life of American serial killer Eddie Leonski. The film was shot using locations around Melbourne, Victoria. The film is directed by Philippe Mora and stars James Coburn, Bill Hunter and Reb Brown. James Coburn ... Maj. Patrick Dannenberg Bill Hunter ... Det. Sgt. Adams Reb Brown ... Pvt. Edward J. Leonski Maurie Fields ... Det. Sgt. Martin (as Maurice Fields) Max Fairchild ... Maj. William Fricks Belinda Davey ... Margot Saunders Randall Berger ... Pvt. Anthony Gallo Michael Pate ... Maj. Gen. Sutherland Jon Sidney ... Gen. Douglas MacArthur Nell Johnson ... Maisie Pippa Wilson ... Singer in Boomerang Bar Kim Rushworth ... Band in bar John McTiernan ... Col. Williams Earl Francis ... Police doctor Ron Pinnell ... Mr. Harmon Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was an American spree killer who committed his crimes in Australia. Leonski is known as the "Brownout Strangler", given Melbourne's wartime status of keeping low lighting (not as stringent as a wartime blackout). Born in New York, Leonski grew up in an abusive, alcoholic family, and one of his brothers was committed to a mental institution. He was called up for the U.S. Army in February 1941 and arrived in Melbourne on February 2, 1942. On May 3, 1942, Ivy Violet McLeod, 40, was found dead in Albert Park, Melbourne. She had been beaten and strangled, and because she was found to be in possession of her purse it was evident that robbery was not the motive. Just six days later, 31-year-old Pauline Thompson was strangled after a night out. She was last seen in the company of a young man who was described as having an American accent. Gladys Hosking, 40, was the next victim, murdered on May 18 while walking home from work at the Chemistry Library at Melbourne University. A witness said that, on the night of the killing, a disheveled American man had approached him asking for directions, seemingly out of breath and covered with mud. This description matched the individual Pauline Thompson was seen with on the night of her murder, as well as the descriptions given by several women who had survived recent attacks. These survivors and other witnesses were able to pick 24-year-old Edward Leonski out of a line-up of American servicemen who were stationed in the city during World War II. A Private in the 52nd Signal Battalion, Leonski was arrested and charged with three murders. Leonski confessed to the crimes and was convicted and sentenced to death at a United States Army general court-martial on July 17, 1942. General Douglas MacArthur confirmed the sentence on October 14, 1942 and a Board of Review upheld the findings and sentence on October 28, 1942. General Court-Martial Order 1 promulgated Leonski's death sentence on November 1, 1942. In a departure from normal procedure, on November 4, 1942, MacArthur personally signed the order of execution (in future executions, this administrative task would be entrusted to his Chief of Staff, Richard Sutherland). Leonski was hanged at Pentridge Prison on November 9, 1942, only the second American serviceman to be executed during World War II. Leonski's counsel, Ira C. Rothgerber, attempted to win an external review, even from the U.S. Supreme Court, but was unable to do so. Rothgerber kept the issue alive after the war, and Leonski's case contributed to the development of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Leonski was temporarily interred at several cemeteries in Australia. His remains were eventually permanently interred in Section 9, Row B, Site 8 at Schofield Barracks Post Cemetery (located between Wahiawa and Kunia) on the island of Hawaii. His grave is located in a portion of the facility reserved for general prisoners who died in military custody. Two stories run parallel in Philippe Mora’s Death of a Soldier, made in Australia in 1986 and inspired by a true story. One is of Private Ed Leonski (American Reb Brown), a baby-faced hulk who charms women and then strangles them in an effort to “capture their voice”. As he’s one of thousands of American troops stationed in Melbourne in 1942, the murders are a public relations disaster for the visiting US military authorities. The investigation of the murders provides the second thread. Bill Hunter and Maurie Fields (who even works in a bit of signature singing and piano playing into his part) are the local police authorities; Major Dannenberg (James Coburn) represents American conscience and winds up defending Leonski at his court-martial. The screenplay is by William Nagle, who wrote the Vietnam War novel that was made into The Odd Angry Shot. In trying to tell both stories, Nagle is attempting too much. The military hierarchy is rendered in cartoon fashion, not helped by poor imitation American accents. Death of a Soldier wastes too much time on clichéd squabbling amongst the military authorities, at the expense of credibly exploring Leonski’s motivations. You can almost sense Mora’s frustration at having to explicate the martial and political goings-on, when he’d rather be expounding on themes of justice and the innocence of madness. Mora is obviously recreating the period on a limited budget, but he manages to convey the strained US-Australian relations caused by an intense and stressful co-habitation - the tension permeates nearly every scene. There’s a powerful and shocking set piece when American and Australian soldiers open fire on each other at a railway station. Leonski’s a psychotic taken to binge drinking, singing falsetto, crying a lot and regularly emitting a curiously high-pitched snorting cackle. Despite initial misgivings that this was a one-note stunt performance, and very much to Brown’s credit, Leonski gradually becomes the most interesting thing in the picture.

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