User Reviews

Contains Spoilers I have seen several entries in this long-forgotten series, and I believe I see an overarching theme; the belief that no one is better or worse because of politics. Or, that we can't ever judge political motives, they all come out the same. Here veteran Hollywood star Chester Morris plays an old International Brigade fighter, returning to Spain for the first time since Franco's victory over the Second Republic, then some twenty five years past. He's visiting some American friends. The authorities are somewhat cool about his appearance, but they allow it nevertheless. At length,they are protecting a gunshot-wounded young man from the police, who may be from a terrorist cell that has killed a cop, and bombed a café. Since Morris was an important anti-establishment figure he understands this as a legitimate way to conduct a cause, and words are said to sell us that too. Morris, the friend, his wife and a weary/wise old British doctor debate about this sterling specimen of free speech advocacy (a "Student")and opt to save him. But the police outwit them and all is exposed. It turns out that the wounded young man has in fact played them all for suckers, he was shot after murdering a cop during a robbery. The police chief smugly chastises the lot of them for being dopes, and-what dy'a know- lets them go! Guess those bad old fascists aren't as bad as we thought. But of course we, the intended audience, even in 1964, aren't expected to know much about Spain or it's recent revolution outside of Franco Bad, Lincoln Brigades Good. Indeed, much of the episode is talking about who was what when. But in the re-occurring thread of the series, they postulate the republic and the internationalists that came to help weren't really communists. That they were organised by the comintern doesn't seem to affect their view. At the same time, there's praise for Franco and the nationalists, too- they aren't really Fascists. Those are just arbitrary names that don't express the subtle nuances of each.So once more, no hard choices or opinions are offered.