The Purple Heart (20th Century-Fox) was made behind locked doors, and in defiance of Washington officials who were soft-pedaling Jap atrocities. A few weeks ago, Washington changed its tune. Producer Darryl Zanuck* was urged to finish the film as soon as possible. Reason: it is a picture about Japanese atrocities, and Washington had decided to talk about the atrocities.
The picture shows the effects rather than the processes of torture. Its largely fictional subject: what happened to eight U.S. flyers who raided Tokyo, crashed in China, and were handed over to the
Japanese...