Cinema: Pacifist Paradox

The Hook is an ironical melodrama with an irenical moral: Love is the ultimate weapon and the absolute deterrent.

This pacifist paradox is illustrated in an incident of the Korean war. Three U.S. soldiers, a sergeant and two privates, rescue a North Korean airman (Enrique Magalona) downed in an inlet. When they radio headquarters, they receive a command worded with discretion but ice-clear in intention; shoot the prisoner. The sergeant (Kirk Douglas) brusquely orders the privates to do it. The first (Robert Walker) refuses. The second (Nick Adams) raises his pistol—but cannot pull the trigger. The sergeant explodes. A private replies: "Why...