Richard Widmark and Richard Basehart are a formidable duo in the investigative military melodrama Time Limit (1957), with another great actor behind the camera, Karl Malden (his only feature directing credit). Rounding out a superb cast are Dolores Michaels, Martin Balsam, June Lockhart, and Rip Torn in his film debut. The set-up is a probe into potentially treasonous activities by Basehart’s Major while a POW in North Korea.

The property began as a play, which starred Arthur Kennedy and Richard Kiley; Widmark shrewdly snapped up the rights. The movie certainly displays its theatrical origins, mostly in good ways: It’s compelling, it really PLAYS, and the dialogue is of the juicy type that actors love sinking their teeth into. Yes, there are some implausibilities, naturally, but nothing that seriously interferes with the forward impetus of the story. There is little comfort to be had, and no false happy ending, only a qualified one.

Veteran cinematographer Sam Leavitt gives the movie a sharp, snappy look in black and white, akin to his work on Anatomy of a Murder and Advise & Consent.