The Strange One

Censored upon its release in 1957 and largely unseen in recent years, The Strange One is a curious artifact of film history. Calder Willingham originally adapted his novel—about a sadistic cadet at a military college whose bullying reaches far beyond hazing—for a stage production at the famed Actors Studio in NYC. Legendary independent producer Sam Spiegel (The African Queen and On the Waterfront, among many others) brought it to the screen with Willingham as screenwriter, Jack Garfein reprising his role as director, and most of the original cast. Although The Strange One features only a few scenes outside the barracks, the intense, dynamic performances carry this stagebound adaptation. In his film debut, Ben Gazzara dominates the screen as cool, cruel, bullying Jocko DeParis, never raising his voice as he stirs up trouble and manipulates everyone around him. An unmistakable gay undercurrent appears in a fawning cadet nicknamed “Cockroach,” whose crush on DeParis develops into something more unseemly, as well as in the character of a self-loathing freshman who refuses to shower with the other men and avoids contact with women. Ultimately, The Strange One presents homosexuality as a kind of pathology, a regrettable reflection of the time (some of the scenes were cut before the film's 1957 release but have been restored to the DVD). Also starring George Peppard and Pat Hingle, The Strange One debuts on DVD with a bonus interview with Gazzara. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)