Private Potter (1962)

• Director
  • Casper Wrede
• Writers
  • Ronald Harwood
  • Casper Wrede
• Stars
  • Tom Courtenay
  • Mogens Wieth
  • Ronald Fraser

  This conventional military drama is meant to showcase the conflict between an individual's right to religious belief (and experiences) and the army's right to punish what it sees as a violation of direct orders, especially when the violation leads to a fatality. Private Potter (Tom Courtenay in another of his early roles) is a new recruit, wet behind the ears and now one of the men on patrol on a Mediterranean island, looking for a terrorist. The commanding officer orders complete silence while the patrol carefully makes its way through unknown territory. Suddenly, Private Potter screams loudly -- it is obvious he is terrified -- and the entire mission has to be abandoned. Worse yet, one of the soldiers is killed. Facing the possibility of a court-martial for his actions, Potter maintains he saw a vision of God. Several others maintain he is lying. Involved in the final decision are army brass, a psychiatrist, a priest, and a doctor.