Death of a Soldier

1986
R
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

286

YOUR RATING

James Coburn in Death of a Soldier (1986)

Legal Drama Crime Drama War

Based on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The... Read allBased on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite th... Read allBased on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite the defense lawyer's concerns that the killer is not fit to stand trial, the US military pre... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

286

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Photos6

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
This movie is based on the true story of the murders of three Melbourne women by a US Army private stationed near the city during World War II. The series of killings are known as The Brown-Out Murders while the killer, Pvt. Eddie Leonski, was known as "The Brownout Strangler" or "The Brownout Murderer". "Brown-out" was a term used during the war when people would dim the lights in their houses to reduce the chances of enemy airplanes using them as a "beacon" for aerial bombing. At the time of the murders, Melbourne was in the thick of brown-out, in which the streets were dark and shadowy.

Connections
Featured in The Spoony Experiment: Death of a Soldier (2011)

Soundtracks
Sentimental Dreams
music by Allan Zavod
lyrics by Marty Fields
sung by Kerrie Biddell
published by Filmtrax PLC

User reviews14

Review

Featured review

The Man in the Middle

This appears to be a remake of the older film: The Man in the Middle. The war time alliance is uneasy. Australians are in the war by one vote. They are concerned with national defence and recalled their troops from North Africa. In the midst of the angst, an American misfit kills an Australian.

The defen(s)e is intended to be pro forma.

I did like the older movie MAN IN THE MIDDLE and the Howard Fast Book upon which it was based.

I wish more Australian films like this circulated in the US.