THE MEN - BRANDO'S FIRST FILM

THE MEN --- (MARLON BRANDO, TERESA WRIGHT, JACK WEBB) is the first big screen movie that deals with the issue of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). It's an obscure film made in 1950 that would be even more obscure if not for the fact that it marks the beginning of Brando's movie career. The Men takes place shortly after World War II. The story deals with the lives of some of the first "survivors" of SCI --- paralyzed war veterans learning, or attempting, to start life over again wheelchair-bound in a veterans' rehabilitation hospital. It was and continues to be an eye opening and educational film for those with little knowledge of SCI. It certainly was in 1950. I don't intend to pretend to be a movie critic or reviewer. There are a number of reviews here on the Internet, and anyone interested in viewing the film can find cheap-enough DVD's as well. (Don't expect your local Blockbuster to carry it.) I will say, however, that since the first of the four or five times that I've watched The Men three things bothered me, as for its educational value. First, the word "quadriplegic" is not uttered once. Maybe back then there were none? Maybe we all were considered "paraplegics"? There is one scene in particular where an actual quad --- The Men was filmed primarily at the Birmingham VA Hospital in Van Nuys, CA --- is shown moving his fingers ever so slightly. (Forty-five or forty-nine ---depending on where you look --- actual paralyzed veteran patients of the hospital take part in the film.) Secondly, in the opening scene, Dr. Brock --- presumably a look alike to actual SCI Doctor Bors --- is speaking to family and loved ones of the paralyzed vets. During Q&A a mother of a nineteen year old paraplegic asks the good doctor how long can her son expect to live? His patronizingly reassuring answer, "With proper care and proper nutrition, there is no reason why he couldn't live to be ninety!" A life expectancy of 71 years? I know it's only a movie and the well intentioned man of medicine is attempting to sooth the poor women's concerns --- but let's get real! I can't say what/if patients were told in the 40's about life expectancy post-SCI, but I know people injured in the 60's who were told seven/eight years and one gentleman injured in 1953 who was told he had about three years to live. He spent many years living in Quadalajara and passed away in 1998! The third thing that bothered me about The Men was that one came away with the impression that ALL the paraplegics would finish rehab --- except for a small percentage of patients who died from their injuries or an isolated illness --- and be discharged into the world that Brando's character, Ken Wilcheck, shows was not yet ready or willing to accept them. (When I went through rehab at the West Roxbury VA Hospital in '69-'71 there were many patients who NEVER went "home" or EVER intended to --- ditto just about every VA SCI hospital in the country at that time.)......... Now that I have vented sufficiently, I can say that I really believe this film to be valuable for a better understanding of where "we" started and how far "we" have or haven't come in sixty years! Much thanks to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) for leading the way and making life better for all paras and quads and people with disabilities in general. PVA played a prominent role in the movie itself (Jack Webb's character, Norm, was PVA president and head of the hospital disciplinary board). PVA members also lended a hand as technical advisors behind the scenes.

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