DEFENDERS THE IRON MAN 5

Added: Dec 1, 2008

From: FreedomsLastEmbers

Duration: 9:59

The Defenders The Iron Man PART 5 "The Iron Man" is an interesting look into the mindset of fair men whether conservative or traditional "Jeffersonian" liberal (apparently a dying breed today). However, during the era of John F. Kennedy, America still championed the concept of Free Speech for anyone. Today that concept has been narrowed down to whatever is deemed politically correct by the likes of of the NY Times , NPR or CNN or most apparently "idiot targeted" local TV news. "Liberal media bias" is rather tunnel visioned to a very narrow spectrum... the the buzz words "diverse" and "multi-cultural".... seem to be any other culture than our own or those derived from the great traditions and accomplishments of Western Europe over the last 5 centuries...(you know the folks who "invented" the Renaissance or nearly everything that runs on electricity... like your computer or the light bulb you might see with...notice, I excluded the descriptor "read with".).... instead the folks that "invented" top soil is hip. So, Aristotle is out and Eubonics is in, Christianity is out and the Dalai Lama is in... if you doubt it just ask any contemporary Hollywood star. But, I digress. The Defenders episode: "The Iron Man'. A radical college student preaches against constitutional democracy and in favor of a totalitarian form of government .... he endorses both Stalin and Hitler ...in a shouting match...."they got things done," he exclaims. So, who knows he might have liked Castro, Chavez or Obama if they were in full dictatorial bloom during this 1961 episode. (Castro was still in his infancy as head of Cuba.). However, an elderly college professor comes to his defense (highly unlikely, today... in fact this might only happen in a Science Fiction film now). The Professor hires an attorney E.G. Marshall to defend him. Both are true champions of free speech... they quote Voltaire: "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it!" This was at the heart of fair minded people for many centuries but now is greatly out of fashion with the new liberal mindset (or is that mind lock ? ... or mind meld ?... (calling Mr. Spock). In any case, that is the set-up of the plot.... you are on your own from here. ====================== Information about "The Defenders" 1961-1965. I have not seen an episode since the mid-60s (YIKES, how long is that?), but I remember many of them. In one, these father/son are assigned the defense of a young Nazi. The man was defacing a synagogue when he was interrupted by the rabbi, who accidentally fell and hit his head and died. The man was caught and charged with murder, since it was assumed that he had killed the rabbi. There turned out to be a witness who could clear the man. When the Defenders finally tracked him down, he told them the most horrific story of his arrest and transfer to a concentration camp - and for that reason he would not testify for "one of THEM." Their response was, "Do you want us to be like them, ignoring the truth?" And that was how the episode ended - would the witness testify or not? How childish modern TV "drama" seems in comparison... E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed played the father and son law firm of Preston&Preston. E.G. as Lawrence Preston was a widower and Reed was his son Kenneth. What I remember was these two guys apparently had no personal life at all. I can't remember a single episode where these two weren't on the clock defending all kinds of clients.

But lawyers and law students loved this show as it took on some really important issues. The episode that I remember best was one involving the McNaghten Rule which evolved from an English murder case in which a guy named McNaghten killed Prime Minister Robert Peel's Secretary, thinking it was Peel. The poor demented jerk thought that the government was plotting against him personally. That case set a standard for a successful insanity defense, that someone like McNaghten had to be unaware of the difference between right and wrong when he committed the homicide.

I still remember Marshall saying that in behalf of his client the McNaghten Rule should be repealed. He certainly gave it one good effort in trying to repeal about a 120 years of Anglo-American jurisprudence. The rule's been modified, but never repealed. But that was typical of the stuff the Prestons did. No arraignments in night court for this duo.

The scripts though were intelligently written even if you didn't agree with what the Prestons were doing. Proof that entertainment can be intelligent and informative, the show ran for four years.

I wish that TV Land would pick up this series. =============================

Channel: Entertainment

Tags: classic  defenders  drama  free  freedom  iron  legal  man  nazi  of  speech  the  tv 

Rating: ( ratings)    Views: 224' favoriteCount='2    Comments: 0