I saw this thirty four years ago on television, and it has never been shown since. It was a play by Emanuel Robles that was translated and rewritten by Lillian Hellman, and the cast, led by Keir Dullea as Montserrat and Rip Torn as Izquierdo (the Spanish officer and torturer). It is Venezuela (then part of the Spanish South American Empire) in the 1820s. Simon Bolivar was leading the revolution, and winning. Izquierdo is trying to find him, and knows that Montserrat is a close associate of Bolivar, and can tell him where he is. So he arrests Montserrat, and grabs five innocent civilians (including Geraldine Page, Hurd Hatfield, Alexander Scourby, and Jack Albertson), from a city square. Then he tells Montserrat that he will kill these hostages one at a time, unless he gets the information from Montserrat. If Montserrat cooperates he'll release them and let Montserrat live.
It becomes a battle of character between Montserrat and Izquierdo, who is battling memories of his own humiliation at the hands of Simon Bolivar's men in a recent campaign. The hostages try to force Montserrat to recognize the duty he supposedly owes to them, and he keeps arguing against this pressure. In the end we watch both men basically lose, as Montserrat maintains his honor, and Izquierdo realizes he has gained little - and is giving his services to forces he himself has little respect for.
I wish they would revive it. Like many of the televised dramas of early television history (1950 - 1975) it is possibly no longer in existence, which is a shame. But if it is maybe it can be shown again. It was a good play.
It becomes a battle of character between Montserrat and Izquierdo, who is battling memories of his own humiliation at the hands of Simon Bolivar's men in a recent campaign. The hostages try to force Montserrat to recognize the duty he supposedly owes to them, and he keeps arguing against this pressure. In the end we watch both men basically lose, as Montserrat maintains his honor, and Izquierdo realizes he has gained little - and is giving his services to forces he himself has little respect for.
I wish they would revive it. Like many of the televised dramas of early television history (1950 - 1975) it is possibly no longer in existence, which is a shame. But if it is maybe it can be shown again. It was a good play.