Conduct Unbecoming (play)
Conduct Unbecoming is a historical nonfiction book by Diane Chamberlain. It is based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice of Code of Conduct becoming Officers and Gentlemen that says basically that men would engage in conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, and a nature to bring credit upon the armed forces, behavior becoming an officer and a gentleman. It covers the years of transition in the military from Vietnam 1974 to the Cold War to Present Day 1913.
The case is strongly made that for at least forty years there has existed a collusion of criminal conduct which has broken down the behavior. In fact, Rape and torture is now so rampant that at times 65% of military women have been victims, hostage to hidden predators within the military, helpless prey and condoned by institutional silence and a culture of machismo. The book not only outlines the case against good order and conduct unbecoming but how Congress and the Supreme Court has also been complicit. It is a shocking but eye opening account of one woman's story in a historical context covering forty years of history. It even goes into the Veterans Administration and shows the correlation of continuing behavior. A compelling case study for years to come of democracy gone bad and corruption at the highest levels. [1]
Plot
A kangaroo court is convened, as the Regiment doesn't wish to have itself dishonored in public. A second Lieutenant by the name of Edward Millington is accused for the assault by Mrs. Hasseltine (the woman who was assaulted), and at first, everyone is prejudiced against him. Millington himself has no interest in remaining in the army, even though his father was a decorated official. Millington's friend and comrade Arthur Drake is given the duty of defending Millington, much to his initial displeasure. But as events begin to unfold, Drake realizes that Millington is in fact not guilty, and slowly manages to convince everyone else as well. But the question remains... who is guilty? A good plot, the play builds up towards the end, gripping the reader with suspense as well as a sense of mystery.
Theatre
It was first staged in May 1969 at the Theatre Royal in Bristol, then transferred to the Queen's Theatre in the West End in July.
The Broadway production was directed by Val May. After 16 previews, it opened on October 12, 1970 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and ran for 144 performances. The cast included Michael Barrington, Michael Bradshaw, Jeremy Clyde, Donald Pickering, Nicholas Hammond, and Elizabeth Shepherd. Pickering was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
In 1975, Robert Enders adapted the play for Conduct Unbecoming, a British Lion Film Corporation feature film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Stacy Keach, Susannah York, Christopher Plummer, Richard Attenborough, and Trevor Howard.