#Communist forces (whom Gregorios worked with) at all‚ but by right wing elements affiliated with the Greek government... as recently as | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mariocki · 1 year ago

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A young Peter Wyngarde guests as journalist Andrea Bakolas (a fictionalised version of the real Gregorios Staktopoulos) in Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!: The George Polk Case (1.9, ABPC, 1957)

#fave spotting #peter wyngarde #overseas press club exclusive!#jason king #classic tv #1957 #abpc #the george polk case #gregorios staktopoulos #george polk #for more on this strange little series see the tags on a prev alfred burke fave spotting post #i mentioned at that time my doubts that all of these stories were quite as 'torn from the headlines' as the narrator would have us believe #but this one is certainly true: george polk was a real american journalist and he was really murdered in Greece during the civil war there #that part is certainly delivered fairly accurately; it is‚ however‚ kind of background to this old tv dramatisation of events #which is more concerned with capturing the guilty party (SPOILERS ig for a near 70yr old show nobody will watch lol): it's Peter of course #but that's where we hit a weird snag; bc his character here is again very much (for once) based on a real person‚ Gregorios Staktopoulos #but Gregorios' confession was almost certainly obtained via torture‚ not the play of wits shown here; his conviction was also‚ to say the #least‚ unsafe. evidence brought in that trial has been shown to be false‚ and it's actually debated now that Polk was not killed by the #Communist forces (whom Gregorios worked with) at all‚ but by right wing elements affiliated with the Greek government... as recently as #2004 his widow was campaigning for a posthumous retrial to clear his name. so yes an unfortunate footnote in old tv: when you #actually DO try to tell a true story‚ just be aware that the facts you're taking as true may not always be what they appear #the real Gregorios was indeed sentenced to life in prison as in this ep‚ but some relief there in that his sentence was reduced and #(perhaps in recognition of the shady legalities surrounding his conviction) he was released in 1960 and returned to work as a journalist #the George Polk Awards for american journalism are still given today which is nice #imdb list this ep as The George Polk Story but the onscreen title is definitely Case

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