Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 12/11/2001
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: 5.1/1
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Flags: Questionable for Children
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Convicts
Tony Curtis and
Sidney Poitier escape from a chain gang.
Curtis' character,
John "Joker" Jackson, hates blacks, while
Poitier's character,
Noah Cullen, hates whites. However, the men are manacled together, forced to rely on each other to survive. Captured at one point by a lynch-happy mob, the convicts are rescued by
Big Sam (
Lon Chaney Jr.), himself a former convict. The men are later sheltered by a lonely, love-hungry widow played by
Cara Williams, who offers to turn in
Cullen if
Joker will stay with her. By the time the two men are within hailing distance of a train that might take them to freedom, they have become friends. The script for
The Defiant Ones is credited to
Harold Jacob Smith and
Nathan E. Douglas. The latter was really
Nedrick Young, a blacklisted writer, whom producer
Stanley Kramer hired knowing full well that
Young was using an alias (when "
Douglas"' credit appears onscreen, it is superimposed over a close-up of a truck driver -- played by
Nedrick Young). Both the script and the photography by
Sam Leavitt won Academy Awards. If you look closely, you'll notice that the actor playing
Angus is former
Little Rascal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, making his last screen appearance.
The Defiant Ones was remade for TV in 1986, with
Robert Urich and
Carl Weathers in the leads.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
