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The Prisoner (1955)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Bridget Boland (writer)
Release Date:
11 December 1955 (USA)
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Genre:
Tagline:
Which One is the Prisoner? more
Plot:
A cardinal is arrested for treason against the state. As a prince of his church, and a popular hero of this people...
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Awards:
Nominated for 5 BAFTA Film Awards.
Another 2 wins
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User Comments:
Two-Man Show
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Cast
(Credited cast) | Alec Guinness | ... | The Cardinal |
 | Jack Hawkins | ... | The Interrogator |
| Wilfrid Lawson | ... | The Jailer |
| Kenneth Griffith | ... | The Secretary |
| Jeanette Sterke | ... | The Girl |
| Ronald Lewis | ... | The Guard |
| Raymond Huntley | ... | The General |
| Mark Dignam | ... | The Governor |
| Gerard Heinz | ... | The Doctor |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
Netherlands:95 min | USA:91 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Netherlands:12 (2005) (DVD) |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:A (original rating) |
UK:U (video rating) (1997)
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Deemed suitably controversial enough to be banned from both the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals.
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Quotes:
[Speaking about the "art" of interrogation]
The Interrogator: It's a pity it's a sport that has to be played with living men.
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The Interrogator: It's a pity it's a sport that has to be played with living men.
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Movie Connections:
Version of "ITV Sunday Night Drama: The Prisoner" (1963)
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (8 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Prisoner (1955)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| HOLYWOOD PLEASE UPDATE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!! | johngeo-2 |
| The Cardinal | gordon0239 |
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Though the wonderful Wilfred Lawson gives a good turn as a jailer, this is basically a two-man show, based on a play. The two men are fine actors: Alec Guinness, as the beloved Cardinal arrested by the state in a generic Eastern European Cold War setting; and Jack Hawkins, as the state inquisitor, trying to coerce the Cardinal into making untrue confessions for a show trial.
Both men are brilliant, though Guinness is perhaps too impenetrable, not only for his inquisitors, but for the audience. Hawkins' character and Guinness's worked together in the Resistance against the Nazis; since then, Hawkins has become a high Communist official trying to eradicate the church from public life.
At first, the movie seems like a cat-and-mouse game between two fanatics, though erudite and educated fanatics, one believing in the church and the other in the ultimate power of the state. Hawkins keeps his well-practiced geniality, though, while Guinness, under mental torture (Hawkins knew Guinness had suffered physical torture under the Nazis and was inured to it) begins to show cracks.
While the movie is hardly a cliff-hanger, and doesn't discuss religion or even totalitarianism in any great depth, the performances by the leads are intense, and worth watching for the acting alone, even though one may be puzzled by what it's all about.