The Defiant Ones (1958)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writers (WGA):

Nedrick Young (story) (originally as Nathan E. Douglas)
Harold Jacob Smith (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

One of the great ones!

Plot:

Two escaped convicts chained together, white and black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture.

Plot Keywords:

Convict | Police | Escaped Convict | Chain Gang | Prison

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	John 'Joker' Jackson
Sidney Poitier	...	Noah Cullen
Theodore Bikel	...	Sheriff Max Muller
Charles McGraw	...	Capt. Frank Gibbons
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Big Sam (as Lon Chaney)
King Donovan	...	Solly
Claude Akins	...	Mack
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Editor
Whit Bissell	...	Lou Gans
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Angus (as Carl Switzer)
Kevin Coughlin	...	Billy
Cara Williams	...	Billy's mother

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #18985) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Between Piru & Fillmore, Southern Pacific Railroad, California, USA

Company:

Curtleigh Productions

Trivia:

A technical advisor on board during filming had to go uncredited, because he was a real-life chain gang escapee who was still a wanted man.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As John and Noah are swept downriver together, a person is seen on the shore moving into the top of frame, watching the two men.

Quotes:

Noah Cullen: [to John] Go on, tell me all that big talk about Charlie Potatoes, when the chains off and nobody chasing you. Come on. You can't, can you? You can't because you're nothing. You're not even a man! You're a monkey on a stick. That cracker mob back there, they pull the string and you jump.
[John punches him]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates the Buddy System (#2.6)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Long Gone

Superb!

The brilliant performances of Poitier and Curtis highlight this incredible film from the great Stanley Kramer. In the finest role of his career, Curtis shines especially as the man forced to fight for survival, not only from the law, but from Poitier, who is his enemy simply because of the color of his screen. Through their fight for survival, an unlikely kinship develops. Bikel and Williams are also wonderful in key supporting roles, as is Lon Chaney Jr.