Cinema 100

Just caught up with this one. I was born the year this was made so its only taken me 61 years to do so.

Synopsis:

At overcrowded Westgate Penitentiary, where violence and fear are the norm and the warden has less power than guards and leading prisoners, the least contented prisoner is tough, single-minded Joe Collins. Most of all, Joe hates chief guard Captain Munsey, a petty dictator who glories in absolute power. After one infraction too many, Joe and his cell-mates are put on the dreaded drain pipe detail; prompting an escape scheme that has every chance of turning into a bloodbath.

I couldn't help compare this to the Green Mile as the evil warder in that film was surely based on Hume Cronyn's wonderful portrayal of the psychopathic captain. I think his role is allegorical for Hitler and the prison population perhaps for concentration camp victims.

There is some criticism that the only psychopath in the film is a warder and none of the prisoners seem to be bad. Also the flashbacks are a bit sugary and meant to showcase some starlets of the time although the one featuring the cool con man and his femme fatale noir girlfriend Flossie is a hoot.

Even so this a tough film even by today's standards and the gripping build up to the confrontation between Lancaster and Cronyn masterfully done by the great director Jules Dassin, who recently passed on.

Its a great tribute to Dassin who directed other great noir movies like The Naked City and Rififi. It also made a star of Burt Lancaster.

Imdb: 7.8/10