The Defiant Ones Movie

The Defiant Ones
Rating:
Run Time: 97 min
MPAA Rating:
Released: 1958
Directors: Stanley Kramer
Genre/Type: Drama
Chase Movie
Buddy Film
Odd Couple Film
Producers: Stanley Kramer
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
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.

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Cast

Actors Character Born
Tony Curtis John "Joker" Jackson Jun 3, 1925 in Bronx, New York City, NY
Sidney Poitier Noah Cullen Feb 20, 1927 in Miami, FL
Theodore Bikel Sheriff Man Muller May 2, 1924 in Vienna, Austria
Charles McGraw Captain Frank Gibbons May 10, 1914 in New York City, NY
Lon Chaney, Jr. Big Sam Feb 10, 1906 in Oklahoma City, OK
Cara Williams The Woman Jun 29, 1925 in Brooklyn, New York City, NY
King Donovan Solly Jan 25, 1918 in New York, NY
Claude Akins Mac May 25, 1926 in Nelson, GA
Lawrence Dobkin Editor Sep 16, 1919
Whit Bissell Lou Gans Oct 25, 1909 in New York City, NY
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer Angus Aug 7, 1927 in Paris, IL
Kevin Coughlin Billy

Back to the topReview

Review by Brendon Hanley
The Defiant Ones is best known for its central premise: a black man and white man, chained together and on the lam, must overcome their own prejudices and help each other survive. The racial metaphor is obvious but important nonetheless, seeing as the film was released early in the civil rights movement. The quality performances of Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis help the film avoid mere political posturing. After the success of Blackboard Jungle, Poitier was on the cusp of becoming the first major African-American star in movie history. Also in a career upswing, Curtis was hot on the heels of The Sweet Smell of Success; he and Poitier would receive Academy Award nominations for The Defiant Ones. This was longtime producer Stanley Kramer's first success as a director, it would usher in his string of '60s hits, including Inherit the Wind, Judgement at Nuremberg and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Kramer previously produced one of the first white-made films featuring a black lead performer, 1949's little-known Home of the Brave.
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