TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

ofpsmith No Way Out was Sidney Poitier's debut film it he sure benefited from beginners luck. Dr. Luther Brooks (Poitier) is an African American doctor who is assigned to treat two white trash robbers in the prison ward, brothers Johnny (Dick Paxton) and Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark). While Luther is tending to Johnny's wounds Biddle jeers at Luther and shouts racial slurs. When Johnny dies of a brain tumor Biddle starts holding Luther responsible because of his ethnicity. Although Luther had no part in Johnny's death, Biddle insists that it was him. Dr. Dan Wharton (Stephen McNally) Luther's superior believes Luther and so do the rest of the hospital staff, but Biddle tells his white trash friends and a big race riot erupts in the city. This overall is a great movie and I highly recommend it. Poitier would prove himself time and time again after this film.

Michael_Elliott No Way Out (1950) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A vile, racist criminal (Richard Widmark) is brought into a hospital where he objects to being treated by a black doctor (Sidney Poitier). The doctor eventually begins to work on the man's brother who eventually dies and this leaves the racist thinking that the doctor killed him on purpose, which sets off a wide range of events, which leads to a race riot as well as the black doctor having to make a decision that could effect his future. It's rather amazing watching this film because you really have to keep pinching yourself and reminding yourself that this movie was made in 1950. This thing remains pretty shocking by today's standards so I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like seeing this sixty-years ago. I think it's fair to say that a movie like this could never be made today and I think it's safe to say that it would have never been made had it not been for Zanuck. What's so shocking about this movie is how ugly and vile the racism is. A lot of films that deal with race throw out the "n" word but here the words are just so utterly deprived, disturbing and at times brutally ugly that you can't help but feel as if you really are watching hatred at work. Future race films, even the great ones, didn't really show how ugly words could be and that's why this film is so ahead of its time and I'd say the "right" time for this hasn't even happened yet. There are many amazing moments throughout this film but I think the main reason for its greatness is due to the performances by the two leads. Widmark made a career out of playing scumbags but the pure evil he brings to this role without question makes it one of the greatest villain performances out there. I had no problem believing that I was seeing a man eaten up with hatred and how Widmark pulled this off is beyond me. Some could say that words are words but Widmark just does something to make them so meaningful and so painfully ugly. The vile character is one you want to hate and this too goes against the Poitier character. I'm not sure how Poitier got fourth billing and after the main title as he's pretty much the star of the film. In his first role it's amazing to see how much power and dignity he could put on camera. Even from the very first time we see him we can see the power that his character has as well as the dignity and his belief that he must always do the right thing. I think the film's greatest moments are early on when Poitier is trying to treat the man while not letting Widmark's insults effect him. Seeing Widmark and Poitier working together created some true fireworks and some unforgettable moments. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are strong in their supporting roles as are Stephen McNally and Mildred Joanne Smith. Linda Darnell plays part of the "trash" who must overcome some of her own feelings on race. She too delivers a strong, first class performance. I think the film loses a small bit of power as the story gets a little bigger and doesn't focus just on the doctor and the patient but this is just a minor issue. I think some of the later race movies on a whole were better but there's no denying the power and originality this one has. The incredibly vile character is certainly one of the most memorable out there and the work by Widmark and Poitier makes this a must see.

Steffi_P Hollywood, for all its reputation as a bastion of mainstream conservatism, could often be quite a forward-thinking institution. Years before the Civil Rights movement, long before it became trendy or even widely discussed, a major studio could produce an A-feature that dealt candidly and incisively with the issue of race.What is really surprising about No Way Out, is not that it is in an anti-racist picture from the 1950s, but that its attack on racism is incredibly mature. Even into the 1970s pictures that looked directly at race could be woefully patronising and heavy-handed. No Way Out however is clear in presenting the Sidney Poitier character as a central player in the drama who is able to act for himself, rather than having justice handed down to him by charitable white people. It actually pre-empts tokenistic attitudes, with the MD character claiming "If anything I'm pro-Negro", to which Stephen McNally rebukes "I'm just pro-good doctor".But it is not enough to simply make statements for equal ability – it is equally important to show it, and this is where Sidney Poitier comes in. With his calm, professional manner – the very antithesis of the servile stereotypes you see in 1930s cinema – Poitier makes a mockery of white supremecism. He takes the character beyond being a token black doctor dreamt up for the purposes of an anti-racist drama, and presents him as a doctor first and foremost. This was Poitier's first credited role, and although he still has a way to go he is clearly an actor to be reckoned with, showing all the powerful expressiveness in his face that would always be his best asset. It's rather neat that Poitier's antagonist here is Richard Widmark. Widmark makes his character utterly odious, often hysterical, yet still recognisably human. He is Poitier's opposite in every way, yet both actors have such a great depth and naturalism that they make perfect co-stars.But No Way Out is more than just an intellectual sermon. It is also a taut and gripping thriller. Writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz had recently won Oscars for writing and directing A Letter to Three Wives, and was about to pull off the same trick this year with All About Eve. No Way Out is a slightly simpler job than those other pictures, and does not feature quite the same detail to visual information that was Mankiewicz's forte. Instead, he appears to have focused more on pacing. Many of the simple exposition scenes move at a speedy lick, with actors travelling from room to room as they talk, and shots beginning and ending with movement. This has the duel purpose of stopping these scenes being too static, and at once establishing a frantic, unsettled atmosphere. But here and there these hurried sequences give way to scenes of slow drawn-out tension, in which Mankiewicz ekes out a sense of danger with the power of suggestion, often in simple set-ups and long takes.And this brings us onto what is perhaps the most refreshing thing about No Way Out. It is not just that this is a thought-provoking anti-racist drama which engages its audience. It is the fact that a black actor could play a lead role in such a serious picture, on equal footing (if not billing) with his white co-stars. Granted, much of the plot is revealed through the eyes of Linda Darnell's character, especially in the latter half of the film, identification with a female lead being very much a Mankiewicz trademark. However Sidney Poitier is not the object or the catalyst or the victim of the story – he is the hero of No Way Out.

dbdumonteil Another menacing portrayal by Richard Widmark,another strong performance by the great actor.Although the other stars (Poitier,Darnell,McNally) are quite good,he steals every scene he is in,and the scenes in which he does not play seem weaker by comparison. What Biddle can't forgive Brooks ,it's to be an educated man ,to have been able to become a doctor whereas he has remained a crude brute ,reading comics (so does the deaf-dumb)and still leaving in a lousy part of the town.Look at his face when Brook is examining his brother:if looks could kill,his probably would.Biddle's hatred knows no bounds and is impervious to any straight thinking.Mankiewicz's directing is not as inventive as in previous ("THe ghost and Mrs Muir" )or later ("Suddenly last summer" "sleuth" ) works,but Widmark makes it all worthwhile.