Majorthebys Charming and brutal

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

writers_reign Even in 1958 this must have been something of a one-trick pony. Okay, it's a novel and/or even 'daring' concept to chain a black prisoner to a white prisoner in the Deep South, contrive to have them escape and become fugitives whilst still shackled to each other but once you've said that there's not much else you can say. It's clear from the FADE IN that the two protagonists are just one more rip-off of Beatrice and Benedek i.e. they are going to begin by despising each other and end up in the metaphorical sack so it's just a matter of how long this will take. On paper there was clearly a lot that COULD have been sad about racial tension but as in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the chance was squandered. It remains worth a look for the casting and standard of acting.

grantss A prison truck is transporting a group of convicts when it runs off the road and crashes. Two convicts escape - Johnny (Tony Curtis), a white man, and Cullen (Sydney Poitier), a black man. They loathe each other, especially as Johnny is an ignorant racist. However, they are chained together and have to rely on each other to escape and survive. Meanwhile, the State Police plus the local Sheriff and a ragtag bunch of deputies, assisted by tracker dogs, are hot on their trail...Excellent movie. In the 1950s this would have been incredibly revolutionary, socially progressive and a great moral tale. Even today, with society more tolerant, it is a wonderful story of friendship and tolerance with a powerful anti-prejudice message.While it might seem obvious where the story is going, how it gets there is never predictable, or dull. Director Stanley Kramer weaves a great story, filled with red herrings, detours and setbacks. Much symbolism in some of the smallest of gestures and acts and the dialogue is filled with some powerful, quotable lines.Balancing the drama is the lighter side of the story - the police. Scenes involving them are often funny, not to make them seem like buffoons or make light of their attempts to track the convicts, but really just to lighten the mood.Great work by Sydney Poitier as Cullen. Tony Curtis is less convincing (the accent!), but does okay. Both picked up Oscar nominations for their efforts. Theodore Bickel is great as the Sheriff - his laid- back way of doing things made for some great comedy. He also got an Oscar nomination, as did Cara Williams.Somehow this movie did not win the 1959 Best Picture Oscar. In one of the worst decisions in Oscar history, the award went to the incredibly weak and dull Gigi, one of the worst ever Best Picture winners. Maybe the Academy was just into musicals that year...

berberian00-276-69085 Before anything else I wish to stipulate here, that this writing is non-partisan one and has nothing to do with any form of racism, communism or whatsoever deviant behavior - cf., "Defiant Ones" (1958) and also less prominent remake with Carl Weathers and Robert Urich in 1986. If Stanley Kramer dared to produce this movie in 1958 and Tony Curtis (White Male Caucasian) participate in principal leading role, subsequently I don't see reason to swell 60 years later when about half of Hollywood actors are colored and Film Industry in the making depend on this people. The reason I took this small undertaking is to try (if possible) to dispel the myth of African American Culture, its boundaries and genesis, and its role in interpreting current history of USA and all English speaking people on this planet Earth. It's a fair coin, I think both Blacks and Whites should understand me."The Defiant Ones" (1958), gave Sidney Poitier his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Five years later, he won the Oscar for "Lilies of the Field" (1963), the first African American to win for a leading role. His roles in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967) and "To Sir, with Love" (1967) were for their time landmarks in the breaking down of social barriers between African Americans and Whites.I took the paragraph above as citation from IMDb. Certainly its a good place here to mention some other Black American film stars that I have remembered vividly in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s - Harry Belafonte, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Yaphet Kotto, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor (died of dementia in 2005), Eddie Murphy, etc. Those were people that single-handedly could perform and produce a good Movie for the Big Audience. There are other names that I have missed maybe, but as a rule good Films in those times were the ones that were remembered. In the 1990s already African Americans in Hollywood Films became a cliché, there were so many nominations and deserved medleys that I am not in position right now to make an appreciation.I will go further a little bit. I am a self-conscious citizen and read all kind of literature (on equal opportunity). I have books in my library on Black Racism and White Racism, the way it started in the American Southwest from the years of 1860 and on. Mass Organizations such as Ku Klux Clan appeared as reaction on the loosing Confederate side. As counter reaction the free Black Americans left their cluster Southern States and migrated internally East and West all over USA. They started to study Culturally and Physically in High Schools and Universities. They interbreed freely in marriages with Whites and casted a singular alloy of racial unity - namely, Mulattos (if you can distinguish them physically) are as good as Blond or Brunette Whites. So what's the case here? Why are we still reading pieces of literature like "We Charge Genocide" (1951) by Civil Rights Congress on pages of Wikipaedia. It's high time for reconciliation ...

jfarms1956 The Defiant Ones is not a family flick. It is for adults 15 and older. Tony Curtis is top billed. Sidney Poitier is very good in this film. They were both nominated for best actor but lost with the split vote. This is a "coming of age" film for America. Being made before Civil Rights were enforced and accepted, this movie teaches us that we have a lot of growing together as Americans versus simply as blacks or whites. Today, no one would understand why this film could bring out such deep racial biases. The movie is ahead of its time. It would have been better accepted if made in the late 60s or early 70s. The actors all do a fine job in this film. Although a bit slow paced (you need the time to listen the emotions being worked out), the movie does seem to hold my attention. This is a serious movie and deals with some serious emotions. The ending of the movie is quite appropriate for the two who have to work together.