Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Michael_Elliott The Last Mile (1959) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Prison drama takes place on the Death Row floor as one man (Clifford David) finally accepts the fact that he's going to die later that night. Before that can happen, the most violent man (Mickey Rooney) in the joint manages to break free and release the other inmates and soon they're holding hostages. THE LAST MILE isn't the greatest prison flick you're going to see but I think it has enough interesting moments to make it worth sitting through once. Low budget master Howard W. Koch does a pretty good job at bringing the material to life and you've got to give him even more credit because the actual material isn't all that good to begin with. Koch at least brings a nice atmosphere to the film and I was also impressed with the visual style that he brought it. This is especially noticeable during the sequence where the David character is confessing to a Priest (Frank Overton) and the use of shadows was very impressive. I also thought he managed to bring some good tension towards the end of the film but it's too bad the screenplay didn't give him more chances at this early on. Perhaps I've seen too many "cute" Mickey Rooney roles but I always have a hard time believing him in some of his more adult things. He's playing a mad dog killer here and while I thought he did a fine job in regards to the performance, I still can't see him as much of a threat. I thought Overton was also good in the role of the Priest but the rest of the cast were very hit and miss. The screenplay was clearly the weakest aspect of the film as we never really get to know any of the characters and we don't even get to know why they're on Death Row. I thought the film didn't know if it wasn't to be a straight crime flick or if it wanted to send some sort of political message about killing people. The film even tries to make us "like" these men but not for a second did I want to see any of them succeed.

RoughneckPaycheck Man I didn't know what I was in for when I sat down to watch this brutal little gem. This portrait of a doomed attempted prison break from a death row cell block hits very hard, and it left me shaking my head in stunned silence.I'm not surprised to learn from other reviews here that this story began its life as a stage play; most of the action takes place on one set, it features an ensemble cast with multiple meaty roles, and the first half of the film works at a deliberate pace with longer takes and scenes than are conventionally cinematic. It walks a thin line, how to get across the agonizing boredom of being in such a lockup, without becoming boring itself? The answer is to spread dialog around, and to give a lot of weight to mundane events, magnifying tensions and emotions. It gives the excellent cast a lot of room to create, if not exactly sympathy, at least an understanding of where the characters are coming from.The second half (or maybe final third) of the movie is an altogether different animal, as the ticking timebomb of Mickey Rooney's John Mears explodes into violent retribution. Mears is a complicated character, an atheist and maybe a nihilist, but he cares deeply about his fellow death row inmates. Rooney's performance is AMAZING and dominates this section of the film. Also excellent are Clifford David as the youngest man on the row, next scheduled to be executed, and Frank Overton as Father O'Connors, the priest who gives the condemned men their last rites. His character shows tremendous courage as events spiral into bloodshed; he has a lot more backbone than the guards, who for the most part are sniveling, cowardly, sadistic creeps.And as others have noted, the jazz score is outstanding, dynamic, punchy, and powerful. It maybe calls attention to itself a little too much, but it's wildly effective in underlining and slapping exclamation points on events throughout the film.In short, terrific.

grubstaker58 Having not seen this film in about 20 years I am still impressed with it 's hard -hitting impact and stellar acting. Of course, one Mr. Mickey Rooney is indeed, INCREDIBLE in his role as the ring-leading "Killer".(In reference to another review here-none other than Orson Welles evoked Mickey Rooney's name as the greatest movie actor,also.) I also recall the jazzy-brassy score and the bare black and white photography. I love the Mick's last line before he goes out for his dose of lead poisoning.(I think the Stranglers lifted it for a line in one of their songs-Get a Grip on Yourself.)This is a great film and unjustly buried film. Let's get it out ! Side note-a recent Film Review magazine gave a big write up on Don Segal's "Babyface Nelson" ,made a couple years before "Last Mile" and also starring Mickey Rooney. Another rave of the Mick's intense and sympathetic performance.Perhaps it's the start of a groundswell of a appreciation for some truly superior cinematic performances.

Peter Eckhardt (adhoc2004) Saw this movie when it came out in 1959, left a lasting impression. Great group of actors. A little short timewise but a great movie all the same. Have only seen once since then and that was some time ago. Hopefully they'll put it out on DVD if they haven't already.