Riot has a stuffy, yet warranted prologue followed by a much too brief introduction to the prison itself. Herein lies the movie's first flaw. We're not presented with a prison where the "screws" are power-hungry jerks or sadistic hotheads. It would be fair to assume as much. But viewers are human and human beings often hide their heads in the sands when confronted with the misdeeds of the establishment. Cinema is sometimes the only way to reach them. But the ugly truth can't be fully comprehended if examples of it is only referred to rather than shown. Ringleader Dunn shows visiting photographers the tools the guards beat the inmates with, but we don't see the guards abusing the inmates. As much as this movie has an admirable conscience, it could afford to reveal a bit more. Because it doesn't, we don't a great sense for what the stakes are. Tarantino called this the "best prison movie ever made." It's not a lofty rebuttal to say that he's wrong.
Riot has plenty of credibility though. You might expect that a film from this era, would present more moral absolutes. But this isn't a genre shock piece about the criminal class. There's no macho-minded suggestion that the convicts in this prison are snakes in a viper's den. The frailty of the inmate's experience is presented early as a prisoner wearily mutters, "momma" in his sleep. If John Wayne were in this movie, he'd simply refer to the inmates as lousy vermin and scoff at their grievances.
Flavor wise, characters like Crazy Mike and Dunn provide the kind of rugged rough N tumble grit of the black N white variety. There's even a "give it to me straight," for good measure. You could watch this movie blind and still identify the 50s noir-like atmosphere. The orchestral score has a heavy horn section and you can practically smell the whiskey on the breath of actor Neville Brand every time his toad vocals croak.
As far as social value, it is ultimately a less poignant predecessor to more shocking movies like Brubaker (1980). But it's notable for being progressive even by today's standards. In 1954, it may have even been called "liberal nonsense." Yet, even with the sensitive morality and ethical internal conflict between the prisoners, the machismo hasn't been compromised one bit.
Riot has plenty of credibility though. You might expect that a film from this era, would present more moral absolutes. But this isn't a genre shock piece about the criminal class. There's no macho-minded suggestion that the convicts in this prison are snakes in a viper's den. The frailty of the inmate's experience is presented early as a prisoner wearily mutters, "momma" in his sleep. If John Wayne were in this movie, he'd simply refer to the inmates as lousy vermin and scoff at their grievances.
Flavor wise, characters like Crazy Mike and Dunn provide the kind of rugged rough N tumble grit of the black N white variety. There's even a "give it to me straight," for good measure. You could watch this movie blind and still identify the 50s noir-like atmosphere. The orchestral score has a heavy horn section and you can practically smell the whiskey on the breath of actor Neville Brand every time his toad vocals croak.
As far as social value, it is ultimately a less poignant predecessor to more shocking movies like Brubaker (1980). But it's notable for being progressive even by today's standards. In 1954, it may have even been called "liberal nonsense." Yet, even with the sensitive morality and ethical internal conflict between the prisoners, the machismo hasn't been compromised one bit.