Decent and brooding Hollywood production about racism and intolerance with lots of violence, intense drama , and competetly filmed . Hard-edge social drama centers around racial conflicts and other unpleasant issues , being one of the most first cinematic forays in this theme . And stands out Richard Widmark as a heinous crook shot during an attempted robbery , who has gangster pals avenge his brother's death by creating race riots . As the Biddle brothers , two wounded hoodlums while robbing a gas station are taken to the prison ward of the nearby County Hospital. There the bigoted bad guy Roy (Richard Widmark) and his brother George (Bellaver) are taken by a small hospital run by doctor Wharton (Stephen McNally) who believes in giving all his doctors a fair chance . So black doctor Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) works on George dies , but his nasty brother who didn't want a treatment from a black resident witnesses the events . Naturally , the surviving brother Roy blames the doctor and he becomes obsessed with revenge , and then things go wrong , that's why there are several black racists around and African-American people want to defend themselves . Later on, Roy Biddle gets his hoodlum pals to cause some bloody confrontations . Is it a question ...or an answer !
An interesting and attractive film if rather thorny drama , with emotion , thrills and packing some terrific interpretations . Violent flick of racial hatred involving bigotry , medical duties and moral conflicts . Once-provocating movie is still engrossing but seems a bit dated and artificial at times . It resuls to be an incisive Hollywood examination on racism , including intrigue , twists , surprises , thriller and amazing final . This is a thoughful and thought-provoking story of racial violence and xenophobia with countless tension in which a spark causes a thorny situation that slides rapidly toward violence . This is another example of a serious movie about xenophobia and racism in which a black role -Sidney Poiter- is a main figure in the story , while in precedent films the white roles predominate and African-American characters provide background. As Sidney Poitier is awesome as the unfortunate doctor who finds a hardship way to work in a world of white men . Richard Widmark took the acting honours , giving a nice acting in his usual style as the sardonic , world-weary , rabid racist who blames the African-American doctor for his brother's death . While Linda Darnell is pretty good as the unfortunate ex-wife who must take a difficult choice. And being film debuts of Sidney Poitier , Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee . Support cast is very fine , such as : Stephen McNally , Harry Bellaver , Stanley Ridges , Robert Adler , and uncredited : Betsy Blair, Ray Teal , Frank Overton, Victor Kilian, Jack Kruschen , among others
It contains an atmospheric cinematography in black and white by classic cameraman by Milton R. Krasner . Evocative and sensitive musical score by Alfred Newman . The motion picture was well directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz . He was a witty dialoguist, a master in the use of flashback and a talented actors' director. Having left Metro after a dispute with studio chief Louis B. Mayer over Judy Garland, he then worked for Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox, producing The keys of the Kingdom (1944), when Ernst Lubitsch's illness first brought him to the director's chair for Dragonwyck (1946). Mankiewicz directed 20 films in a 26-year period, successfully attempted every kind of movie from Shakespeare adaptation to western, from urban sociological drama to musical, from epic film with thousands of extras to a two-character picture. Mankiewicz was a prestigious writer, producer who made notorious films such as : Somewhere in the night, The ghost and Mrs Muir, A letter to 3 wives, House of strangers, All about Eva, No way out, People will talk, 5 fingers, Julius Caesar, Guys and dolls, The quiet American, Suddenly last summer, Cleopatra, The honey pot, There was a crooked man, and Sleuth. His more highly esteemed films were All about Eva and A letter for three wives that also won some Oscars, while the lavishly made Cleopatra was a real flop . No Way Out (1950) rating : 7/10 , better than average . Well worth watching.
An interesting and attractive film if rather thorny drama , with emotion , thrills and packing some terrific interpretations . Violent flick of racial hatred involving bigotry , medical duties and moral conflicts . Once-provocating movie is still engrossing but seems a bit dated and artificial at times . It resuls to be an incisive Hollywood examination on racism , including intrigue , twists , surprises , thriller and amazing final . This is a thoughful and thought-provoking story of racial violence and xenophobia with countless tension in which a spark causes a thorny situation that slides rapidly toward violence . This is another example of a serious movie about xenophobia and racism in which a black role -Sidney Poiter- is a main figure in the story , while in precedent films the white roles predominate and African-American characters provide background. As Sidney Poitier is awesome as the unfortunate doctor who finds a hardship way to work in a world of white men . Richard Widmark took the acting honours , giving a nice acting in his usual style as the sardonic , world-weary , rabid racist who blames the African-American doctor for his brother's death . While Linda Darnell is pretty good as the unfortunate ex-wife who must take a difficult choice. And being film debuts of Sidney Poitier , Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee . Support cast is very fine , such as : Stephen McNally , Harry Bellaver , Stanley Ridges , Robert Adler , and uncredited : Betsy Blair, Ray Teal , Frank Overton, Victor Kilian, Jack Kruschen , among others
It contains an atmospheric cinematography in black and white by classic cameraman by Milton R. Krasner . Evocative and sensitive musical score by Alfred Newman . The motion picture was well directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz . He was a witty dialoguist, a master in the use of flashback and a talented actors' director. Having left Metro after a dispute with studio chief Louis B. Mayer over Judy Garland, he then worked for Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox, producing The keys of the Kingdom (1944), when Ernst Lubitsch's illness first brought him to the director's chair for Dragonwyck (1946). Mankiewicz directed 20 films in a 26-year period, successfully attempted every kind of movie from Shakespeare adaptation to western, from urban sociological drama to musical, from epic film with thousands of extras to a two-character picture. Mankiewicz was a prestigious writer, producer who made notorious films such as : Somewhere in the night, The ghost and Mrs Muir, A letter to 3 wives, House of strangers, All about Eva, No way out, People will talk, 5 fingers, Julius Caesar, Guys and dolls, The quiet American, Suddenly last summer, Cleopatra, The honey pot, There was a crooked man, and Sleuth. His more highly esteemed films were All about Eva and A letter for three wives that also won some Oscars, while the lavishly made Cleopatra was a real flop . No Way Out (1950) rating : 7/10 , better than average . Well worth watching.