The Brilliant Ones

The Defiant Ones (1958) – When a prison bus wrecks, two men escape into the world. Chained together, they must find a way out and how to survive together.

Directed by Stanley Kramer

Starring – Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis, Theodore Bikel, Lon Chaney Jr., Cara Williams

Why I Liked It – Two outstanding actors in different roles than usual.

Sixty-six years after the movie (and this reviewer) debuted, it’s easy to overlook how groundbreaking this movie was. A black man and a white man as equals on the screen (with Poitier getting top billing at Curtis’ insistence!) Criminals as heroes. The blatant racism of the time and place being called out by another character. This was bold stuff for Hollywood. The desegregation of the U.S. military was only a decade before. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 had begun the movement for equal rights, the more momentous Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a half-dozen years in the future.

But politics rarely makes for a good movie’s main “character”. What shines here are the two leading actors. Sidney Poitier was an up-and-coming actor in 1958. This movie made him a star. It also brought him an Oscar nomination, becoming the first black actor to be so recognized. It interests me that this role differs from the more sophisticated characters that were about to become his bread and butter. Here he is a poor, uneducated man in jail after he loses control of his temper and pistol whips a bill collector. Cullen is filled with anger at the world. When the bus wrecks, he and the prisoner to whom he is chained take off for freedom. Tony Curtis took the role of Joker to break away from his more lightweight, pretty boy roles. For Joker, the world has let him down as well. He hates the life he left behind and feels betrayed by a future that eludes him at every turn. The two characters are not friends, but must rely on each other if they are to escape.

The rest of the cast has some talented actors in supporting roles. Lon Chaney, Jr. becomes the voice of reason when the two are caught trying to steal food. Claude Aiken has his own anger issues as the leader of the group trying to lynch the pair. In a small role, there’s Carl Switzer, best known for his childhood star turn as “Alfalfa” in the “Little Rascals” movies. Theodore Bikel plays the sheriff, pursuing the escapees. The name won’t be familiar to many, but he was a star of stage and screen. Bikel also earned an Oscar nomination for this movie, but he was the original Capt. Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” on Broadway. He also appeared as Tevye over 2,000 times in “Fiddler on the Roof”. Other screen credits include “The African Queen” and “My Fair Lady”.

Every piece works together perfectly. This is another movie with no “outside the action” score. Any music you hear in the movie is part of the action itself. That includes the radio playing jazz music that Switzer’s character carries.

Great acting, great directing and brilliant technique. I can’t think of anything more I want from a movie.

Rating – ***** Highest recommendation