[.ca] The Defiant Ones (Widescreen)

From Amazon.co.uk:
This 1958 variation on Huck Finn's adventures with Jim finds a white convict (Tony Curtis) chained to a black convict (Sidney Poitier) as they both escape their captors. With each man literally stuck with the other, racial conflicts take a back seat to survival. Directed by Stanley Kramer (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), the film's obvious consciousness-raising is mitigated by a pair of raw performances from the stars, memorable appearances by Lon Chaney Jr. and Cara Williams, and Kramer's strong storytelling abilities. The Defiant Ones' award-winning script was cowritten by blacklisted writer-actor Nedrick Young. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com Essential Video:
This 1958 variation on Huck Finn's adventures with Jim finds a white convict (Tony Curtis) chained to a black convict (Sidney Poitier) as they both escape their captors. With each man literally stuck with the other, racial conflicts take a back seat to survival. Directed by Stanley Kramer (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), the film's obvious consciousness-raising is mitigated by a pair of raw performances from the stars, memorable appearances by Lon Chaney Jr. and Cara Williams, and Kramer's strong storytelling abilities. The award-winning script was cowritten by blacklisted writer-actor Nedrick Young. --Tom Keogh

Ok, loved this movie!:
I loved every minute of it. It's one of Poitier's finest performances, and his chemistry with Curtis is cinematic heaven. They just don't make characters like these anymore. The screenplay is pretty flawless as well.

Poitier/Curtis Jail-Break Classic:
Sidney Poitier continues to break race barriers with this formula jail-break drama. Teamed with Tony Curtis, the escaped prisoners encounter many situations, where their difference in color seems to matter more than the fact that both are fugitives from the law. Throughout the film, the viewer empathizes with the escapees, figuring that they always got a bum deal in life. A scene towards the end, where a single mother sees a chance to "hook up" with Curtis, shows how Curtis, although often disagreeing, even physically fighting with Poitier, still sees Poitier as an equal in their quest for freedom. Rather than "sell out" his friend, he would rather die trying to save him. The inevidable ending (remember that one of the rules in Old Hollywood was that the bad guys can never win)is quite moving. Definitely among the established Hollywood Classics. Although many of the "old ways" have changed drastically since the late 50s, this film offers insight into a piece of Americana many people living today can still recall. An important piece of Film Hostory, and highly recommended!*****

Curtis and Poitier Perfect Together:
Typical felons on the run movie in all but the racial aspect. Curtis' character grows and matures throughout the movie. A fine acting job by Curtis. This is the 1st in a series of classic performances by Poitier. For nearly ten years, starting with The Defiant Ones, he was just about the best actor in Hollywood. Definately worth a look.

Before Richard Kimball, There was Noah Cullen & John Jackson:
* ''The Defiant Ones'' is one of those rare films which after having been seen only once had the ability to stick with me for an entire lifetime! (Other such gems having had a similar effect on me include Chaplin's first 'talkie,' ''The Great Dictator,'' the original ''Night of the Living Dead,'' the cheesy and awful but fun sci-fi cult flick ''Laserblast,'' and Orson Welles' ''Citizen Kane.'') I've just had the opportunity to purchase the DVD and view this film for only the second time, and it was every bit as good and intense as I remember from that first time! ''The Defiant Ones'' teams up the legendary Tony Curtis and the equally legendary and talented Sidney Poitier as convicted felons John ''Joker'' Jackson and Noah Cullen who, as a result of a racially sparked physical scuffle between the two of them, partly contribute to the road accident their transport vehicle becomes involved in. The resulting crash gives these two chained together prisoners an opportunity to escape on foot. But this is pre-1960s southern USA, so when the arriving law officers responsible for tracking the prisoners down learn that the two chained together escaped cons are of different racial backgrounds they become somewhat lax in their pursuit, erroneously assuming that the two escapees would likely kill each other out of racial hatred before they'd even get five miles. Forced to cooperate despite the racial tensions between them, Joker and Noah do not take their predicament lightly and are constantly on the move to stay as far ahead of their pursuers as possible. In the days that follow both men form something of an uneasy camaraderie, and the conversations they strike up between themselves actually seem to help smooth over some of those racial tensions they exhibit toward each other, to where each man gains a certain amount of respect for the other. Joker is also made to confront some unpleasant realities, such as being forced to admit in his heart that Noah is the more rational of the two and, especially, having to come to terms with the fact that his white skin is no safety net when he is an escaped criminal on the run. There is also a 'human interest' story in the subplot of the film, some of it just somewhat ahead of its time: The County Sheriff becomes the catalyst which keeps the chase from becoming a reckless and disorderly ''Good Ol' Boy'' guns, dawgs & testosterone party, and one of the townspeople, portrayed by the legendary Lon Chaney Jr., keeps a town's citizenry from becoming an emotionally irrational lynch mob. The cinematography is excellent for a movie of its time, although some of the sets could have been better constructed and arranged (for example, there's one set where the city lights of Los Angeles shine in the background beyond the studio lot). It is also nice to hear actors talking with southern accents that don't sound like ''Foghorn Leghorn'' rejects. To even consider ''remaking'' this classic film would not only be a terrible mistake, but it would also be a virtual impossibility ... so hopefully no one in Hollyweird, or anywhere else for that matter, would ever think of doing such a thing, and thus let this great piece of movie making history stand on its own and to continue to stand the test of time. * * *

A great drama in black and white:
This tough, gritty film may be tame by today's standards but was a bold cinematic statement when it was released in 1958. Two escaped convicts, one white and the other black, are chained to each other and in their break for freedom are forced to confront the harsh realities of racism at close quarters. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier provide expert characterizations of the two desperate men who are also chained by their fears and prejudices about each other's race, with each step in their journey to freedom brimming with venom and animosity. Ironically, it is a white woman who seals the bond of friendship between John Jackson and Noah Cullen by deliberately directing Cullen's escape route through a quicksand-filled swamp so she can run off with Jackson, with whom she's become smitten. Theodore Bikel, Charles McGraw and Lon Chaney Jr. are good in supporting roles and a real find is Cara Williams as the shapely, love-starved country woman so desperate to have a man in her life. Other than Poitier's sporadic warbling of "Long Gone", the only music of note in the movie is provided by Alfalfa's transistor radio that greatly annoys Capt. Gibbons.