The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Acting
Redford's quiet fury and Yaphet Kotto's wounded dignity steal every scene.
Direction
Rosenberg makes Arkansas mud feel like a character—claustrophobic, inescapable, alive.
Writing
Based on real Arkansas prison scandals; the nonfiction makes it hurt more.
Director
Stuart Rosenberg
Robert Redford
Brubaker
Yaphet Kotto
Dickie Coombes
Jane Alexander
Lillian
Murray Hamilton
Deach
David Keith
Larry Lee Bullen
Morgan Freeman
Walter
Matt Clark
Purcell
Tim McIntire
Huey Rauch
Richard Ward
Abraham
Jon Van Ness
Zaranska
M. Emmet Walsh
C.P. Woodward
Albert Salmi
Rory Poke
Linda Haynes
Carol
Everett McGill
Caldwell
Val Avery
Wendel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on the real 1967 Arkansas prison scandal exposed by warden Thomas Murton, who actually did go undercover as an inmate—and was fired for his honesty.
This flopped in 1980 because audiences wanted escapism, not prison reform; it's found second life as a forgotten gem of righteous-anger cinema.
US
