Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Direction
Dassin's shadows make concrete walls feel like a coffin
Acting
Hume Cronyn's Munsey: a little man drunk on absolute power
Cinematography
That climactic pan across the yard—unforgettable
Director
Jules Dassin
Burt Lancaster
Joe Collins
Hume Cronyn
Capt. Munsey
Charles Bickford
Gallagher
Yvonne De Carlo
Gina Ferrara
Ann Blyth
Ruth
Ella Raines
Cora Lister
Anita Colby
Flossie
Sam Levene
Louie Miller #7033
Jeff Corey
'Freshman' Stack
John Hoyt
Spencer
Jack Overman
Kid Coy
Roman Bohnen
Warden A.J. Barnes
Sir Lancelot
Calypso
Vince Barnett
Muggsy
Jay C. Flippen
Hodges (guard)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Producer Mark Hellinger fought the Hays Office to keep the prison brutality; he died of a heart attack before release, making this his dark swan song.
The prison riot was shot at a real abandoned prison in New Jersey; some 'extras' were actual former inmates Dassin recruited locally.
US
