Search - The Defiant Ones on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1958 DVD Release: 12/11/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 36 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Drama, Chase Movie, Buddy Film, Odd Couple Film

Convicts Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier escape from a chain gang. Curtis' character, John "Joker" Jackson, hates blacks, while Poitier's character, Noah Cullen, hates whites. However, the men are manacled together, forced to rely on each other to survive. Captured at one point by a lynch-happy mob, the convicts are rescued by Big Sam (Lon Chaney Jr.), himself a former convict. The men are later sheltered by a lonely, love-hungry widow played by Cara Williams, who offers to turn in Cullen if Joker will stay with her. By the time the two men are within hailing distance of a train that might take them to freedom, they have become friends. The script for The Defiant Ones is credited to Harold Jacob Smith and Nathan E. Douglas. The latter was really Nedrick Young, a blacklisted writer, whom producer Stanley Kramer hired knowing full well that Young was using an alias (when "Douglas"' credit appears onscreen, it is superimposed over a close-up of a truck driver -- played by Nedrick Young). Both the script and the photography by Sam Leavitt won Academy Awards. If you look closely, you'll notice that the actor playing Angus is former Little Rascal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, making his last screen appearance. The Defiant Ones was remade for TV in 1986, with Robert Urich and Carl Weathers in the leads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Curtis - John "Joker" Jackson
Sidney Poitier - Noah Cullen
Theodore Bikel - Sheriff Man Muller
Charles McGraw - Captain Frank Gibbons
Lon Chaney, Jr. - Big Sam
Cara Williams - The Woman

Stanley Kramer directs Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier in the drama The Defiant Ones, which comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1. English, Spanish, and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. Spanish and French subtitles are accessible, and the English soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer. This is a fine release of a classic film from MGM/UA. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide