Product Description

Nominated* for nine Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Picture, The Defiant Ones broke new ground by delivering its message of racial tolerance through a fast-moving blend of action and suspense. It remains "a raw, powerful film that is as exciting as it is moving, real and literate"(Variety). Joker Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) are two convicts on the run. Escaping from a Southern work gang, the two men are bound together by an unbreakable iron chain and separated by an unbridled hatred towards each other. Relentlessly pursued by a posse and bloodhounds, they put aside their differences to survive. But when a lonely woman (Cara Williams) breaks their chain and deliberately sends Cullen to certain death, Jackson must decide what's more important: saving Cullen...or saving himself. *1958: Best Picture, Actor (Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier), Supporting Actor (Theodore Bikel), Supporting Actress (Cara Williams), Director,Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (won), Cinematography (won), Film Editing

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8909 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-12-11
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

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

Customer Reviews

The Defiant Ones--no wonder it was nominated for all those Oscars.
Although minimal by today's Hollywood standards, this drama stimulates discussion on many levels. Some of it is obviously dated, but it is worthwhile seeing from the standpoint of cinematic storytelling, basic cinematic technique, and basic dramatic performances without excessive explosions, graphic sex or verbal profanity. Highly recommended for the movie enthusiasist.

The Defiant Ones
ESSENTIAL MOVIE!!! Here's another great "prison" movie from Hollywood. This one stars Tony Curtis & Sidney Poitier. They are chained together when they make their escape. It's not as simple as it sounds; the movie takes place at an unspecified location in the southern U.S. in the late fifties. This was a very unususl situation, the chaining of white & black together in that period. Of course, the Tony Curtis character is a bigot which makes the escape & survival of the two convicts a very complicated thing.

Sidney Poitier is excellent, he should be recognized as one of America's greatest actors. Mr. Poitier must be given credit for breaking down some of the walls that hindered black actors in those days. Tony Curtis, though not the greatest of actors, does a very credible job in his role, Bronx accent not withstanding. In fact, the characters are so well constructed that the audience feels empathy toward them. Director Stanley Kramer has done one of his best jobs ever. This was a very risky movie to be making in 1958; but the control of the huge movie studios were slipping, and in fact, this was an independent production, which is why this movie got made in that day.

Enjoy a movie that was ahead of its time in 1958. It's not only a good movie, it's also an historically important movie.

The Defiant Ones
All of Sidney's early movies are great. Tony Curtis did a marvels job, too. Recommended for everyone.