The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer, 1958): USA

Reviewed by Kelvin Matthews. Viewed on DVD.

Released in 1958 by United Artists, The Defiant Ones starting Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis was one of the most powerful and groundbreaking films made, and one of director Stanley Kramer’s most memorable, winning two Academy rewards for writing and cinematographer, while being nominated for six other’s, including Best Director, Best Actor in a leading role (Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier) and Best Picture to name a few. Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis also won best performance by an actor in a Motion Picture – Drama from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, while the film took home Best Picture and Best Director for director Stanley Kramer from the New York Film Critics Circle. Sidney Poitier also won an award for Best Actor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, as well as the Golden Bear Award for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival.

Released in the beginning and midst of the Civil Rights Movement, this film in many ways was a reflection and allegory to what was occurring at that time and in the years to come. For many this film was much more then an entertaining motion picture, but a film of significant social commentary, and a response from Hollywood about the state of the south and what was needed to overcome the division and hatred their, and in anyone possessing that hatred. While this social commentary is obvious, this film is much more because of the direction of Stanley Kramer and the magnificent performance of actors Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis, as well as a moving performance by actress Cara Williams who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, as well as the Hollywood Foreign Press.

Beautifully reproduced on DVD through United Artist and MGM in black and white, “The Defiant Ones,” tells the story of two escaped prisoners in the American South, who have escaped from a chain gang and are still chained together. Although they cannot stand one another’s company and literally seem to hate one another Noah Cullen, (Sidney Poitier) who is black and Joe “Joker” Jackson (Tony Curtis) a racist white man, are forced to work together and as one, in order to survive.

While they encounter a number of obstacles along the way including being captured in a town and almost hung, they manage to escape with the help of a former prisoner. They eventually meet a boy by the name of Billy who they force to take them to his mother. His mother lonely and abandon by her husband falls for Joker and in a plot to eliminate Cullen the lonely women sends him on a false mission which she hopes will lead to his death. After learning of this, and fearing for Cullen, who has now become his friend he scrambles to save him, and although their chains are now broken, there are still invisible chains of respect, gratitude and love that bind them.

This film beautifully brings together two men who on the onset were enemies, simply because of the color of one of their faces, but transformed themselves into brothers. It is magnificent and wonderful to see the change that takes place in Jackson, and in the relationship they develop. This film is beautifully written and directed with great and memorable performances by both Curtis and Poitier who would go on to become legends in Hollywood and in the film industry. In a part of the country where racism and hatred were plentiful, this film was a welcomed relief of joy and peace for theater goers who became lost in this story, and saw what the future might bring.