Convicts 4

Imagine BIRD MAN OF ALCATRAZ as directed by Roger Corman and written by Lord Buckley, with a last minute polish by the writing staff of MAD magazine. Welcome to the singular, funky, and altogether strange world of CONVICTS 4. While the title may suggest a Rat Pack romp, it's actually a prison flick that's hard to pigeonhole -- part inspirational, part beatnik, and all nutzoid. The movie itself looks plenty beat too, so drab and chintzy in appearance that the actual Folsom State Prison locations seem like sound stages leased from Gravis Mushnik.

The story focuses on the big house adventures of real-life artist John Resko (Ben Gazzara), who won a last-minute reprieve from execution and served an eighteen year stretch in the poky during which his talent for painting was discovered and nurtured. While ostensibly taking place in the 1930s and '40s, the film is willfully, almost gleefully anachronistic, from the hipster-heavy dialog to the post-modern jazz music (strongly reminiscent of Fred Katz's BUCKET OF BLOOD/LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS score).

It is also populated with more stars than there are in psychotronic heaven, making this the HOW THE WEST WAS WON of screw loose hoosgow films. Luminaries guilty of first degree scenery-chewing include Sammy Davis Jr. As Wino, the walking razor blade, Ray Walston as Iggy, the comic psycho, Rod Steiger as Tiptoes, the sadistic screw, Jack Albertson as Teach, the hepcat art teacher, Broderick Crawford as Jabba the warden, and, as a loquacious con, the great Timothy Carey in a show-stopping display of unbridled weirdness. Convict Carey doesn't just chew the scenery, he gorges on everything in sight -- castmates, prison bars, you name it -- and still looks hungry for more.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Given the actors in this movie, you would expect something memorable or at least above average. The actors do a great job with a sub-par script. The movie drags, which would make sense for a prison flick, if it dragged with a purpose; instead it just seems to drag for its own sake without any thought given to the use of time in the movie to make a point about prison life. I can't think of a movie with such a capable cast, heck memorable cast that was so mediocre. The actors made the movie, a lesser cast would have given us a mess of a movie. Too bad the direction and script are so poor, this movie could have really been something. Watch closely, there is a major actor every few minutes; a star that carried their own movies later. The movie also suffers from the score, when its not sappy it is jazz. Either way, the score does not support the movie very well, and ofttimes makes the movie even worse. The score seems like a collection of tunes that someone liked, it sure was not made to support the movie. I don't know what the director and producer were thinking when they made this movie, maybe there was no director and they just slapped something together after shooting a bunch of scenes. See it once just to see so many memorable actors in a single movie. But once is plenty. It seems like the director was trying to take the Plan 9 From Outer Space worst movie ever award; but this goal was thwarted by the cast. Good performances, lousy film.

I jut watched this on TCM I gave it a shot because Vincent Price is 4th billed out of an amazing cast of old character actors. Well he shows up 92 minutes in! His screen time is exactly 1 minute haha. So if you want to see Vinnie go look elsewhere.

I didn't like Ben Gazzara before and i don't like him now. He's not very likable, his acting is wooden, and he was born looking 50. He's suppose to be a young kid of like 19 at the beginning of this movie lol. Also when i looked up the facts this movie is just all Hollywood fantasy. John Resko didn't go out on Christmas eve to get his daughter a teddy bear....duh. He went to rob a store with a fellow hood and killed a man. He eventually learns to kind of paint...so what? I don't recommend this boring movie.

And it was the cast in that interested me into watching Convicts 4 in the first place. And while the film is well made with a realistic prison setting, it was the acting that helped to make the film more than it actually was for me. Ben Gazzara is terrific as is Sammy Davis Jnr. Stuart Whitman is also very good and well-meaning, and Ray Walston looks as though he is having a whale of a time. Rod Steiger and Vincent Price's performances are more like cameos, but they are memorable, particularly Price in a role that had shades of the sort of roles he excelled in. Timothy Carey is the only one who didn't really register with me, doesn't help that here his role is there but little is done with it to make it stand out. Aside from the production values and the acting, I was left unengaged on the whole. Convicts 4(not sure if I know the significance of the title) is not a terrible film, but at the same time it isn't something I recommend. The film as a whole is rather stagy with a fair bit of talk in the dialogue(at times it felt like too much), at the same time it is rather ordinary and slow-moving, and I don't think there was a moment despite the actors that I fully invested in any of the characters. The direction is competent, but doesn't have anything that stands out as particularly unique or memorable. Overall, has interest value and I cannot deny that the acting is very good but it didn't really engage me in other areas and as an overall film. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Ben Gazzara does a very good job as artist/prisoner John Resko in "Convicts 4," based on Resko's autobiography. Desperate to get his daughter a teddy bear for Christmas, Resko attempts to rob a store and ends up shooting and killing the owner. He is given the death penalty, but his sentence is later commuted to life. He is moved to another prison, where he meets a Principal of the prison (Stuart Whitman) who encourages his art talent, stating that it may be the key to his rehabilitation and finally, freedom from prison.

Sammy Davis, Jr., Ray Walston, Broderick Crawford, and Rod Steiger are featured in the film, so it's an excellent cast. The film comes off as low-budget (well, it is based in a prison), a little slow, and a little ordinary. The actors are better than the script.

Worth it for the performances.