A Black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.A Black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.A Black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Father
- (uncredited)
- Bund Meeting Spectator
- (uncredited)
- Inmate
- (uncredited)
- Bund Meeting Spectator
- (uncredited)
- Patient
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaProducer Stanley Kramer directed the framing story, which refers to the present-day story that Sidney Poitier tells to Peter Falk.
- GoofsThe calendar visible on the wall of the Doctor's office in 1942 is not correct for that year. (It would be correct for 1962.)
- Quotes
Doctor: [angrily to the Patient] This is my country! This is where I've done what I've done, and if there were a million cruds like you, all sick like you are sick, all shouting, 'Down, destroy, degrade,' and if there were 20 million more sick enough to listen to them, you are still gonna lose! You're gonna lose, Mister, because there is something in this country, something so big, so strong that you don't even know... something big enough to take it from people like you and come back and nail you into the ground. You're walking out of here? You are going nowhere! Now get out!
- SoundtracksHere Comes the Bride
("The Bridal Chorus") (uncredited)
Composed by Richard Wagner (1850)
Sung at bund meeting
Poitier as always has a very authoritative presence and he and Darin work extremely well together. They have a lot of dialogue to deliver and completely immerse themselves in these troubled characters. Darin reveals enough depth here that people may wonder why he didn't pursue more serious roles. Cornfield creates some wonderfully stark atmosphere and stylish visuals, but never goes overboard, having the proper respect in the source material, a true case detailed in Dr. Robert M. Lindners' "The Fifty-Minute Hour". Some moments are quite memorable, such as the scenes with the patients' unloving father (James Anderson), a butcher. There's also an incredible scene of an epic session of tic-tac-toe that could have come off as silly but which has a powerful creepiness about it.
Overall, this is an effectively done little drama that isn't as well known as it ought to be. It's well worth seeing for the interplay between Poitier and Darin alone.
Eight out of 10.
- Hey_Sweden
- Aug 30, 2013
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1