Well, as I have stated... if you are reading this you probably have seen this movie, if you haven't and are still reading, I very well may give away plot points... this shouldn't matter too much as it took the bulk of my life to actually find a copy of the darn thing. So if you wanted to view this movie... You honestly can't unless you REALLY try.
To start, it takes place in a mental institution that is more like a prison than a hospital. The main character, Frank Dole, is committed there hoping to receive medical help... He doesn't. He witnesses another patient (inmate) getting beaten to death, and decides he must escape. Befriending Jim Baker, another inmate who plead insanity at his wife's murder trial, the two try and escape. They fail... But Frank eventually manages to escape with the details of the Hospital's brutality.
There is so much story to go around in this movie, that I can't even begin to delve into it all... Some of my favorite parts include Frank collecting keys he finds; hoping one day to unlock the right door, Jim's involvement with the prison cock fights, and Johnson's insane brutality.
Characters are developed extremely well, and you truly feel for them. At least I did.
Should you ever find a copy of this movie, and you haven't seen it... if you like a good drama, give it a try. I saw it on HBO in 1988 or so, and eventually found somebody who had a video copy of it. It was never released on video, and hardly is shown on TV...
This is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time.
