Cell 2455, Death Row

Although a B film with B actors and production values, this film is fairly interesting. Guys on death row seem to fall into two distinct categories; those who deserve capital punishment, and those who don't. This one may have deserved life, but not the death penalty.

William Campbell does a very nice job of playing a young lifetime criminal who thinks he has all the answers. He doesn't.

He is guilty of a myriad of crimes, but most of them are armed robbery. He was an accessory to the murder of a policeman, however, and for this crime, he deserved life. The film goes into detail of how he went from reform school to an out-of-control full-time hood. What I don't get is how he was still alive after heisting money from the syndicate; nobody ever gets away with that without swimming with the fishes. Other than that obvious mistake, the film is pretty insightful. Worth viewing.

True story of Caryl Chessman, here under the name "Whit" Whittier (Whittier being Chessman's real middle name), played by William Campbell, a juvenile delinquent who got worse and worse and worse... He eventually ends up in death row, where we are introduced to him, and his life up to that point is recounted.

Campbell does a nice job here, if not a little hammy at times. (but that's just the way he is naturally, it seems) There are other familiar faces and everyone does well, but this is really Campbell's time to shine. Knowing the events were real, the movie being based on Chessman's book of the same name, it was interesting to follow, especially knowing his became his own lawyer and basically added years to his life by studying law books.

Interestingly, this movie came out while he was on death row and is based on the first of four books he'd write, so things were still very much up in the air in the end! His wiki article is worth a look if you want to know how things turned out for him. Overall, this was pretty good. Definitely engaging. Certainly not one of those movies where you kinda secretly cheer for the fictional bad guy inside (know what I mean?), though, as he was a real, really bad guy.

Simply told, unsentimental tale inspired by the book, and real-life story, of Caryl Chessman. Having seen his father unable to cope with poverty, he grows up into a sneering punk, defiant of all authority. The incorrigible boy soon becomes a career criminal, spending time in and out of prison. Then he is accused of a series of "red light" sex crimes, and earns the death penalty for two of them. He then spends his time on death row reading up on the law, and trying to put off the inevitable with his various appeals.

This is a good B level treatment of this story which benefits from not really trying to make Whit Whittier (as he is named in the movie) sympathetic. Rather, it doesn't shy away from the utter ruthlessness and brazenness of his crimes. The point of the story is, did he in fact commit these sex crimes of which he was accused? And did he not have a right to exhaust every legal avenue available to him?

Actor William Campbell, a veteran of both A and B features, does well in this starring vehicle, displaying some charisma and screen presence. His real life younger brother R. Wright Campbell (who, in the subsequent years, embarked upon a successful career as a screenwriter) plays Whit as a younger man. The cast is quite good, overall: Marian Carr, the luscious Kathryn Grant, Harvey Stephens, Vince Edwards, Bart Braverman, Paul Dubov, Buck Kartalian, and others.

The short running time (77 minutes) gives evidence to storytelling (screenplay by Jack DeWitt, direction by Fred F. Sears) that is efficient and to the point. There are some good action scenes, and the atmosphere is potent.

Chessmans' tale was ongoing at the time of the movies' release, although his luck would finally run out several years later. Alan Alda later played the character in a 1977 TV movie, 'Kill Me if You Can'.

Seven out of 10.

This film is a about a guy named Whit Whittier, (William Campbell) who is really playing the role of Caryl Chessman who wrote this book and is a person who has a long wrap sheet full of crime and eventually winds up on Death Row in San Quentin Prison, California. Whit grew up in a nice family in California and had a good home and a great mom and dad who loved him very much. However, Whit had his own ideas and decided to steal and got caught in almost everything he did and spent a great deal of time behind bars. As soon as Whit was released from prison he would join up with another bunch of crooks and face another jail sentence. He had a blonde sweetheart named Doll, (Marion Carr) who loved him and was faithful to him whenever he needed her help and love. There was a crime being committed by a man who was called the Lovers Lane Vandit who would creep up and attack young women who were with their boyfriends on a date and rape them. After awhile people began to suspect Whit Whittier as the man committing these crimes and he was then arrested and sent to prison. This is a true to life story about a man called Caryl Chessman who was killed on death row in 1960.

I saw this for the first time recently n was pleasantly surprised. This movie is fast paced, with good amount of car chases, lottuva robberies, suspense n an amazing sub plot of that of a kidnapper/rapist.