The Other Side of Hell

Hi there, The movie, the Other Side of Hell, originally aired on NBC. Another title in the works had been Escape from Hell. It is actually a true life story of a man named Bill Thomas. Everyone involved in the shooting of the movie was quite surprised at the end when the disclaimer came on and said that the movie was not based on real events. The insane asylum was in Pennsylvania. Bill went crazy because, at his father's death bed, he asked him for forgiveness (of what I never found out), and his father told him he would never forgive him and then died. Bill went around trying to talk to the dead at funerals to get a message to his father. He realized he was sick and needed help so he confessed to the murder of a girl. He ended up in Fairview State Mental Hospital and was there for nine years before he escaped using the keys he found. After the movie was released, S.L. Stebel (not sure of spelling) wrote a biography entitled "The Shoe Leather Treatment" published by J.P. Tarcher. The Shoe Leather treatment referred to the term the guards used in the hospital/prison when the patients misbehaved. Basically they were kick and beaten half to death. I will look and see if we have any copies of the Other Side of Hell at home any more, though I doubt it. If so, I will post back to the site. NBC might be a good place to look otherwise. Hope this information helps y'all.

Just making a point - the hospital mentioned in other reviews and about which Wendell Rawls Jr. wrote is Farview, not Fairview.

This hospital is still in existence today though it is no longer known as Farview (except for us locals who will always call it that.) It is SCI Waymart.

There appears to be some controversy over whether this film was about Farview or some other mental hospital. I wish someone could clear it up.

I drive by Farview often. It is a creepy looking place now - I can't imagine how ominous and awful it must have looked 40 or 50 years ago when these atrocities were still going on.

Imagine a darker, bleaker variation on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and you have The Other Side of Hell. Both films are well-made and powerful, but sadly this one has faded into obscurity, never released on home video or streaming. As of this writing, I had to watch the film on YouTube in poor quality, though even then, the impact of the performances and story shine through.

While there's nothing graphic in the film, the atrocities depicted are still harrowing for the viewer, and Alan Arkin gives one of his best performances as the disturbed but persevering Frank Dole. Though long and rarely cheery, the story never drags and is well-paced. Given the poor quality of the recording I saw, I cannot judge the cinematography too much. I can only imagine how much more impact-ful this movie would be with clearer picture and sound.

The film deserves more attention and a decent release so more people can watch it.

I found this movie, The Other Side of Hell, on You Tube. My father was imprisoned at Farview Institution for the Criminally Insane from 1943 until he died in 1964. I had not known where my father was until 1970. I had always thought he was in a place where he had "a room," and only this past week had I learned about those events depicted in the movie. I have purchased "Cold Storage" and "The Shoe Leather Treatment." It was disheartening to say the least to learn that my father apparently was there during those events/years. He had not seen me since l943 and I am now 74 years old never having seen him after 1943.

I am trying to find out any information I can about him. Nothing to do with the dark side of the institution, that is all in the past, but just to know anything at all about him as a person. I have only this one fact: that he was an artist and a painting of his was displayed in the Superintendent's office.

I am grateful to the person who posted the movie, The Other Side of Hell, on You Tube. It was very revealing.

I personally knew Bill Thomas, he used to manage my group in the early 90's. He was a fantastically intelligent and sensitive man. This is absolutely a true story, based on real facts and with very little of the plot points changed. Bill would often recount little snippets, details that occurred while he was in the institution. They were both horrific and fascinating, it is difficult to believe that this kind of treatment was actually perpetrated on patients in such places during the 20th century. Both the "Shoe Leather Treatment" and "The Other Side Of Hell" are amazing examples of our ability as humans being to survive and persevere. Bill, I miss ya'. Kurt