The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Even in 1958 this must have been something of a one-trick pony. Okay, it's a novel and/or even 'daring' concept to chain a black prisoner to a white prisoner in the Deep South, contrive to have them escape and become fugitives whilst still shackled to each other but once you've said that there's not much else you can say. It's clear from the FADE IN that the two protagonists are just one more rip-off of Beatrice and Benedek i.e. they are going to begin by despising each other and end up in the metaphorical sack so it's just a matter of how long this will take. On paper there was clearly a lot that COULD have been sad about racial tension but as in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the chance was squandered. It remains worth a look for the casting and standard of acting.

"The Defiant Ones" gave me a whole lot more than I had expected. I always had thought this was a semi-sensational action film that exploited racism to attract notoriety. It actually is a poignant story of two men on the run who must cooperate in spite of their mutual animosity. The original screenplay by Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith won the Oscar for 1958, and I am hard-pressed to think of a script more deserving of every accolade possible. Joker Jackson (Tony Curtis, a revelation) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier, fierce and fatalistic) are chained together and are in flight from a posse of local deputies led by Sheriff Max Muller (Theodore Bikel) and State Trooper Capt. Frank Gibbons (Charles McGraw). The ongoing quarrels between the two pairs of mismatched partners throughout the film paints a vivid picture of life in the rural South of the 1950s. Bikel is simply stunning in his offhand performance as the humanitarian leader of the manhunt, and McGraw is unyielding in his determination to bring in the escapees swiftly and by any means necessary. Claude Akins is intimidating in a small role as the inhabitant of a work camp the prisoners stumble across. Lon Chaney Jr. dominates the screen during this passage, as we learn that he has good reason to empathize with Joker and Cullen (as Curtis calls Poitier). The duo ultimately seek refuge at the modest farm of an unnamed and abandoned single mother and her child. This portion of the film becomes a vignette straight out of a Tennessee Williams play, and the heat radiating from Cara Williams could warm an entire Arctic outpost.I cannot stress enough how fine the acting is by the entire cast. I have never seen Tony Curtis do such good work, and Poitier is excellent as always, with a a haunting mix of melancholy and mirth that is best displayed by his boisterous rendition of William C. Handy folk song "Long Gone" at key points in the movie. Cara Williams is riveting every second she is on screen, and Lon Chaney Jr. acts as a counterbalance to the casual prejudice of the other Caucasian characters. The various Southern accents are underplayed but lend authenticity to the dialogue, as do sundry colloquialisms they use. Stanley Kramer, a well-known social activist, directs the film without judgement, as the actions of the players speak for themselves. I cannot find a single flaw in "The Defiant Ones", and I have no choice but to give it the Highest Recommendation possible."I fill it up wit' dreams."

A prison truck in the deep south crashes. Prisoners John Jackson (Tony Curtis) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) are chained together and escape. Easy going Sheriff Max Muller (Theodore Bikel) leads the posse to catch the prisoners. Capt. Frank Gibbons (Charles McGraw) is more gung ho. The two prisoners hate other on the simple racial divide.The dialog is a bit too written. The chase group tries to be comical. I like Curtis and Poitier but they don't really have the gritty anger. They're not mean enough to be criminals. This tackles the serious racial divide. Director Stanley Kramer gets on a nice run from here on. The pairing is probably a bit too nice. It's a little hard to believe them as hardened criminals. Otherwise it's a pretty good movie.

I was defiant to watch this movie by Stanley Kramer. The movie is the story of two escaped convicts, African-American Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) who hates white people, and bigot white man, John 'Joker' Jackson (Tony Curtis), whom hates blacks. Both men find themselves both shackled to one another after surviving a prisoner transport car wreck. Seeing a way to escape, both men travel the back roads eluding posses, cops, and the law on their quest for freedom. Both actors were able to get down and dirty for the role, but literally as most of the scenes have them lying down in dirt, mud, and rain. They are at first on each other throat, fighting against each other, but for them to survive. They are forced to put their issues away. This is where the characters try to relied on each other. After camping out and hearing out each other stories, the mood between them soften. They are help on the way by supporting characters such as Big Sam (Lon Chaney Jr.). Lou Chaney Jr, the Hungarian actor is wonderful in the role, as he able to sport the Southern accent as well, able to play somebody that isn't trying to be sinister. Too bad, he doesn't have much screen time or much to bring to the story. Another character they met on the way is the lonely, love-hungry widow played by Cara Williams, who offers to turn in Cullen if Joker will stay with her. Cara Williams is so love struck by Tony Curtis's character, that it's seems out of the blue for her to help one stranger after one day spent with each other, but Cara Williams does a great act as a desperate woman looking for escape by any means even trying to hook up with a inmate. She can be pity and hatred when view. By the time the two men are within hailing distance of a train that might take them to freedom, they have become friends somehow. Despite its pedigree — the film lacks screen time to explain more how the two main characters' antagonism will boil over and then cool into a forged friendship based on altruism and shared sacrifice. It's running time is only 97 minutes. Way too little for this character is suddenly become cool with each other. The whole film is way too short and focus on too long on cut aways with Sheriff Max Muller. (Theodore Meir Bikel) who was also nominated for the role, just doesn't give anything new to it. I also would love to hear some music score. The film lacks any music to give the movie any suspense, feeling or drama. It felt too good of a movie, not to have a film score. The ending will a downer, but it's works for the story. One of the biggest complains in the film is that some critics stated out that Sidney's character is a 'Magical Negro'. I don't see that at all, as Joker first come in the aid to Cullen when Cullen is stuck in the swamp, as well as having back story. Nor does Sidney character gives anything special insight to change Joker. It was the outside world and the supporting characters that change Joker. The scene where Sidney Poitier comforts Tony Curtis by holding his head in his arms is not made to look like Poitier's character was a servant to the the white man, at all. He did that to comfort his friend. The movie shows that Black or white we are all equal before the harshness of life. The movie is a good movie for teaching civil rights and racial tolerance. I think the theme of racism better and even more obvious in the foreground to make time this was filmed deliberately black-and-white. The movie is pretty gutsy for its era. It's a good watch, so check it out.