☆ ☆ ☆ ½
No Way Out (1950) – J. L. Mankiewicz
Sidney Poitier (in his feature debut at 22) plays a young doctor who is
assigned to the prison ward and ends up treating two hoodlum brothers who have
been shot in a hold-up. His efforts to
save one fail, leading the other, extremely racist, brother (Richard Widmark,
not too far from his evil turn in Kiss of Death, 1947) to accuse the doctor of
murder. Poitier is supported by the
chief doctor (Stephen McNally) but he can’t rest until an autopsy is done to
prove that he made the right decision (a spinal tap to check for a brain tumour). However, the hospital needs family approval
to go ahead with the autopsy and Widmark won’t give it. The dead brother’s ex-wife (Linda Darnell) is
contacted to try to convince Widmark but she is too unsure of herself to be of
much help. Then, when the newspapers
print a story about the case, black and white (redneck) residents of the town
get up in arms and a race riot unfolds. To
stop the violence, Poitier confesses to murder and is placed in jail,
contingent on the autopsy being performed.
Meanwhile Widmark escapes and can only think of revenge. It’s pretty astounding how awful the racist
spew that comes out of Widmark’s mouth really is – you wouldn’t get this
horrible blatant invective in a film these days (even if some terrible people
actually believe this garbage) – but Poitier, as always, shows dignity and
nobility in the face of this awful situation.
It’s a noir film for him, even if there’s a message for the audience.
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