No Way Out

source: No Way Out

I've seen this several times and find it hard to get past the central premise: Would a hospital in 1950 or a little earlier have employed a black doctor? I'm sure Mr. Mankiewicz did lots of research and the answer is yes. But would the Poitier character have been able to eat at the same restaurants, use the same rest rooms? I'm talking not just South but North as well. Poitier makes an auspicious debut. Richard Widmark is good, if maybe somewhat over-directed as the redneck criminal whose brother dies under Poitier's hand. Linda Darnell is an actress I like and she's good here. She seems to have done some of this with little or no makeup and this certainly is not a glamorous role. It probably broke lots of ground, showing a black man as a professional rather than a servant or an object of ridicule. Heaven knows, Hollywood carried that stereotype on for a disgracefully long time! I'm not telling anyone not to watch it or saying it's bad. Just that it doesn't really work for me. To me, Poitier's best part was in "A Patch Of Blue." Everything in that movie (with the exception of Shelley Winters's over-the-top portrayal as the blind girl's slovenly mother) rings absolutely true. That one is an underrated gem.

When the thieves Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother Johnny Biddle (Dick Paxton) are brought to the prison wing of the City Hospital shot in the leg by a police officer, the black intern Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) is assigned by Dr. Dan Wharton (Stephen McNally) to treat them. Dr. Brooks is insulted by the racist Ray and finds Johnny completely disoriented. Suspecting of a brain tumor, he begins a procedure but Johnny dies. The racist Ray accuses him of killing his brother and does not authorize the autopsy to confirm Dr. Brooks´ diagnosis. Dr. Wharton and Brooks decide to seek out Johnny´s widow Edie Johnson (Linda Darnell) to get the authorization but she explains that they had divorced. Edie visits Ray to ask him to authorize the autopsy, but he convinces her to organize an attack of the black sector with the lowlife people from Beaver Canal. After the riot with many casualties, Dr. Brooks takes the ultimate decision to have the requested autopsy. "No Way Out" is another great film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a story of racism and hatred. The performances are top-notch, highlighting Richard Widmark in the role of a cynical scum. The conclusion is moralist but fits perfectly to the plot. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "O Ódio É Cego" ("The Hatered is Blind")

"No Way Out" is an outstanding film starring Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, and Linda Darnell, which deals with prejudice in a community hospital and the community in which it stands. Richard Widmark plays a wounded criminal whom the police bring to the hospital along with his brother. When his brother dies, Widmark blames the black doctor, Poitier, in what is apparently his first screen appearance. I can only say, what a debut. In an attempt to get an autopsy that will clear him of any wrongdoing, Poitier and his boss, played by Stephen McNally, appeal to the brother's ex-wife, Linda Darnell, to talk to Widmark and convince him to consent. When Widmark's version of the story gets out, the seething community explodes, and a race riot breaks out. The liberal use of the N word is a little hard to take in this movie, and the blatancy of Widmark's hatred and prejudice is shocking. Widmark, who used to help out Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee in their various charity events, gives an astonishing performance as a wounded man both physically and emotionally, a man possessed by hate, rage, and bitterness. Poitier is excellent as a young doctor dealing with race in his profession, though he's fortunate to have a color-blind boss. It's interesting to note that a black worker in the hospital intimates that in order to succeed as a resident, Poitier had to take tests the whites didn't have to, etc. Poitier orders him to knock it off. Although a star from the late '30s, Linda Darnell is only 27 in this film. She's deglamorized but beautiful, and "No Way Out" was made at a time when she was getting her best roles. She's marvelous as a down and out, frightened woman. Although the genre has evolved since "No Way Out," this is a tough, tense, well directed movie that is well worth seeing.

A very effective and engrossing racial drama, with standout performances by Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark. Widmark, in particular, tears up the screen with his harrowing portrayal of a pathologically obsessed racist; he is almost frightening to watch. The script keeps the action moving along briskly, in edge-of-the seat mode. Still effective, for a film half-a-century old.

I heard a rumor that this was coming out on DVD in 2006. I hope it's true because this is a fascinating film. Actually, "shocking" might be a better word. Bigotry is the main theme and there is no beating around the bush here. The "n- word" is used at least 20 times in this film in one form or another which is shocking to hear in a classic film. Richard Widmark plays the main bigot and he is fascinating to watch. Few people in his day could play the wild-eyed fanatical villain as well as he could (see "Kiss Of Death" for the best example). This was Sidney Poiteir's screen debut and he looks about 16 years old! He looks too young to be a doctor even if he is portrayed as someone in their first year of practice. Anyway, with Widmark and Poitier, and a fine supporting cast with some famous names, you have a very, very interesting movie that is long overdue to be made available to the public. To the film's credit, this shows bigotry on both sides: black and white, although it concentrates more on white against black. Linda Darnell plays perhaps the most interesting role because she is the one person who switches back and forth, unable most of the time to figure out what side to take! For those who remember the Naked City TV series, it's also fun to see Harry Bellaver in here, playing Widmark's deaf-mute brother. This movie could easily be very dated.....but it isn't.

Sidney Poitier made his screen debut in No Way Out about a young black doctor accused of 'murder' by Richard Widmark. Seeing the two of them you would hardly believe that they in fact became lifelong friends in real life. The Biddle Brothers, a pair of white trash rednecks, from a neighborhood called Beaver Canal in a large American city, get brought into an emergency room with gunshot wounds. They tried to stick up a gas station and got caught. Sidney Poitier is a young intern on duty and he suspects something more wrong with the younger Biddle's condition. While doing a spinal tap his patient dies and the rabidly racist Widmark playing the older Biddle, accuses Poitier of murder. No matter how off the wall his charges are, some people listen and some have to investigate. In Poitier's corner is his supervisor Stephen McNally. But Widmark manages to spread his poison and it results in a race riot. Widmark is something else. Down to this day it's so easy for some to believe they're in a bad situation because someone else or some group else is somehow given preferential treatment. Widmark believes this and he lives in an area where it's taken as gospel. We've rarely seen a portrayal of hate as vivid as this on screen. Hate whether it's individually or group directed can sometime take on a life of its own. Even when he's confronted with the truth about the ludicrousness of his charges, Widmark still won't let go. It's what's most frightening in No Way Out. Linda Darnell is excellent also as the former wife of Widmark's brother. She buys into Widmark's hate at first, but she shows a capacity to learn. It can be found in most of us or there would be no hope for the human race. Joseph Mankiewicz directed and wrote No Way Out. He was at the height of his career winning two best Director Oscars back to back for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve. He probably didn't win anything for No Way Out because the Academy voters didn't want to give him everything at that time. He was nominated for Best Screenplay. Sixty Six years later No Way Out is still a powerful portrayal of racism and its ugly effects on the soul.

As in other 1950s films, Richard Widmark is very scary and Sidney Poitier very noble herein. There is little preaching in Mankiewicz's screenplay and it has splendidly filmed action sequences. The rap that Mankiewicz's films are "all talk and no action" is untenable (see, especially, "The Quiet Man" and "Five Fingers"), though the talk he wrote was often very incisive and very witty. Notable for the debuts of Poitier, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee, this melodrama is of more than historical interest. It is a gripping, noirish tale of a nightmare experienced by a young black doctor. Although the ending is predictable, and Linda Darnell's character chances unconvincingly often and unconvincingly far (and her clothes are inconceivable for a drive-in car hop!), "No Way Out" is more than a historical curiosity. (And Mankiewicz deserves reconsideration as one of the directors who really was the author of the films he directed, up there with Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges.)

A cartoonish movie by left winger Mankiewicz. He lays it on so thick the movie becomes a joke at many points. This lame attempt at a movie comes across like a fifth rate stage play. The dialogue is tedious, overlong at several points, especially where one character talks too long without any relief in the form of response from the character he is talking to. An example is the scene where the head of the hospital goes on and on and on in an early scene in his office with the white head doctor. Widmark gives a cartoonish, cornball performance. Linda Darnell makes the most of the material she is given.

This film really surprised me, as I wasn't expecting something so raw and tense from 1950. The leads are excellent - nobody chews the scenery, as would be expected. Darnell is particularly effective. Honestly, being the cynical person I am, I never would have expected such an excellent film. How this made it past the Code, I'll never know. The language and drama are intense. 1950?????? Amazing. What a pleasure to see Ossie in an early role...he's already missed. Frankly, I rarely recommend a film. What a great experience....check this flick out.