Scott Brady

Jeff Corey

Whit Bissell

Stanley Clements

Charles Russell

DeForest Kelley

Ralph Byrd

Mabel Paige

Roy Best

Crane Wilbur

Bryan Foy

Robert Kane

John Alton

Louis Sackin

Frank Durlauf

Armor Marlowe

Clarence Steensen

France Ehren

Ridgeway Callow

James T. Vaughn

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Canon City

Bryan Foy Productions

Eagle-Lion Films (US)

United States of America

Filmed With The Naked Fury Of Fact!

Filmed With The Naked Fury Of Fact! So screams the poster for this semi-documentary styled pic. Barely a year previously a dozen prisoners escaped from the Colorado State Penitentiary, Canon City, this is the story of that break and subsequent hunt for the escapees.

Written and directed by Crane Wilbur, it stars Scott Brady, Jeff Corey and Whit Bissell. Cinematography is by John Alton and Reed Hadley provides the stentorian narration. Plot is exactly what it says on the cover, men escape prison and as a blizzard rages outside they encounter various members of the public whilst trying to escape capture. 

The various convict character splinters, as we follow the principal escapees, makes for suspenseful scenes as they impose themselves on the homes of good honest folk. The moral dilemma heartbeat comes via Brady's Jim Sherbondy, a man who was reluctant to escape but ultimately got caught up in the whirlpool. The characterisations are standard for this type of picture, but well performed all the same, with Corey particularly striking as a weasel type. The various women in the story are well written, proving to be of strong will and minds, while Alton and Wilbur enhance the fatalistic mood with low lights and close ups.

A decent pic from the pantheon of prison noir, but not a patch on the likes of Brute Force and Riot In Cell Block 11. 6/10

English