It’s a very solid social drama/thriller notable for the debut of Sidney Poitier and the strong performances by both he and Richard Widmark (who play an extremely vile racist)
Poitier and Widmark are so good (Linda Darnell is rock solid too) that Stephen McNally as Dr. Dan Wharton stands out a little. He’s playing a type of person, the others are real people
I got a laugh out of how Widmark’s “Ray Biddle” villain is described in the film- he “beats up women and old people”
Mankiewicz is no Welles but there’s a ground foreground vs. background shot when the brother dies
Poitier is a moral perfectionist (to a fault) and Widmark with that sadistic smile
It turns into an engaging West Side Story (before West Side Story)- like race riot/war
Strong jazz score by Duke Ellington
From Eric Henderson at “Slant”- “No Way Out borrows the template for socially conscious filmmaking from both Gentlemen’s Agreement and Crossfire: it’s half noir, half sermon.”
The fantastic poster is from Saul Bass- his first film credit
Big performances—and Mankiewicz stages the final showdown like a good western of good vs. evil
Film debut of Ossie Davis and the first performance with both he and his wife Ruby Dee who would go on to be in Spike’s Do the Right Thing together in 1989 nearly 40 years later
[…] No Way Out – Mankiewicz […]