Main Cast: Don Murray, Larry Gates, Cindi Wood, Keir Dullea, Logan Ramsey
Release Year: 1961
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
Plot
Director Irvin Kershner, better known for his big-budget films like The Empire Strikes Back, joins with scripters and lead Don Murray to create this moving and effective docudrama. The story is based on the experiences of real-life Rev. Charles Dismas Clark (played here by Murray), a Jesuit priest devoted to working with young ex-convicts who face uphill battles in trying to re-integrate into a society that discriminates against them. At focus is the struggle of Billy Lee Jackson (Keir Dullea) with his personal demons as he gets involved in crimes which are not of his doing alone. His case illustrates the nature of the majority of cases, and like the majority, he pays in spades for his "mistakes." A powerful argument for looking at the horror of the death penalty and society's responsibility for crime, this well-wrought story is compelling and consistently effective. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Don Joslyn - Pio Gentile; Sam Capuano - Mario Mazziotti; Vince O'Brien - District Attorney; Al Mack - Judge Garrity; Joseph Cusanelli - Hector Sterne; Bill Atwood - Weasel; Warren Parker - Warden; Louise Martini - Angelo Mazziotti; Joe Hamilton - Prison Chaplain; Norman McKay - Father Dunne
Credit
John S. Poplin - Art Director, Alexis Davidoff - Costume Designer, Irvin Kershner - Director, Maurice E. Wright - Editor, Richard Markowitz - Composer (Music Score), Ted Coodley - Makeup, Haskell Wexler - Cinematographer, Don Murray - Producer, Walter Wood - Producer, Karl Brainard - Set Designer, Don Murray - Screenwriter, Don Deer - Screenwriter, Joseph Landon - Screenwriter
