Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

pocomarc 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.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Racially charged and explosive crime drama that takes place in and out of County Hospital and spills over into the surrounding area with Sidney Poitier in his first staring role as Doctor Luther Brooks who puts both his life and career on the line in the movie. Dr. Brooks in trying to save the badly wounded armed robber Johnny Biddle's, Dick Paxton, life ended up killing him with a spinal tap in trying to find out why he's not responding to treatment.Johnny's brother Ray, Richard Widmark, who was also wounded in the shootout with the police who has no use for Dr. Brooks anyway, because he's black, goes ballistic in accusing Brooks in purposely murdering his brother because of the racial epitaphs that he, Ray, hurled at him ever since he and Johnny were admitted into the hospital emergency ward. All this racial tension starts to boil over when Ray's friends from Beaver Canal plan to start trouble by attacking the black section in town in response to a black Dr. Brooks murdering a white man,wounded career criminal Johnny Biddle, and being allowed to get away with it!Dr. Brooks who suspects that Johnny died from a busted, that resulted from the shoot-out with the police, brain tumor desperately wants to have his body autopsied but needs a family member like Ray and his mute brother George, Harry Bellaver, to authorize it which their dead set against! It's when Dr. Brooks and his good friend and boss at County Hospital Dr. Dan Wharton, Stephen McNally, go to see Johnny's widow Edie, Linda Darnell, for her to authorize her husbands autopsy they not only find out that she's been divorced from Johnny for over a year but like her brother in law Ray has no interested in helping Dr.Brooks because of his racial background.Richard Widnmark really wins the movies acting honors as the racist and mentally unbalanced Ray Biddle. Ray who's hatred for blacks is so intense, with his brother Johnny's death at the hands of black Doctor Brooks not helping any, that it passes the line of just plan garden variety racism and becomes psychotic. Even Ray's racist friends in Beaver Canal after they got their clocks cleaned, when they were attacked by stick and pipe wielding blacks at the Beaver Canal junkyard, backed off from their racist attitudes against Dr. Brooks leaving Ray on his own in avenging his bother Johnny's death. That's when it was finally discovered, when Dr. Brooks in getting the autopsy on Johnny claimed that he in fact murdered him, that Johnny did in fact die from a brain tumor not by Dr.Brooks murdering him! ***SPOILERS*** Breaking out the hospital's criminal emergency ward with the help of his brother "the Dummy" George Ray now plans to murder Dr. Brooks by tricking him into going to Dr. Wharton house where he'll be waiting to ambush him. It's non other then Edie who had a sudden change of heart in seeing just how crazy her brother in law Ray is who tried to tip off Dr.Brooks in what was waiting for him there! The last few tense and heart wrenching moments in the movie made all the hurt and abuse, both physical as well as mental, that Dr.Brooks went through more then worth while for him. After taking a bullet from the badly wounded, from his failed escape attempt, and crazed Ray Biddle Dr. Brooks put his feeling behind him and treated Ray's near fatal leg wound until help finally arrived telling the stunned racist, who expected that Dr. Brooks would let him slowly bleed to death, "Don't cry white boy! Your gonna live!"

edwagreen This is truly a remarkable, outstanding film dealing with racism at its worst.Richard Widmark, as the racist hoodlum, delivers a walloping performance.By the way, Sidney Poitier, as the black physician who is unfortunate enough to have Widmark's brother die while being examined, is the real star of the movie. While this was his first film, how come in the cast he was placed in the opening credits in the supporting division? They should have at least said and introducing Sidney Poitier as Dr. Brooks.Widmark, the epitome of racism here, is so bigoted that he will not even accept an autopsy result showing that his brother had a brain tumor. AS a result of this, we have a race riot on our hands.Linda Darnell is Widmark's former sister-in-law who comes to realize that such hatred gets one nowhere. I've never seen Darnell so good in a film role.The ending does show us some racial toleration, but it all shows the terrible outcome of racial prejudice. Factors including ignorance bringing about such hatred are vividly shown here.An absolutely fabulous film. Unfortunately, we don't hear much about this movie. We even see levels of institutionalized racism at the hospital where the head doctor, Stephen McNally, is warned that they (the hospital) shouldn't lose funding because a black doctor was involved in the person's demise.

MartinHafer NO WAY OUT is one of the best films about race prejudice that Hollywood ever made. One of the reasons this is so is because of the crude, evil and unflinching language used throughout the movie. If the movie were made now, it would most likely be sanitized--and that's a shame, as the vileness and stupidity of racism is diminished when film makers censor their message in order to avoid offending people. This movie is patently offensive--and because of that, it succeeds in telling a story that really packs an emotional wallop.Sidney Poitier plays a young doctor who was unfortunate enough to treat two brothers who are thieves on the jail ward of the hospital. Unfortunate, because one brother dies (through no fault of the doctor) and the other is such an insane racist (Richard Widmark) that he is sure the doctor killed his brother--though it's only because Poitier is black that he believes this. In Widmark's view of the world, blacks are garbage and he gives this doctor nothing but hatred and disrespect. Even when it is proved that Poitier did NOT kill this patient, Widmark is determined to get revenge...one way or another. There's a heck of a lot more to the plot than this, but I'll hold back so I won't spoil the suspense. And, speaking of suspense, this is one of the tensest films I've seen in some time--it kept my interest every minute.Some performances are worth noting. First, Stephen McNally plays one of his rare performances as a nice guy. Usually, he played heavies--gangster types. Here, he plays a fine human being--and I was shocked to see this. Second, Richard Widmark really did a great job. I know in real life he was a very liberal man and a champion of causes such as race relations. Yet, you'd never know it based on this venomous performance--he is one of the nastiest, if not the nastiest, racist I've seen on film. He gave a very ugly face to white supremacy--and showed just how sick racism is. As for Poitier, he was just great--as you'd naturally expect. I was just surprised that this was his first Hollywood type role--he seemed like an experienced vet.I think, however, the biggest stars of the film are the screen writers (Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Lesser Samuels) and director (Mankiewicz once again). The screenplay was simply amazing--convincing, taut and believable. The direction was also first-rate--something you'd expect from the same guy who brought us classics like ALL ABOUT EVE and A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. One scene in particular that I loved was when the flare was fired. That long pause as everyone was just frozen before the race riot began was brilliant--many directors wouldn't have used the pause and would have missed this chance to build the tension.A great film.