Riot

Thriller

Paramount Pictures

DVD release by Olive Films

R0

Dating back to 1968, this gritty film shows that some of the older films could do a superb job without SFX. Too many of these films are being “remade” and often turn out badly in comparison with the originals.

Partly the success of the film is due to superb acting by Gene Hackman and Jim Brown, both looking considerably younger. Although Hackman’s acting career only began in 1961 this film shows the ability that has kept him in film work for the rest of his life. Jim Brown’s career runs somewhat parallel to Hackman’s. He started acting in 1964 after a bout in professional football. His first really successful film was The Dirty Dozen (1967) so making him a lead character in Riot was still a bit of a risk for a producer. It worked, and he turned in a powerful performance.

The plot would now be regarded as fairly conventional but it was adventurous for its day. We have a prison in Arizona run by a ruthless warden and managed day to day by equally ruthless guards. Cully Preston (Brown) is doing five years and shortly will have a chance of parole. Victimised by a warder, he is taken to solitary. In solitary a group of prisoners has just taken over the wing. Cully manages to save the warders from being murdered by some of the more vicious prisoners. Whether he likes it or not, he is involved now.

“Big Red” Fraker (Hackman) is the leader and has an escape plan of sorts but to create a diversion he organises a “protest” against conditions in the prison. He presents a list of inmates’ demands. There is strategy in this. If it is declared as a “riot” the warden can respond with deadly force. As a “protest” there can be no violent intercession and the negotiations will give him the time he needs to finish digging a tunnel.

Cully remains the voice of reason, protecting the warders and trying to temper the excesses of the prisoners. He gains time by making a batch of “raisinjack” a highly alcoholic drink that leaves most of the inmates drunk or unconscious. Unfortunately the Warden sees Cully with Big Red and now believes Cully is one of the leaders. Cully, rather than just sitting out his sentence, knows he will be jailed for a much longer period. His only alternative is to escape with the others. There are still many things that can go wrong with the escape plan, and they do.

Regardless of its age Riot is a good film with strong personalities, a quite credible plot and steady action all the way through. See this original film before it is “remade

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