The Defiant Ones is a wonderful film headlined by the great collaboration of Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier as 2 escaped convicts (one black, one white) in the racist south. The 2 men are chained together and are forced to co-operate (interestingly, they had racial prejudices themselves) to avoid re-capture. The film did pretty well at the Oscars, earning 9 nominations (Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Film Editing and of course, Best Picture). In the end, the film walked away with statues for Cinematography and Screenplay.
Classic Quote
"Ya'll can't lynch me! I'm a white man!"
Classic Scene
"The Quarry Scene"
Classic Characters
John 'Joker' Jackson (Tony Curtis)
Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier)
Sheriff Max Muller (Theodore Bikel)
"Billy's Mother" (Cara Williams)
Did you know? Robert Mitchum, a veteran of a Southern chain gang, turned down the role of Jackson because blacks and whites would never be chained together in the segregated South.
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