The Defiant Ones lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Producer-director Stanley Kramer and United Artists brought The Defiant Ones to movie theaters in 1958. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier play the shackled cons on the lam, with Theodore Bikel and Charles McGraw as their dogged pursuers.

Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones

Nedrick Young (a blacklisted writer/actor using the pseudonym “Nathan E. Douglas”) and Harold Jacob Smith wrote the screenplay for Tony Curtis’ Curtleigh Productions and Stanley Kramer’s Lomitas Productions. Stanley Kramer (On the Beach, Judgment at Nuremberg, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) produced and directed. Ernest Gold created the offbeat music score, all of which emanates from radios.  

Tony Curtis (Johnny “Joker” Jackson) and Sidney Poitier (Noah Cullen) head the small cast. Other players include Theodore Bikel (Sheriff Max Muller), Charles McGraw (Captain Frank Gibbons), Lon Chaney Jr. (Big Sam), King Donovan (Solly), Claude Akins (Mac), Lawrence Dobkin (Editor), Whit Bissell (Lou Gans), Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer (Angus), Kevin Coughlin (Billy), Cara Williams (The Woman), Harold Jacob Smith (Prison Truck Driver) and Nedrick Young (Prison Guard).

Elvis Presley and Sammy Davis Jr. were reportedly the original choices for the convict roles. In his 1993 autobiography, Tony Curtis wrote that Marlon Brando had been Stanley Kramer’s first choice for the role of John Jackson, but was unavailable.  

The Defiant Ones Filmed in California

Budgeted at $1 million, The Defiant Ones was filmed from February to April 1958, primarily at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, California. The memorable freight train sequence at movie’s end was shot on the Southern Pacific Railroad between Piru and Fillmore in Ventura County.

The Defiant Ones proved to be a physically exhausting picture. One of the most difficult scenes to shoot was the famous clay pit scene, in which Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier try to free themselves. No stunt doubles were used; it was just Curtis and Poitier down there in the water and muck, trying to claw their way out.

Another tough scene was the water rapids sequence, in which the two convicts cross the river. Most of the work was performed by the actors themselves, but stuntman Bobby Hoy did double for Tony Curtis in some of the more physically demanding scenes.

The Defiant Ones: Escaped Convicts in Black and White  

The Defiant Ones opens in a driving rainstorm, with two prison guards transporting a truckload of convicts. After being sideswiped by another vehicle, the prison truck veers off the road and plunges into a culvert. Escaping from the overturned truck are two convicts, the white John “Joker” Jackson and the black Noah Cullen, who are chained together.

A massive manhunt is now underway, led by the laconic Sheriff Max Muller and the zealous Captain Frank Gibbons of the state police. Brought in to track the escaped cons is a local named Solly, who uses his beloved bloodhounds and muzzled Dobermans for the task.

The fleeing convicts are soon at each other’s throats, trading racist insults as they make their way through the dangerous countryside. In order to avoid detection by a passing wagon, the two are forced to dive into an open clay pit, eventually making their way to the top through grueling teamwork.

The two cons happen on a company town, where they break into the general store and waylay a man while trying to escape.  An angry mob quickly forms, with their leader, a man named Mac, proposing that they lynch the pair. But ex-con Big Sam is having none of it, as he knocks Mac unconscious and later sets Jackson and Cullen free.

Sheriff Muller and his posse eventually close in on the escaped cons. A freight train is approaching, and Joker and Cullen are running to catch it as the bloodhounds can be heard yelping in the distance.

The Defiant Ones Opens in New York City

The Defiant Ones opened at New York City’s Victoria Theater on September 24, 1958.

“A remarkably apt and dramatic visualization of a social idea – the idea of men of different races brought together to face misfortune in a bond of brotherhood – is achieved by producer Stanley Kramer in his new film, The Defiant Ones,” reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (9/25/58).

“One of the best motion pictures to hit the screen in many a year…” crowed Variety (8/6/58).

“A film that Stanley Kramer, the motion picture industry, and every American citizen can be proud of…” opined Arthur Knight in Saturday Review (7/26/58).

The Defiant Ones Academy Award Nominations, Trivia, DVD

• The Defiant Ones earned nine Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director,  Best Actor (Curtis, Poitier), Best Supporting Actor (Bikel), Best Supporting Actress (Cara Williams), Best Story and Screenplay (won), Best Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson), Best B/W Cinematography (Sam Leavitt, won).
• Sidney Poitier’s reaction after reading the script: “It was an explosive piece of work that left me in a state of sweaty-palmed excitement.”
• Tony Curtis insisted that Sidney Poitier receive co-star billing.
• The movie’s theme song: “Long Gone,” adapted from “Long Gone (From Bowlin’ Green),” with music by W.C. Handy and words by Chris Smith.
• Theodore Bikel excels as the southern sheriff with a conscience. His best line, spoken to Solly who worries constantly about his animals: “I sure hope you treat your grandmother the way you treat those dogs.”
• Sheriff Muller’s annual salary: $6,800.
• Sentences for the two cons: John Jackson, 5-10 years for armed robbery and attacking a guard; Noah Cullen, 10-20 years for assault and battery and attempted murder.
• Cara Williams’ offer to Tony Curtis to forget Cullen and run away with her: $400 in insurance money.
• Because of the racial climate at the time, The Defiant Ones did not do well in southern states.
• The Defiant Ones marked the last film appearance of Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer of Our Gang fame. On January 21, 1959, the 31-year-old Switzer was shot to death during a drunken dispute involving a $50 debt. The incident was ruled justifiable homicide. “You, douse that radio,” Charles McGraw barks at Switzer’s music-loving character.
• TV-movie remake: The Defiant Ones (1986), starring Robert Urich and Carl Weathers.
• On DVD: The Defiant Ones (MGM/UA, 2001).

“Cullen, we gave ‘em a hell of a run for it, didn’t we?” Tony Curtis tells Sidney Poitier.

Bowlin’ Green…sewin’ machine.