HYBRID PROGRAM: IN-PERSON AND STREAMING ONLINE

The Defiant Ones (Stanley Kramer, 1958, 96min.)

Christopher Llewellyn Reed, chair, film & moving image department, Stevenson University

In his third time behind the camera, producer-turned-director Stanley Kramer (who also helmed the fourth film in this series, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) offers us Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis as two convicts attempting to flee while chained together. When their transport truck crashes, they somehow survive, opting to make a run for it rather than waiting to be picked up and returned to jail. Among the many obstacles they face is Curtis’ racist hatred of Poitier. With Theodore Bickel’s sheriff hot on their heels, they go from one narrow escape to another until they finally learn to cooperate. Along the way, they develop a quasi-friendship. How close do they become? Time will tell. It’s all about survival, until maybe it isn’t. A feel-good drama with hints of mild comedy, the movie is a satisfying buddy picture that has proven a winning template for later filmmakers to emulate.

ASG’s 2023 Film Series is in collaboration with the Renaissance Institute at Notre Dame of Maryland University

$10 fee for guests (No charge for ASG members, ASG subscribers and RI members)