Neorealist prison drama shot at Fulsom State Penitentiary, California, which used inmates as extras. And one of the leads, Leo Gordon, had served five years in San Quentin for armed robbery! The title covers the plot pretty well but the action is a vehicle for social protest. The film makes a case for prison reform. While there is balance, it's a liberal film which argues for the kind of progressive changes usually resisted by the tax payer.
Producer Walter Wanger had just served time for shooting his wife's lover and wanted to make an exposé of his experiences. We witness the systemic thuggery which leads to the (costly) violence and vandalism that a more enlightened approach might avoid. The mentally ill, the sex offenders, the first timers and the lifers are all kettled under the cudgel of the demoralised staff.
There was a glut of films in the decade after WWII in response to frequent news reports about unrest in prisons across the country. There is a lot of editorialising, but this is easily the most visually realistic. Its cast looks authentic even if at times the cons are too articulate.
Neville Brand and Gordon are convincing as the two leaders of the riot with conflicting methods. Gordon is a psycho who just wants to waste the screws from the start. Brand, usually cast as the thug, actually has a strategy! This was Don Siegel's breakthrough as a director. It is a work of procedural social realism, modelled on a real prison riot, and it is relevant still.