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No Way Out

Play trailer Poster for No Way Out Released Aug 16, 1950 1h 46m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Robbers Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother are shot and taken to the local hospital. There, the two are treated by Dr. Brooks (Sidney Poitier), the hospital's only black doctor. The brothers assault Brooks with racist slurs. And, when his brother ends up dying on the operating table, Ray accuses the doctor of murdering him. Blind with rage, Ray works to turn the white community of the city against Brooks, who finds an unlikely ally in the dead man's widow, Edie (Linda Darnell).
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No Way Out

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody New Yorker The film is politically daring in its mere depiction of a Black protagonist—and in its view of a poor white man’s resentment of what he calls the preferential treatment of Black people. Mar 28, 2022 Full Review Eric Henderson Slant Magazine No Way Out borrows the template for socially conscious filmmaking from both Gentlemen's Agreement and Crossfire: it's half noir, half sermon. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 9, 2006 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills It’s an effective suspense drama that’s also one of the best treatments of race relations of its era, not preachy or pandering. Mar 28, 2022 Full Review Nell Dodson Russell Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder If you like your movies grim, you'll certainly enjoy this one. Personally, I don't think I want to see another "problem" film for a long while. Jan 14, 2022 Full Review Jesse H. Walker New York Age Darryl F. Zanuck is to be congratulated for his intentions in making such a movie although his methods do leave something to be desired. Sep 7, 2021 Full Review Gertrude Gipson California Eagle I could not write any further in this review without citing the splendid and breath-taking dramatic work of Sidney Poitier. Oct 30, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (55) audience reviews
Steve D Powerful important and beautifully acted. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Ground breaking film for its time as it bravely details the challenges a black man has to overcome even when he's accomplished much. The great irony of the movie is that despite the good intentions of the filmmakers, the studio still underpaid the movie's black performers and even bypassed putting the names of several African-American performers like the great Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review kevin w A hard film to even open up: race relations, Hollywood-style, from the 1950s - I'll take a pass, scheduling my sermons on Sunday as needed. But this rises above the usual patronizing/sermonizing thanks in part to an intelligent in-your-face script, easy-on-the-tiller directing, and simply an off-the-charts job by the leading cast, of whom nobody collects an easy paycheck. It took me awhile to get to this one, over a year, and I was entirely wrong to do so. Superb work all around. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member The best thrilling movie ever made! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A menacing noir/thriller which takes many risks, unless they weren't back in that day, but also seems to be innovative for its time considering the subject matter and the amount of black actors in a high profile film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Dare I admit...came across this film on MOVIES station. I approve of critical acclaim. Though due to scheduling i didn't see ending! Oh no! Gonna have to re-view of look up plot description somewhere. Excellent acting by all. (And had no problems with B/W (as I watch lots of shows from mid-fifties, westerns mostly, in B/W) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
No Way Out

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Robbers Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother are shot and taken to the local hospital. There, the two are treated by Dr. Brooks (Sidney Poitier), the hospital's only black doctor. The brothers assault Brooks with racist slurs. And, when his brother ends up dying on the operating table, Ray accuses the doctor of murdering him. Blind with rage, Ray works to turn the white community of the city against Brooks, who finds an unlikely ally in the dead man's widow, Edie (Linda Darnell).
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Producer
Darryl F Zanuck
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 16, 1950, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 46m
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