Back to trending
The Defiant Ones

The Defiant Ones

Crime · Drama · Adventure · 1958

Two convicts—one white, one black—escape while chained to each other.

Movie details

The Defiant Ones

“One of the great ones!”

1958 Crime · Drama · Adventure 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.1 / 10

Community rating

Two convicts—one white, one black—escape while chained to each other.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Defiant Ones?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Rosewood

Rosewood

Drama · 1997

Spurred by a white woman's lie, vigilantes destroy a black Florida town and slay inhabitants in 1923.

The Parts You Lose

The Parts You Lose

Drama · 2019

An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.

The Enforcer

The Enforcer

Drama · 1951

After years of investigation, Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has managed to build a solid case against an elusive gangster whose top lieutenant is about to testify.

Brute Force

Brute Force

Crime · 1947

Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?

The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter

Crime · 1955

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

The Great Escape

The Great Escape

Adventure · 1963

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

F.I.S.T.

F.I.S.T.

Drama · 1978

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher his methods become more ruthless and finally senator Madison starts a campaign to find the truth about the alleged connections with the Mob.

Passage to Marseille

Passage to Marseille

Adventure · 1944

A freedom-loving French journalist sacrifices his happiness and security to battle Nazi tyranny.

In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night

Crime · 1967

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

I Am David

I Am David

Drama · 2003

A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Stanley Kramer

Written by

Nedrick Young · Harold Jacob Smith

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

John 'Joker' Jackson

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier

Noah Cullen

Theodore Bikel

Theodore Bikel

Sheriff Max Muller

Charles McGraw

Charles McGraw

Capt. Frank Gibbons

Lon Chaney Jr.

Lon Chaney Jr.

Big Sam

King Donovan

King Donovan

Solly

Claude Akins

Claude Akins

Mack

Court is in session

Put The Defiant Ones on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.