Riot in Cell Block 11
| Riot in Cell Block 11 | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Don Siegel |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger |
| Screenplay by | Richard Collins |
| Starring |
Neville Brand Emile Meyer Frank Faylen Leo Gordon Robert Osterloh |
| Narrated by | James Matthews |
| Music by | Herschel Burke Gilbert |
| Cinematography | Russell Harlan |
| Edited by | Bruce B. Pierce |
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Production
company |
Walter Wanger Productions
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| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $298,780 |
| Box office | $1,531,755 |
Riot in Cell Block 11 is a 1954 film noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon and Robert Osterloh.
One night, several prison inmates take guards prisoner to protest brutal conditions in their prison. They then make their demands known to prison warden Reynolds (Emile Meyer), a liberal-minded administrator who has complained for many years about the same conditions. James V. Dunn (Neville Brand), the prisoners' leader, meets the press outside the cell block and makes demands that they will no longer tolerate the brutal guards, substandard food, overcrowding, and barely livable conditions.
The next day inmates from two other blocks start a riot but they are forced back into the cell blocks by the state police. Negotiations between the inmates and prison officials are stymied by the state politicians who do not want to make any concessions.
Meanwhile factions within the prisoners begin to vie for power and control within the rebellious cell block. At the same time, the state police are given the go ahead to blow a hole in the wall to end the siege. But unknown to them, the inmates inside create a human shield by tying the hostages to the interior wall.
Just in the nick of time, the governor agrees to sign a petition from the prisoners. The riot ends when the inmates see the next-day newspapers saying that they had won. But it is a pyrrhic victory for the leader, Dunn. Two weeks later he is called to the warden's office. The state legislature had overturned the governor's signature thus repudiating all the prisoners' demands.
The Warden tells Dunn that he will stand trial for leading the riot and taking hostages, charges that will mostly likely mean an additional 30-year sentence. But the Warden, who explains that he is to be replaced, tells Dunn that he did get a small victory: the mentally-ill inmates are to be moved to asylums and some prisoners will be paroled. The Warden tells Dunn that his actions were front page news which may bring about some good.
The downbeat ending is indicative of the realistic social commentary prevalent throughout the film. The producer Walter Wanger had recently been in prison for shooting his wife's lover, and his experience there motivated this production. The film was shot on location at Folsom State Prison with real inmates and guards playing background roles. Siegel agreed to direct the movie over eight weeks for a flat fee of $10,000.
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