True story of Caryl Chessman, here under the name "Whit" Whittier (Whittier being Chessman's real middle name), played by William Campbell, a juvenile delinquent who got worse and worse and worse... He eventually ends up in death row, where we are introduced to him, and his life up to that point is recounted.
Campbell does a nice job here, if not a little hammy at times. (but that's just the way he is naturally, it seems) There are other familiar faces and everyone does well, but this is really Campbell's time to shine. Knowing the events were real, the movie being based on Chessman's book of the same name, it was interesting to follow, especially knowing his became his own lawyer and basically added years to his life by studying law books.
Interestingly, this movie came out while he was on death row and is based on the first of four books he'd write, so things were still very much up in the air in the end! His wiki article is worth a look if you want to know how things turned out for him.
Overall, this was pretty good. Definitely engaging. Certainly not one of those movies where you kinda secretly cheer for the fictional bad guy inside (know what I mean?), though, as he was a real, really bad guy.
Cell 2455, Death Row
1955
Action / Biography / Crime / Drama / Film-Noir
Cell 2455, Death Row
1955
Action / Biography / Crime / Drama / Film-Noir
Plot summary
A Death Row inmate uses his prison law studies to fight for his life. Based on a true story.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 21, 2023 at 07:29 PM
Director
Top cast
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Can't root for this self-educated man
Loathsome little punk
There is a great tendency to both review the subject as well as the film when doing a biographical film. In the case of Caryl Chessman we're dealing with a loathsome little punk known as Whit Whittier in the film so they could take some liberties with the facts and not get sued. I have no doubt that Chessman was guilty as sin for most of what he did. But the law in which he was convicted where it was never actually proved that death resulted by his hands or cooperation with those who might have done the death deed was specious and eventually declared unconstitutional.
Caryl Chessman who participated in all kinds of crimes eventually graduated to sex offender as the 'Red Light Bandit' known for shining a red flashlight into cars, pretending to be law enforcement, and then having his way with women passengers. He varied his modus operandi somewhat from case to case, he may have been charged with some things he actually didn't do. He did the colossally stupid thing of representing himself in court and paid for it.
His struggle with the criminal justice system went on for almost a decade before he died in California's gas chamber after the action of this film concluded. He needed a constitutional lawyer and didn't get one.
As is seen in the film Chessman's notoriety and loathsomeness did him in. William Campbell who played a lot of punk types in his salad days excels here. But the story would be better told and under his real name by Alan Alda a generation later.
Tough, direct, and totally unsympathetic...
Fred F. Sears directed this adaptation of Death Row inmate Caryl Chessman's memoirs of being the first criminal ever to be sentenced to death without actually murdering anyone (he fell under the Little Lindbergh Law, kidnapping with bodily harm to the victim). For unexplained reasons, screenwriter Jack DeWitt has changed Chessman's name here to Whit Whittier (!), but the film pulls no punches in detailing his crimes, from boyhood to hard-bitten adult. These episodes, in and out of the slammer, are like a textbook for pulpy B-movies, yet Sears never gets glossy (this is no film-noir). Still, the hammering we get is exhausting (even at 75 minutes, the picture feels lengthy). Crime-buffs will be impressed; others not enamored of the genre might get restless. Vince Edwards has a small part as one of Whittier's later cohorts, six years before his TV fame as "Ben Casey" (and he never gets a close-up!). ** from ****