Talk about biting the hand that would feed you! Two petty thieves end up in hospital after a robbery went wrong. “Ray” (Richard Widmark) is an angry and odious character who refuses to let the duty doctor “Brooks” (Sydney Poitier) anywhere near his injured brother. His protestations are ignored, but when the patient dies his brother begins to make all sorts of vile racist assertions against the doctor. These noises are soon being heard on the streets, and with racial tensions already running high the situation becomes dangerous for the doctor, his family, his hospital and amidst a community at large just itching for a brawl. Central to this toxicity is “Edie” (Linda Darnell). She was formerly married to the deceased man and although she’s not quite a card-carrying member of the KKK, she is still fairly bigoted and is inclined to support the allegations of “Ray”. However, as she sees the brutality unfold might she realise that she is wrong, that “Ray” is wrong and that she might be the only one who can help - especially when “Ray” escapes and sets off on his own path of vengeance. Widmark wasn’t always the most engaging of actors, indeed he could be downright wooden at times, but here there is something viscerally unpleasant about his characterisation and he commits himself completely to depicting an ignorant man convincingly. Darnell is also on great form as a troubled soul for whom it is quite difficult to have sympathy at the start, but whose performance rather effectively epitomises struggles across America with matters of racism, mental illness and to an extent, sexism too. Poitier’s character isn’t so very well developed, but he still manages to bring a professional dignity to his role, especially towards the conclusion, and all in all this is a thought-provoking film that even manages to evoke a little pity, too.
