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This film is a about a guy named Whit Whittier, (William Campbell) who is really playing the role of Caryl Chessman who wrote this book and is a person who has a long wrap sheet full of crime and eventually winds up on Death Row in San Quentin Prison, California. Whit grew up in a nice family in California and had a good home and a great mom and dad who loved him very much. However, Whit had his own ideas and decided to steal and got caught in almost everything he did and spent a great deal of time behind bars. As soon as Whit was released from prison he would join up with another bunch of crooks and face another jail sentence. He had a blonde sweetheart named Doll, (Marion Carr) who loved him and was faithful to him whenever he needed her help and love. There was a crime being committed by a man who was called the Lovers Lane Vandit who would creep up and attack young women who were with their boyfriends on a date and rape them. After awhile people began to suspect Whit Whittier as the man committing these crimes and he was then arrested and sent to prison. This is a true to life story about a man called Caryl Chessman who was killed on death row in 1960.

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.

I am always amazed at how well hidden small jewels like Cell 2455 Death Row are. This is an important film, not only because it was based on the prison autobiography of Caryl Chessman, the notorious Red-Light Bandit who briefly haunted lovers lanes in post-war L.A but because he became the cause-celebre of the anti-death penalty movement. It's also a high-octane film that attempts to fairly portray the prison system of the day. William Campbell brings a measure of intelligence to the role of the condemned killer. We bear witness to his evolution as crook and (if you believe the crimes that led to the death sentence were his) sex fiend. All in all a snappy little effort.

Simply told, unsentimental tale inspired by the book, and real-life story, of Caryl Chessman. Having seen his father unable to cope with poverty, he grows up into a sneering punk, defiant of all authority. The incorrigible boy soon becomes a career criminal, spending time in and out of prison. Then he is accused of a series of "red light" sex crimes, and earns the death penalty for two of them. He then spends his time on death row reading up on the law, and trying to put off the inevitable with his various appeals.

This is a good B level treatment of this story which benefits from not really trying to make Whit Whittier (as he is named in the movie) sympathetic. Rather, it doesn't shy away from the utter ruthlessness and brazenness of his crimes. The point of the story is, did he in fact commit these sex crimes of which he was accused? And did he not have a right to exhaust every legal avenue available to him?

Actor William Campbell, a veteran of both A and B features, does well in this starring vehicle, displaying some charisma and screen presence. His real life younger brother R. Wright Campbell (who, in the subsequent years, embarked upon a successful career as a screenwriter) plays Whit as a younger man. The cast is quite good, overall: Marian Carr, the luscious Kathryn Grant, Harvey Stephens, Vince Edwards, Bart Braverman, Paul Dubov, Buck Kartalian, and others.

The short running time (77 minutes) gives evidence to storytelling (screenplay by Jack DeWitt, direction by Fred F. Sears) that is efficient and to the point. There are some good action scenes, and the atmosphere is potent.

Chessmans' tale was ongoing at the time of the movies' release, although his luck would finally run out several years later. Alan Alda later played the character in a 1977 TV movie, 'Kill Me if You Can'.

Seven out of 10.

I saw this for the first time recently n was pleasantly surprised. This movie is fast paced, with good amount of car chases, lottuva robberies, suspense n an amazing sub plot of that of a kidnapper/rapist.

William Campbell plays and narrates this movie with a sneer. He isn't a bad actor. He looks like Elvis Presley -- and I note he played his brother in an early Elvis vehicle. I don't think he looks much like Caryl Chessman. But that's Irrelevant: What disappointed me is that Chessan's story is sold short by the screenwriter and by director Sears.

Fred F. Sears had no equal in grinding out down and dirty little films noir in the fifties. I think the problem is that the topic required more than that: Chessman was a lightning rod. Everyone knew his story. I'm not saying a "Birdman of Alcatraz" approach would have been better. And probably there was trouble with the rights to the actual story.

Still, this doesn't convey the importance of Chessman's role in criminal law. It's not a boring movie. But it falls far short of what it could have been.

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 ****

Brutal, fast moving crime thriller from deeply underrated director Fred F. Sears, who cranked out numerous westerns, crime thrillers, science fiction, comedy, horror, and musical features for producer Sam Katzman in the 1950s. This film isn't available on DVD or VHS, and more's the pity; it's easily better than most of the Don Siegel, Andre de Toth, or Budd Boetticher crime films of that era. Why Sears has never gotten the respect he deserves is easy to understand; he also directed junk, like THE GIANT CLAW. But his best known films, including ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK and EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS with superb effects by Ray Harryhausen are remarkable accomplishments, and Sears is long overdue for a career retro.

Caryl Chessman was a career criminal who was sentenced to death*. What was unusual is that he didn't kill anyone and the death penalty was given for non-lethal kidnappings. However, instead of just waiting for his execution, Chessman became a 'prison lawyer'....filing all sorts of appeals as well as penning several books. One of the books, "Cell 2455, Death Row" is the basis for this film. Oddly, however, they changed his name in the story. The film also says the usual prologue about the story not being about anyone living or dead...even though it was from his autobiography! My assumption is that since Chessman was NOT a reliable guy and the book was self-serving, they decided to add the statement just in case the 'facts' aren't true.

I was surprised by the film because it did NOT portray 'Whitman' very sympathetically. He was a career criminal with attitiude and Campbell is great as this surly and very cocky con. But it also sanitized some of his crimes...such as the sex crimes which are barely mentioned in the film. Overall, it is a very enjoyable crime film...mostly due to Campbell and his excellent narration.

*After a LONG stint on Death Row, Chessman was finally executed in 1960.

Although a B film with B actors and production values, this film is fairly interesting. Guys on death row seem to fall into two distinct categories; those who deserve capital punishment, and those who don't. This one may have deserved life, but not the death penalty.

William Campbell does a very nice job of playing a young lifetime criminal who thinks he has all the answers. He doesn't.

He is guilty of a myriad of crimes, but most of them are armed robbery. He was an accessory to the murder of a policeman, however, and for this crime, he deserved life. The film goes into detail of how he went from reform school to an out-of-control full-time hood. What I don't get is how he was still alive after heisting money from the syndicate; nobody ever gets away with that without swimming with the fishes. Other than that obvious mistake, the film is pretty insightful. Worth viewing.

Tough, ripped-from-the-headlines crime drama courtesy of exploitation maven Sam Katzman. Based on a not-so-semi-autobiographical book by the notorious Caryl Chessman, the movie stars William Campbell as degenerate career criminal "Whit Whittier," who looks back on the blood-splattered events which led to his long-term incarceration on San Quentin's death row.

Campbell's performance is forcefully persuasive, brimming with unpredictable menace and anti-social insolence. Even his greasy, sky-high pompadour complete with spit curl is unnerving -- a tousled, defiant 'eff you' to post-war conformity.

Also starring Campbell's real-life kid brother R. Wright Campbell -- who later wrote the screenplays for MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and HELL'S ANGELS ON WHEELS -- as the teenage Whit, Kathryn Grant, cast against type as an uber-slutty gang girl, Jonathan Haze and Joe Turkel as nattily dressed thugs, and in a brief turn, Kerwin "Sinbad" Mathews as the world's least likely hardboiled reporter.

I finished the book today and the movie is an extremely accurate adaptation of it. Caryl Chessman was a career criminal caught up in a world of hatred. He admitted to many crimes, even those he was never charged with. Witness id's are notoriously inaccurate and the initial description of the suspect was 5-5 to 5-9 and 150-170 pounds and Chessman was six feet and 195 pounds. The rapist was also said to have a foreign accent and have a scar on his face. He very well may have been executed as the wrong man. The film noir style is typical of a 1955 release. At under 90 minutes, it moves quickly with no wasted moments. The lead actor looks nothing like Chessman but he is believable as the self assured inmate and writer. I recommend reading the riveting book before watching the movie. It is a film worth seeing.

Lurid account of Caryl Chessman's criminal career at a time when his book was big on newstands. One thing for sure—there's no attempt in the film to glamorize or soft-peddle what appears to be a thoroughly nasty personality. Rarely, in fact, has any movie of the period made its leading man so dislikable. Campbell is quite good as the cocky young punk who goes from thievery to penny-ante stick-ups to ripping off organized crime to lover's lane rapist.

The movie itself is so uncompromisingly grim as to be off-putting. There's no effort at relieving the cheap criminality with character development or snatches of humor. The screenplay does have more fast car chases and shenanigans than a NASCAR rally, while some are darn near hair-raising. Look early on for a young Kathryn Grant and before she started up the Hollywood ladder. All in all, the movie's little more than a cheap exploitation flick with few redeeming features outside of being fast-paced.

(In passing-- Chessman's appeals luck finally ran out in May, 1960, but not before attracting support from a number of celebrities ,e.g. Steve Allen, impressed by Chessman's literary talents. Then too as incorrigible as he was, he hadn't killed anyone. Nonetheless, I don't recall much public concern when he finally got a whiff of San Quentin's lethal fumes.)

William Campbell plays it snarky, sneaky, cocky and blocky enough to be a young James Cagney in a homage of those 1930's gangster biopics...

And Campbell, as real life death row inmate/author Caryl Chessman changed to fictional Whit Whittier, has the perfect casting in his younger reckless youth in actual little brother Robert Campbell in some of the best scenes, setting up a life of adult crime with teenage car theft in that there's full-lipped hot rod moll Kathryn Grant with short yet important screen time, eventually switching dame-gears to Marian Carr, waiting for her grown-up career criminal Whittier to come home.

The action packed bravado flows nicely from one set of scores to the next, and eventually includes future star Vince Edwards as one of the many partners-in-crime (also including Joe Turkel, Jonathan Haze and Paul Dubov)...

Sometimes b-movie director Fred F. Sears rushes through what should be more fleshed-out, like a stint at Folsom using stock footage, but what the future death rower does on the outside (narrated as he speaks to the warden) is what matters...

Too bad the 11th hour enigmatically-shot sequences of a Lover's Lane Killer, who may or may not be our likeable yet completely no-good lowlife, only adds to the now oblivious agenda to get the real guy (who'd die five years later in 1960) from the gas chamber...

Basically, CELL 2455, DEATH ROW was a better action-packed Film Noir than biopic melodrama.

This is for me the best movie from director Fred S sears, besides EARTH VS FLYING SAUCERS, which was famous more for Ray Harryhausen special effects than for Sears' skills as a director. This ambitious but so simple story is a terrific story, which was produced five years before Caryl Chessman's execution. It is riveting, gripping, so well made that I would have never bet a dime on Fred S sears as the maker of this one. It is not a crime film but a true, authentic drama. Gritty, engrossing, and also a true good performance - probably the best - from William Campbell, mostly known as villains in supporting characters. Please notice that it was not produced by Sam Katzman but Wallace mac Donald. Under the infamous Katzman's supervision, I am sure it would have been different...And not in better but rather in worse, and not worth !!!!