Cella 2455 braccio della morte

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 ****

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.

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.

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.)

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.