Les assassins meurent aussi

This independent film production is one of the grimmest motion pictures you'll ever see. I'm not surprised that in 1955 no major studio would have made Crashout, especially without no real rooting interest in any good guy.

Six convicts are all that remain unapprehended after a giant Crashout of a prison break. The six and they're all different in their own ways are William Bendix, Arthur Kennedy, Gene Evans, Luther Adler, William Talman, and Marshall Thompson. The film is their story and what happens to each of them fleeing the law.

Bendix is wounded, but the rest have reason to keep him alive because he knows where $180,000.00 in buried loot is from his last job. They even get him a doctor and later kill Dr. Percy Helton.

Some other people get in their way and one by one they're killed by the law or by each other. Bendix the toughest and meanest of the bunch is the most memorable, followed by Arthur Kennedy who was not a lifer like the others but just wanted a taste of freedom and William Talman who is a religious fanatic. Not exactly the crowd I'd choose to hang with, but these guys have drawn each other in life's game of chance.

Bendix was the box office draw here. In films he was an excellent character player, but on radio and television he was a star and was still doing and starring in The Life Of Riley on television when Crashout was made. He's also one of my favorites and those of you discovering William Bendix for the first time see this and then see an episode of The Life Of Riley. You can't get more apart than lovable, bumbling Chester Riley and the escaped convict in Crashout. You'll barely believe it's the same actor.

Crashout is an unforgettable noir film of the Fifties, don't miss it if it is broadcast.

What an overlooked gem! What a find! This convicts-on-the-run thriller is outstanding. Top-drawer performances led by William Bendix and Arthur Kennedy leave their dirty thumb prints all over this film. Explicitly violent for its time, film noir doesn't get much darker than this. "Crashout" is on the same level as "Kiss Me Deadly", "The Asphalt Jungle" and "The Killing". This masterful story is an absolute must-see for any crime-drama and/or film noir buff. A guaranteed wild ride.

This prison break movie wastes no time in getting down to business. "Crashout" is a B-Movie directed by Lewis R. Foster and it's just the kind of B-Movie the American cinema did beautifully in the fifties and it's got a terrific cast, (Arthur Kennedy, William Bendix, Luther Adler, Marshall Thompson, Gene Evans and William Tallman), all playing escaped convicts. Kennedy and Adler take the acting honours but they are all excellent and it's got a great plot involving stolen loot and dishonour amongst thieves. If it feels at times like an extended episode of a TV series, it's still a good one that scores points in every department. Maybe not an undiscovered gem but a pleasure nevertheless.

Crashout is directed by Lewis R. Foster, who also co-adapts the screenplay with Hal E. Chester. It stars William Bendix, Arthur Kennedy, Luther Adler, William Talman, Gene Evans and Christopher Olsen. Music is by Leith Stevens and cinematography by Russell Metty.

Six convicts crashout of prison and embark on a life and death struggle to reach safety…

As tough as hobnail boots, Crashout is right there in the upper echelons of convict based film noir. There's not exactly anything new here on formula terms, the cons are angry macho men, each one has their own hang ups, and each one has their respective flaws. Be it religious maniac, fantasist, psychopath or the one who doesn't belong in this company, it's a roll call of familiar convict types. Yet the performances are so strong, the tension so tight, all worries about familiarity breeding contempt disappears the moment the men hide out in a disused mine. For here we learn about their psychological make-ups, and quickly buy into the fractured dynamic that we know is going to result in a machismo fuelled implosion.

The warden said dead or alive and he didn't say which.

Narrative strength comes by way of the fact the leader of the group, Van Morgan Duff (Bendix), is very injured and needs medical help. An out and out cold blooded brute, Duff wisely strikes a deal to split a pot load of hidden loot with the group, thus ensuring he gets to stay alive and in charge! The men then traverse the lands and encounter civilians, which in turn throws up some potent and tense filled scenarios. Murder and violence does follow, the film pretty brutal for the time, while the question of if anyone survives till the end looms large throughout.

You can take the con out of the jail, but you can't take the jail out of the con.

Lewis and Metty do a fine job of cloaking the picture with rugged toughness. Often the camera is up close and personal to reveal the grime, blood or sweat that oozes from the men. Scenes of the guys breaking bottles to use as weapons, a hand caked with hot candle wax, or Duff laid down in the dirt with ants crawling over him, it's all relevant to making these cons as tough as they come. We are not meant to like them, to root for them, they are outcasts of society and we know it. Visually it scores best when in the claustrophobic confines of the cave, and with an extended night sequence at Dexter rail station that's bathed in shadows and murky lights.

Pulsing with fatalism and dripping with dread, Crashout is highly recommended to those after a tough cons on the lam film noir. 8.5/10

A curiously compelling little movie, Crashout is a throwback to the tough prison-escape movies of the 30's. Fortunately, the producers had the good sense to hire an expert cast of B-movie veterans to enliven an otherwise shopworn plot. Writer-producer Hal Chester and director- writer Lewis Foster provide each convict with a distinct personality that holds viewer interest as tensions mount, while the audience anticipates how each character will be brought to justice. Standouts in the cast are the always subtle Arthur Kennedy, an engagingly ambivalent Marshall Thompson, and William Tallman doing his scary psycho bit, this time as a knife-throwing religious fanatic. Then there's that raspy little gnome Percy Helton, lending his unique brand of character color. And in a poignant bit part, cult favorite Gloria Talbott as the prospect of a normal life for the ill-fated Thompson. The scenes in the dingy roadhouse are well done, along with an appropriately ironical ending. Though you've seen it all before, there are many nice touches that lift this otherwise generous slice of thick-ear beyond the merely routine.