Convicts 4

I've seen quite a few prison movies and this one is a bit different. First off, it's based on a real person. Second, because it's real, it lacks the glamor or sadism of prison films like "Brute Force" or "The Shawshank Redemption". And, unlike the awful "Birdman of Alcatraz" (which completely sanitized a truly evil man), this one sticks pretty close to the facts.

The film begins with John Resko (Ben Gazzara) on death row and in a flashback scene, you learn how he got there. However, shortly before his execution, his sentence is commuted to life in prison and the rest of the film concerns his attempt to cope with prison life. However, unlike the expected outcome (being taken out in a pine box), Resko, with the help of a caring prison guard, finds a means of escape--but not at all the one he expected.

There's a lot more to the film than my brief description. However, it is NOT an action-packed film or one that shows prison being hellish--just boring and a waste of life. It does a good job of this. But what's really neat are the performances. Gazzara was a heck of a good actor and you wonder if he would have been a big star had he possessed Hollywood good looks. But it's not just him--the rest of the cast is quite good. A particular standout is Sammy Davis, but Ray Walston (in a wacky role) and Stuart Whitman are also quite good. Realistic and fascinating...and a bit slow. But this slowness I really appreciated, as the film didn't change facts to make for a non-stop action or suspenseful film--just reality.

I jut watched this on TCM I gave it a shot because Vincent Price is 4th billed out of an amazing cast of old character actors. Well he shows up 92 minutes in! His screen time is exactly 1 minute haha. So if you want to see Vinnie go look elsewhere.

I didn't like Ben Gazzara before and i don't like him now. He's not very likable, his acting is wooden, and he was born looking 50. He's suppose to be a young kid of like 19 at the beginning of this movie lol. Also when i looked up the facts this movie is just all Hollywood fantasy. John Resko didn't go out on Christmas eve to get his daughter a teddy bear....duh. He went to rob a store with a fellow hood and killed a man. He eventually learns to kind of paint...so what? I don't recommend this boring movie.

And it was the cast in that interested me into watching Convicts 4 in the first place. And while the film is well made with a realistic prison setting, it was the acting that helped to make the film more than it actually was for me. Ben Gazzara is terrific as is Sammy Davis Jnr. Stuart Whitman is also very good and well-meaning, and Ray Walston looks as though he is having a whale of a time. Rod Steiger and Vincent Price's performances are more like cameos, but they are memorable, particularly Price in a role that had shades of the sort of roles he excelled in. Timothy Carey is the only one who didn't really register with me, doesn't help that here his role is there but little is done with it to make it stand out. Aside from the production values and the acting, I was left unengaged on the whole. Convicts 4(not sure if I know the significance of the title) is not a terrible film, but at the same time it isn't something I recommend. The film as a whole is rather stagy with a fair bit of talk in the dialogue(at times it felt like too much), at the same time it is rather ordinary and slow-moving, and I don't think there was a moment despite the actors that I fully invested in any of the characters. The direction is competent, but doesn't have anything that stands out as particularly unique or memorable. Overall, has interest value and I cannot deny that the acting is very good but it didn't really engage me in other areas and as an overall film. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Ben Gazzara does a very good job as artist/prisoner John Resko in "Convicts 4," based on Resko's autobiography. Desperate to get his daughter a teddy bear for Christmas, Resko attempts to rob a store and ends up shooting and killing the owner. He is given the death penalty, but his sentence is later commuted to life. He is moved to another prison, where he meets a Principal of the prison (Stuart Whitman) who encourages his art talent, stating that it may be the key to his rehabilitation and finally, freedom from prison.

Sammy Davis, Jr., Ray Walston, Broderick Crawford, and Rod Steiger are featured in the film, so it's an excellent cast. The film comes off as low-budget (well, it is based in a prison), a little slow, and a little ordinary. The actors are better than the script.

Worth it for the performances.

Given the actors in this movie, you would expect something memorable or at least above average. The actors do a great job with a sub-par script. The movie drags, which would make sense for a prison flick, if it dragged with a purpose; instead it just seems to drag for its own sake without any thought given to the use of time in the movie to make a point about prison life. I can't think of a movie with such a capable cast, heck memorable cast that was so mediocre. The actors made the movie, a lesser cast would have given us a mess of a movie. Too bad the direction and script are so poor, this movie could have really been something. Watch closely, there is a major actor every few minutes; a star that carried their own movies later. The movie also suffers from the score, when its not sappy it is jazz. Either way, the score does not support the movie very well, and ofttimes makes the movie even worse. The score seems like a collection of tunes that someone liked, it sure was not made to support the movie. I don't know what the director and producer were thinking when they made this movie, maybe there was no director and they just slapped something together after shooting a bunch of scenes. See it once just to see so many memorable actors in a single movie. But once is plenty. It seems like the director was trying to take the Plan 9 From Outer Space worst movie ever award; but this goal was thwarted by the cast. Good performances, lousy film.