Film Forum

U.S., 1977
Directed by Robert M. Young
Based on the play by Miguel Piñero
With Bruce Davison, Miguel Piñero, Luis Guzmán
Approx. 100 min. 35mm. 

“Filmed entirely inside of “the Tombs”, the deteriorating Manhattan house of detention for men, Piñero's work gives us a definitive glimpse of the hierarchies of power among men rendered powerless by society. Into this cauldron of racial and sexual tension, where blacks, Puerto Ricans, and whites uneasily coexist, comes Clark Davis, who will prove the catalyst in a harrowing tale of group violence. Davis is a ‘short eyes,’ prison argot for a child molester; his crime is the one unforgivable offense in the eyes of the cons.” – David Ansen, Newsweek

35mm print courtesy the Academy Film Archive.

Presented with support from the Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film

Reviews

“The most emotionally accurate—and so the most frightening—movie about American prisons ever made.”
  – Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

“Remarkably effective film making.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times

“Miguel Piñero's slice-of-prison-life stage play gets slick and conscientious treatment from director Robert M. Young.”
– Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

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