Upon its release,
No Way Out (1950) was a revolutionary film in many ways. It starred a Black actor, Sidney Poitier, as a medical doctor, this at a time when Black professionals were rarely seen in American movies. It featured an unrelenting portrayal of racism in the form of the character Ray Biddle (played by Richard Widmark). It was also a forerunner of the wave of progressive films of the Fifties, such as
The Ring (1952),
Salt of the Earth (1954), and
The Defiant Ones (1958). Indeed,
No Way Out (1950) would even prove controversial upon its initial release.
No Way Out centred on Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier), the first African American doctor at a big city hospital. Dr. Brooks's job becomes all the more difficult when two brothers, Ray and Johnny Biddle (Richard Widmark and Dick Paxton) are brought to the hospital for gunshot wounds following an attempted robbery. When Johnny dies, Ray blames Dr. Brooks for his brother's death. To make matters worse, Ray is virulently racist.
No Way Out originated with an original story by screenwriter Lesser Samuels. According to a July 30 1950
New York Times article, Mr. Samuels had wanted to address the "cancerous results of hatred." He had not originally planned to write about a Black doctor until he learned about the struggles faced by African American physicians from colleagues of his daughter's fiancé, who was a doctor himself. Lesser Samuels's original story would attract the interest of 20th Century Fox, although the studio's public relations counsel Jason Joy expressed concern over "the violence which this story contains and the fear that might be raised in some quarters that it might touch off violence in their sections of the country." Despite Jason Joy's concerns, 20th Century Fox bought Lesser Samuels's story in January 1949.
After being purchased by 20th Century Fox, screenwriter Philip Yordan made various recommendations, many of which would make their way into the completed movie. Among these was taking the audience into the home of Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier), stating in a memo, "We will see real Negroes and how they live, as human beings. He will have a real brother, a real sister, a real father and mother--all human beings." The script of
No Way Out as of February 1949 would have had Luther being killed. While Darryl F. Zanuck originally liked this ending, by April 1949 he had changed his mind, saying in a memo that the ending as it was left him with a "...feeling of utter futility. Luther, a wonderful character, is hideously slaughtered. If his death resulted in something, if something were accomplished either characterwise or otherwise, it would be different and I would accept it."
Darryl F. Zanuck assigned the now legendary director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz, fresh from an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay for
A Letter to Three Wives (1949), to direct
No Way Out. Mr. Mankiewicz would reshape the script and by June 1949 he had a preliminary script that Darryl F. Zanuck approved in August 1949.
For the all-important role of Luther Brooks, casting director William Gordon auditioned over one hundred actors from Hollywood, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, and New York City. Sidney Poitier learned of the screen tests for Dr. Brooks from fellow actor, Thompson Brown. Mr. Poitier was already committed to a lead role in the Broadway production
Lost in the Stars (which was a musical adaptation of
Cry the Beloved Country), but he did a screen test for
No Way Out anyway, reasoning that he would be establishing contacts. Only 22 years old at the time, Sidney Poitier lied about his age as a 22 year-old would be too young to play a doctor.
As it turned out, Joseph L. Mankiewicz narrowed the field down to six actors, Sidney Poitier among them. It was not just Joseph L. Mankiewicz who had been impressed by Sidney Poitier's screen test, but Darryl F. Zanuck as well. He had to return to 20th Century Fox to shoot a longer screen test, and he was also interviewed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Ultimately, Mr. Mankiewicz offered Sidney Poitier the role of Luther Books, which the actor promptly turned down as he was already committed to
Lost in the Stars.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz was determined that Sidney Poitier would play Luther, and as a result he offered Sidney Poitier ten times the pay that he would receive on Broadway in
Lost in the Stars. Ultimately, Sidney Poitier's agent and Joseph L. Mankiewicz were able to get Mr. Poitier out of
Lost in the Stars. Cast opposite Sidney Poitier was Richard Widmark as racist Ray Biddle. Mr. Widmark was well-known for his villainous roles in such films as
Kiss of Death (1947),
The Street with No Name (1948), and
Road House (1948). As it turned out, Richard Widmark was as far removed from the villainous characters he played as could be. Sidney Poitier and Richard Widmark soon became friends, and Mr. Poitier later wrote in his autobiography,
This Life, "The reality of Widmark was a thousand miles from the characters he played. That shy, gentle, very private person helped me learn the ropes of filmmaking and was among the first in Hollywood, along with his lovely wife Jean, to open his home to me socially." Richard Widmark had so much respect for Sidney Poitier that after every scene in which Ray Biddle abused Dr. Luther Brooks, he apologized to Mr. Poitier.
No Way Out not only provided Sidney Poitier with his first major role, but it also marked the film debut of Ossie Davis, who played the uncredited role of John Brooks. It would also mark the first time that Ossie Davis appeared on screen alongside his wife, Ruby Dee, who played the uncredited role of Connie Brooks. Ruby Dee had already appeared in prominent roles in such films as
The Fight Never Ends (1948) and
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). The film also featured Linda Darnell as Edie, Johnny Biddle's widow, and Stephen McNally as the chief resident and Dr. Brooks's mentor Dr. Dan Wharton.
As mentioned earlier,
No Way Out proved controversial upon its initial release. The National Legion of Decency gave
No Way Out a "C" rating, indicating they thought the film was morally objectionable. Captain Harry Fullmer of the Chicago Police Department held up a permit for exhibiting the movie and even recommended to Police Commissioner John Prendegast that
No Way Out be banned. As a result, Walter White, Executive Secretary of the NAACP, sent a telegram to then Chicago Mayor Martin D. Kennelly, objecting to
No Way Out possibly being banned in Chicago. Despite this, Commissioner Prendegast went ahead with the ban. Mayor Kennelly lifted the ban after the film was screened by a special committee of the Cook County Crime Prevention Bureau, who suggested to the mayor that the band be lifted. Mayor Kennelly lifted the ban on
No Way Out after three to four minutes of the film were cut.
Chicago would not be the only place that would prove troublesome for
No Way Out. The movie would be only shown with cuts in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. In Massachusetts there was a ban on
No Way Out being exhibited on Sunday. As to the South, 20th Century Fox did not even bother to release
No Way Out in much of the region. The censorship of
No Way Out did not go unanswered, as the NAACP protested the various cuts to the film and outright bans.
No Way Out would receive mixed reviews upon its release. It received a positive review in the
Motion Picture Herald, in which it was noted, "The screen has tackled the problem of race prejudice in various ways ever since Hollywood acquired a social conscience, but rarely has it come to grips with the whole tragic question quite so dramatically and forcefully as in this picture." Thomas M. Pryor of
The New York Times wrote
in his review, "Although its aim is not always as good as its intentions,
No Way Out is a harsh, outspoken picture with implications that will keep you thinking about it long after leaving the theatre. That makes
No Way Out an important picture." The review in
Daily Variety was largely negative, referring to it as "tedious with words."
Fortnight claimed in their review that
No Way Out had a "...lack of genuine feeling and insight into the motives of the very people it pretends to champion."
No Way Out is not a perfect film. To a large degree Dr. Luther Brooks is an early example of the stereotype known as the "ebony saint," a dignified, but non-threatening and non-sexual Black man. In his book
Toms, Coons, Mulattos, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, film historian Donald Bogle described Dr. Luther Brooks as "the perfect dream for white liberals to have [over] for lunch or dinner." Dr. Wharton's maid Gladys (played by Amanda Randolph) seems a bit reminiscent of the Mammy stereotype, even expressing the thought that she enjoys caring for Dr.. Wharton. As Donald Bogle notes in
Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers, "As the faithful servant to a liberal white doctor, Amanda Randolph was comforting and motherly, ever ready with a smile and nurturing warm advice for the white characters around her."
That having been said, in other ways
No Way Out was very progressive for its time. Indeed, the very fact that it features a Black doctor in a major role made it revolutionary. In his book
Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers by Donald Bogle, Mr. Bogle wrote, "Poitier's character, Luther, represents the voice of reason. For later generations, Poitier's character in
No Way Out (and other films) might appear too noble and idealized. But for moviegoers at the time he appeared to be the model actor just as the civil rights movement was about to take off.".
No Way Out was also innovative in its portrayal of racial violence. If not the first movies to portray racial unrest, it was certainly one of the earliest. Indeed, it was because of the race riot in the film that
No Way Out proved controversial in much of the country.
No Way Out may not be a perfect film, but it is certainly a groundbreaking one. And it is certainly a powerful film as well. It is a movie that was unapologetic in its portrayal of the difficulties faced by Black doctors, and in its portrayal of race relations in the United States in the late Forties and early Fifties.
