Riot in Cell Block 11
film by Siegel [1954]
Riot in Cell Block 11, American low-budget crime film, released in 1954, that offers a critical look at the prison system in the United States. It was inspired by a real-life Hollywood incident. A group of convicts—led by James Dunn (played by Neville Brand) and Crazy Mike Carnie (Leo Gordon)—stage a riot and take hostages, demanding various prison reforms. Although the sympathetic warden (Emile Meyer) agrees with their complaints, politicians refuse to support the changes. As riots are threatened elsewhere in the prison, the unstable Carnie encourages further violence, which both Dunn and the warden struggle to prevent. The plot ...(100 of 235 words)