The Puerto Rican playwright Miguel Pinero (no relation to the English playwright Sir Arthur Wing Pinero) was originally a career criminal who turned his life around while serving an armed-robbery sentence in Sing Sing. In an inmates' playwriting workshop, Pinero wrote the brilliant drama "Short Eyes" which deservedly was produced on Broadway. A talented actor as well as a gifted writer, Pinero worked on other projects as well before dying tragically young of complications from his early years of drugs abuse.
The movie version of "Short Eyes" was filmed in New York City's 19th-century prison the Tombs (NOT Rikers Island), which was closed at the time of the film's production but has since then been re-opened for business. Many of the extras and bit players in this film are actual inmates who were serving minimum-security sentences in the NYC prison system while this movie was made.
As one might expect, this movie's depiction of prison life is jarringly accurate ... as is the foul language. All those prison movies of the 1940s featured Cagney or Bogart in an all-white prison population. In "Short Eyes", we see a prison population of blacks and hispanics (and black prison guards) in which white inmates (all working-class) are the racial minority. The inmates live in racially-divided conclaves. A black prisoner named Omar has converted to Islam, and he harangues the other blacks for being slaves to the white man. The leader of the white inmates is "Longshoe" Charlie Murphy (a standout performance by actor Joseph Carberry). The guards crack down on violence, but occasionally a guard will violate regulations and allow two inmates to brawl for a few minutes so that all the inmates will blow off some aggression which might otherwise lead to a riot.
The subject of prison sex is dealt with tactfully in a brief shower scene. A young virginal hispanic inmate has been given the unwanted nickname Cupcakes. When he tries to take a shower, a predatory older inmate named Paco tries to seduce Cupcakes. What happens next ... or rather what DOESN'T happen ... makes this the least realistic scene in the film.
The other outlet for the prisoners is music. We see Tex-Mex singer Freddy Fender as a Mexican inmate, leading his cellblock neighbours in a jam session. Curtis Mayfield also does double duty as an actor/musician here. There's a weird dance number which (unlike anything in 'Jailhouse Rock') is very plausible in this cellblock context.
The prisoners are tolerant of one another's crimes: murderers, rapists and thieves are all accepted here. Now a new prisoner arrives: a middle-class white man named Clark (brilliantly played by Bruce Davison). Figuring this first-timer is here for a white-collar crime, Longshoe tells Clark the basics of prison routine. But then a guard reveals that Clark is a "short eyes": he's been charged with molesting a child. This is the one crime that these hardened inmates won't tolerate. Clark is now a pariah, and there's a harrowing scene in which the other inmates break down his dignity ... stealing his cigarettes and bullying him into surrendering the gold chain his mother gave him. Clark has only been charged with a crime, not convicted, but all the inmates are convinced he's guilty. One of the warders has a daughter who was molested ... not by Clark, but the guard is perfectly willing to scapegoat Clark for another man's crime.
There's a riveting scene between Davison and Jose Perez as a trusty named Juan, who questions Clark about his guilt. Clark admits that he's a child molester, but he swears that he can't remember whether or not he committed the specific assault for which he's been arrested. Juan is sceptical about this. In a stark monologue, Clark describes one of his assaults on an underage girl.
SPOILERS COMING RIGHT NOW. Because the white prisoners are outnumbered and out-toughed, Longshoe is under pressure to prove he's as hard as the leaders of the black and hispanic groups. While the other prisoners cheer him on, Longshoe grabs a prison knife (a razor blade with a toothbrush handle) and he slits Clark's throat. Before the guards arrive, the knife is whisked away... to be kept handy for other occasions. In an epilogue, a warder informs the inmates that an investigation has cleared Clark: he didn't commit the crime for which he was arrested. The hard faces of the inmates show they don't care: Clark was a "short eyes", and that's the one unpardonable crime in this place.
"Short Eyes" is a taut and brilliant movie, with only a couple of scenes that don't quite convince. I'll rate this movie 9 out of 10.
The movie version of "Short Eyes" was filmed in New York City's 19th-century prison the Tombs (NOT Rikers Island), which was closed at the time of the film's production but has since then been re-opened for business. Many of the extras and bit players in this film are actual inmates who were serving minimum-security sentences in the NYC prison system while this movie was made.
As one might expect, this movie's depiction of prison life is jarringly accurate ... as is the foul language. All those prison movies of the 1940s featured Cagney or Bogart in an all-white prison population. In "Short Eyes", we see a prison population of blacks and hispanics (and black prison guards) in which white inmates (all working-class) are the racial minority. The inmates live in racially-divided conclaves. A black prisoner named Omar has converted to Islam, and he harangues the other blacks for being slaves to the white man. The leader of the white inmates is "Longshoe" Charlie Murphy (a standout performance by actor Joseph Carberry). The guards crack down on violence, but occasionally a guard will violate regulations and allow two inmates to brawl for a few minutes so that all the inmates will blow off some aggression which might otherwise lead to a riot.
The subject of prison sex is dealt with tactfully in a brief shower scene. A young virginal hispanic inmate has been given the unwanted nickname Cupcakes. When he tries to take a shower, a predatory older inmate named Paco tries to seduce Cupcakes. What happens next ... or rather what DOESN'T happen ... makes this the least realistic scene in the film.
The other outlet for the prisoners is music. We see Tex-Mex singer Freddy Fender as a Mexican inmate, leading his cellblock neighbours in a jam session. Curtis Mayfield also does double duty as an actor/musician here. There's a weird dance number which (unlike anything in 'Jailhouse Rock') is very plausible in this cellblock context.
The prisoners are tolerant of one another's crimes: murderers, rapists and thieves are all accepted here. Now a new prisoner arrives: a middle-class white man named Clark (brilliantly played by Bruce Davison). Figuring this first-timer is here for a white-collar crime, Longshoe tells Clark the basics of prison routine. But then a guard reveals that Clark is a "short eyes": he's been charged with molesting a child. This is the one crime that these hardened inmates won't tolerate. Clark is now a pariah, and there's a harrowing scene in which the other inmates break down his dignity ... stealing his cigarettes and bullying him into surrendering the gold chain his mother gave him. Clark has only been charged with a crime, not convicted, but all the inmates are convinced he's guilty. One of the warders has a daughter who was molested ... not by Clark, but the guard is perfectly willing to scapegoat Clark for another man's crime.
There's a riveting scene between Davison and Jose Perez as a trusty named Juan, who questions Clark about his guilt. Clark admits that he's a child molester, but he swears that he can't remember whether or not he committed the specific assault for which he's been arrested. Juan is sceptical about this. In a stark monologue, Clark describes one of his assaults on an underage girl.
SPOILERS COMING RIGHT NOW. Because the white prisoners are outnumbered and out-toughed, Longshoe is under pressure to prove he's as hard as the leaders of the black and hispanic groups. While the other prisoners cheer him on, Longshoe grabs a prison knife (a razor blade with a toothbrush handle) and he slits Clark's throat. Before the guards arrive, the knife is whisked away... to be kept handy for other occasions. In an epilogue, a warder informs the inmates that an investigation has cleared Clark: he didn't commit the crime for which he was arrested. The hard faces of the inmates show they don't care: Clark was a "short eyes", and that's the one unpardonable crime in this place.
"Short Eyes" is a taut and brilliant movie, with only a couple of scenes that don't quite convince. I'll rate this movie 9 out of 10.