Riot (1969 film)

Riot
Directed by	Buzz Kulik
Written by	James Poe
Produced by	William Castle
Starring	Gene Hackman Jim Brown Mike Kellin Gerald S. O'Loughlin Ben Carruthers Clifford David Bill Walker Jerry Thompson Ricky Summers Mr. Gerri John Neiderhauser Frank Eyman
Cinematography	Robert B. Hauser
Music by	Krzysztof Komeda
Production company	William Castle Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	1969 (1969)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.3 million (US/ Canada rentals)

Riot is a 1969 American drama film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Gene Hackman and Jim Brown.

Plot

While the warden (real-life warden Frank A. Eyman) of a state prison is away, the isolation block erupts and 35 of the most violent criminals (led by Gene Hackman) stage a riot and take over their portion of the prison. Cully Briston (Jim Brown), in for five years and awaiting his eventual parole, wants no part of the riot. He impulsively gets involved, defending a prison guard and protecting him from the maniacs in the block.

Cast

• Jim Brown as Cully Briston
• Gene Hackman as Red Fraker
• Mike Kellin as Bugsy
• Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Grossman
• Ben Carruthers as Surefoot
• Clifford David as Mary Sheldon

Production

The film is based on a non-fiction novel by Frank Elli, which chronicled an actual riot that took place in an Arizona prison.

In addition to using real-life warden Frank A. Eyman, the production utilized a number of real-life prisoners as extras.

The film was partially shot at the Yuma Territorial Prison.

Release

The film was given a theatrical release in the United States by Paramount Pictures in 1969.

The film was given a belated release on VHS by Paramount Home Video in 1993.

The film was sub-licensed to Olive Films by Paramount and released on DVD by in 2010.

See also

• List of American films of 1969

Reviews

• Prison Movies review

External links

• Riot at IMDb
• Riot at AllMovie
• Riot at Rotten Tomatoes