Deathwatch

Deathwatch (1966)

Homosexual outlaws on a rampage!

Based on a play by Jean Genet, a small-time thief battles with his gay cellmate over a third illiterate, muscular convict.

Date of release
1966-03-02
TMDB
4.5 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 28m
Genres
Drama
Director
Vic Morrow

Casting

Interesting facts

Deathwatch is a 1965 American independent drama film directed by Vic Morrow. It is an adaptation of the 1949 French play Haute Surveillance by Jean Genet.

Production

Vic Morrow had played Lefranc in the first New York production of Deathwatch in 1958. The three actors Leonard Nimoy, Paul Mazursky, and Michael Forest had already staged a version of the play in 1959.

Vic Morrow announced he wanted to make the film back in December 1960. He said his dream cast would include Cornel Wilde, Dan Duryea, and George Hamilton.

The New York Times printed that Vic Morrow and Leonard Nimoy had acquired the movie rights to the play in the issue published November 27, 1962. Leonard Nimoy obtained the rights to film Haute Surveillance directly from Genet, though Genet had no further involvement with the project.

Morrow and his then-wife Barbara Turner adapted the screenplay. Part of Deathwatch was shot in the nineteenth-century Nevada State Prison, where the actors lived for six months to prepare for their roles. Some of the inmates took part in the production.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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