Directed by:
Peter GlenvilleScreenplay:
Bridget BolandCinematography:
Reginald H. WyerComposer:
Benjamin FrankelCast:
Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Wilfrid Lawson, Ronald Lewis, Percy Herbert, Raymond Huntley, Kenneth Griffith, Jeanette Sterke, Denis Shaw, Gerard Heinz (more)VOD (1)
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Banned from the Cannes and Venice Films Festivals for being anti-Communist and excoriated elsewhere as pro-Soviet propaganda, Peter Glenville's The Prisoner stoked controversy at the time of its original release and remains a complex, challenging and multifaceted exploration of faith and power. In an unnamed Eastern European capital, an iron-willed Cardinal (Alec Guinness) is arrested by state police on charges of treason. Tasked with securing a confession from him by any means necessary is a former comrade-in-arms from the anti-Nazi resistance (Jack Hawkins). Knowing the Cardinal will never fold under physical torture, the Interrogator instead sets out to destroy him mentally, breaking his spirit rather than his body. Adapted by acclaimed playwright Bridget Boland from her own stage-play and showcasing powerhouse performances by two actors at the height of their game, The Prisoner is a tense, thought-provoking and disturbing drama about the endurance of the human spirit. (Arrow Academy)
(more)Cast
Alec Guinness
UK
Best movies:
Jack Hawkins
UK
Best movies:
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Wilfrid Lawson
UK
Best movies:
Becket (1964)
Room at the Top (1959)
Pygmalion (1938)
Ronald Lewis
UK
Best movies:
Scream of Fear (1961)
Billy Budd (1962)
Friends (1971)
Percy Herbert
UK
Best movies:
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Becket (1964)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Raymond Huntley
UK
Best movies:
Room at the Top (1959)
Breathless (1960)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Kenneth Griffith
UK
Best movies:
Tiger Bay (1959)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Shaka Zulu (1986) (series)
Jeanette Sterke
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
My Brother Tom (1986) (TV movie)
Lust for Life (1956)
The Nun's Story (1959)
Denis Shaw
UK
Best movies:
The Deadly Affair (1967)
The Weapon (1956)
The Colditz Story (1955)
Gerard Heinz
German Empire
Best movies:
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
The Great Manhunt (1950)
The Fallen Idol (1948)
Mark Dignam
UK
Best movies:
The Last Place on Earth (1985) (series)
The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
Macbeth (1948)
Richard Leech
Ireland
Best movies:
Gandhi (1982)
Florence Nightingale (1985) (TV movie)
The Dam Busters (1955)
Oscar Quitak
UK
Best movies:
Holocaust (1978) (series)
Brazil (1985)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)