Virginia City (1940)

Unlike today's modern actors and actresses who have their own production companies and production deals with all the major studios, actors and actresses from the Golden Age of Cinema (1930 thru the late 1950s) were under contract to all the major studios. Robert Mitchum was under contract to RKO Pictures. Tyrone Power and Marilyn Monroe were under contract to 20th Century Fox.  Clark Gable and Ava Gardner were under contract to Metro Goldwyn Mayer aka MGM.  In my estimation, the studio that had the best crop of actors under contract was Warner Brothers.  Humprey Bogart, James Cagney, and Erroll Flynn all were with Warner Brothers. 

Those three actors would headline and carry their own movies to great success for Warner Brothers. James Cagney in YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942). Erroll Flynn in CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1939). Humphrey Bogart in CASABLANCA (1942) and THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE (1948). Coincidentally, all of those films except one were directed by one of Warner's best directors under contract Michael Curtiz (TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE was directed by John Huston). Occasionally, the three Warner stars would even appear in a film together (although Cagney and Flynn never did).  Cagney and Bogart in Curtiz's ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938) and Raoul Walsh's THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939).  Or Flynn and Bogart in a western adventure (directed by Curtiz) that I had not seen before with a good supporting cast called VIRGINIA CITY (1940). 

One of the many intriguing aspects of VIRGINIA CITY is that it's the 2nd and last western that Bogart would appear in. Previously, he played bad guy Whip McCord in Lloyd Bacon's THE OKLAHOMA KID (1939) which also starred James Cagney.  Bogart was just on the cusp of coming out under the shadow of Cagney and Flynn to become a major star.  Director Curtiz had just made the beautiful, boisterous Technicolor western DODGE CITY (also 1939) with Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, and Ann Sheridan. Reports are that VIRGINIA CITY was going to be a sequel to DODGE CITY as Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland discuss heading to Virginia City at the end of DODGE CITY. VIRGINIA CITY has the same director and writer and many of the same actors from DODGE CITY (although DeHavilland dropped out and Miriam Hopkins took over her role). Somewhere along the creative process different characters were developed and a different plot emerged. VIRGINIA CITY is shot in black and white not color. It's loaded with Civil War intrigue, double and triple crosses, and a Confederate plot to steal $5 million in gold from the raucous, pro-Union mining town of Virgina City, Nevada to help the struggling Confederate army purchase weapons and continue fighting the war. 

With an original screenplay by Robert Buckner (and an uncredited Howard Koch) and directed by the versatile Michael Curtiz, VIRGINIA CITY begins in December 1864 as the Civil War rages and the South struggles to keep up the fight. Confederate spy (and later we learn saloon singer) Julie Hayne (Miriam Hopkins) travels from Virginia City, Nevada to Richmond, Virginia to suggest a plan to her former beau Captain Vance Irby (Randolph Scott). Vance is currently commander of Libby Prison (nicknamed "the Devil's Warehouse") holding Union prisoners. Trying to escape from the prison are Union intelligence officers Captain Kerry Bradford (Erroll Flynn), Olaf "Moosehead" Swenson (Alan Hale), and Marblehead (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams). Vance discovers the secret tunnel the men are burrowing to escape (he's actually known about it since the three were incarcerated). He confronts the men, wishes them well in their efforts, and warns them they will never escape. Vance returns to his office where Julia is waiting. She knows the South is losing the war. She proposes Vance and his men come to Virginia City and take $5 million in gold from the mines and bring it back to Richmond to fund the Confederate army. Vance introduces Julia to Confederate President Jefferson Davis (Charles Middleton) and his cabinet who greenlight her plan. 

As Vance and Julia gaze out at the Richmond night skyline, a huge explosion in the distance at the prison ruins their moment. Bradford and his cohorts have used makeshift explosives to escape. After eluding their pursuers, Bradford and friends make it to General George Meade's Union headquarters at Seven Pines to report Confederate spies are headed to Virginia City to steal gold to fund the Rebels. Southern sympathizers own the Comstock mines. Meade orders them to catch the Rebel infiltrators and stop the gold heist. Bradford, Moosehead, and Marblehead catch a stagecoach to Virginia City where the passengers include the beautiful Rebel spy Julia; Mr. Upjohn (Frank McHugh), an insurance salesman, and the mysterious gun salesman John Murrell (Humphrey Bogart with a thin black moustache and Mexican accent that comes and goes). Murrell tries to rob the stagecoach with his band of cutthroats following known as Murrell's Marauders. Bradford with the help of his buddies manages to thwart Murrell who escapes by leaping from the stagecoach into a river below.  Bradford begins to fall in love with Julia during the rest of the journey. When they arrive in Virginia City, Julia gives Bradford the slip with the help of young Cobby Gin (Dickie Jones). 

Bradford checks in with the Union Army garrison just outside of town. Vance is already in town making gold bars with the help of his co-conspirator Gaylord (Russell Simpson). Their plan is to take the gold bars back East via an immigrant wagon train. Bradford and the boys check out the Sazerac Saloon where Bradford finds Julia singing on stage. Moosehead and Marblehead run into Vance.  Everyone has a drink and plays nice. Vance leaves the saloon and Bradford follows him back to a barn where the wagons are ready to leave. A gunfight breaks out as the wagons haul out of town. Bradford orders all town exits to be blocked. Vance hides out at the office of Doc Cameron (Moroni Olsen), one of the mine owners and Southern sympathizers.  Murrell shows up at Cameron's office injured from his earlier stagecoach escape. Vance hires Murrell and his Marauders to cause a diversion so his wagons can leave Virginia City. Julia returns to her room to find Vance waiting for her. He asks Julia to lure Bradford back to her room so Vance can arrest Bradford as a Union spy and take him back to Richmond. The plan works. Vance, Julia, and a captured Bradford head out East after Murrell's diversion works. Moosehead and Marblehead find Bradford missing and ride out to find the gold train. 

Vance pays off Murrell and his Marauders just outside Virginia City. The wagon train approaches a Union Fort.  They almost pass inspection when the officers notice the wagons are weighted down.  A shoot out breaks out. Bradford escapes and young Cobby is wounded. Bradford comes across a deserted outpost where he's reunited with his buddies Moosehead and Marblehead. Bradford telegraphs Major Drewery (Douglass Dumbrille) for reinforcements. Vance splits the wagon train into two groups to make it harder to track them. A dried-up riverbed and the death of young Cobby slows Vance down. Murrell and his Marauders show up again.  Murrell wants more gold.  They attack the wagon train forcing Vance, Julia, and the group to circle the wagons.   Julia helps reload the rifles. Bradford and his men ride in to rescue them. Vance is mortally wounded. He turns over command of the wagons to Bradford before dying. Bradford won't take the gold bullion to the South, but he won't let Murrell and his Marauders have it either.  He takes the wagons into a cave and blows it up, burying the $5 million in gold. Drewery arrives with his regiment. Murrell is killed. Bradford won't reveal the whereabouts of the gold to Drewery. Bradford is court martialed and sentenced to hang.  Julia travels back to Washington D.C. and visits President Abraham Lincoln (Victor Kilian) where she requests a stay of execution for Bradford.  Will her request be granted?

VIRGINIA CITY is not as good as DODGE CITY, but it has some interesting elements to it.  Errol Flynn's Union Captain Bradford and Randolph Scott's Confederate Captain Irby are two sides of the same coin. As Bradford tells Irby at the Sazerac Saloon, "Too bad you and I had to be on opposite sides of the fence in this. I think we might have been friends." The Civil War has made these two similar men enemies.  They both love the same woman. They both strongly believe in their cause. Vance dares Bradford to try and escape Libby Prison which Bradford manages to do.  Later, Bradford dares Vance to leave Virginia City with his caravan of gold. Vance pulls it off with the help of Murrell. Bradford and Vance will team up to defeat their common enemy John Murrell (and to protect their mutual love interest Julia). 

One of the clever twists in VIRGINIA CITY is that it's a woman (and a Confederate spy no less) who devises the plot to steal the gold to keep the South's war machine funded. Saloon singer Julia Hayne (played by Miriam Hopkins) travels from Virginia City, Nevada in the West all the way to Richmond, Virginia to hatch her plan with the assistance of former lover and now Commander of Libby Prison Vance Irby. It's a dangerous mission that Julia pulls off.  Vance agrees to help with the mission. Julia is greeted like a princess by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. Even after Julia begins to fall for Union Officer Kerry Bradford (Errol Flynn), she helps Vance capture Bradford to take back to prison. Her loyalty for most of VIRGINIA CITY is to her beloved South. Julia is a strong female character, not just window dressing to Bradford and Vance.  In the end, she'll have to use her power of persuasion a second time to convince President Abraham Lincoln to save the man she loves. 

Director Curtiz was never, in my opinion, a great visual director.  Curtiz excelled in creating different worlds within a studio soundstage or backlot whether it be the markets and cafes of Casablanca in CASABLANCA or the Caribbean waterfront of Port Royal in CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935).  In VIRGINIA CITY, Curtiz ventures outdoors and into John Ford territory with some dramatic vistas and rock formations courtesy of Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona.  It opens up the film nicely as the second half of the film is the pursuit of the wagon train filled with Rebel gold. Curtiz also gives his main character Errol Flynn some buddies in Alan Hale and "Big Boy" Williams for comic relief which may have inspired Ford to cast Victor McLagen and Ward Bond (who has a quick appearance in VIRGINIA CITY as a Confederate Border Sentry) as John Wayne's sidekicks in FORT APACHE (1948). Curtiz was a master at big fight scenes.  The attack by Murrell and his Marauders on the wagon train and Bradford and his men riding to the rescue is shot and edited dramatically with lots of quick cutting and close ups of the men on horses almost colliding with one another in battle.  It reminded me of Curtiz's battle scenes in THE SEA HAWK (also made in 1940) only with pirates and swords replacing horses and guns. Until the penultimate shootout between Bradford/Vance against Murrell, the second half of VIRGINIA CITY drags a bit even with the beautiful outdoor scenery. A group of wagons bumping along toward Texas is not the sexiest image to watch for thirty minutes. 

VIRGINIA CITY may have been Warner Brothers counter punch to MGM's big budget Civil War themed epic GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) directed by Victor Fleming that had come out the year before. VIRGINIA CITY has two roguish characters similar to Clark Gable's Rhett Butler with Errol Flynn's Union Captain Kerry Bradford and Randolph Scott's Confederate Captain Vance Irby. Olivia DeHavilland dropped out of VIRGINIA CITY possibly because she was appearing in GONE WITH THE WIND. Miriam Hopkins (who was born in Savannah, Georgia) was one of numerous actresses who auditioned to play Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND. Hopkins and other would lose out to Vivian Leigh for the coveted role. Hopkins would replace DeHavilland and get her chance to play a southern lady (and Rebel spy) in VIRGINIA CITY. 

The number of films that Warner Brothers would have their contract stars make in one year was incredible. In 1940, Errol Flynn would have three films released including VIRGINIA CITY, Humphrey Bogart would appear in 5 films (he appeared in seven in 1939), and James Cagney three films. Bogart was still working his way up to leading man status.  Although he had good notices and performances in films like Archie Mayo's THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936) and Raoul Walsh's HIGH SIERRA (1940), Bogart also appeared in lesser Warner films like Vincent Sherman's horror film THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939) or supporting roles in westerns as the bad guy in THE OKLAHOMA KID and VIRGINA CITY. It's a bit of a stretch believing Bogart as Mexican outlaw John Murrell in VIRGINIA CITY. Bogart tries a Mexican accent at times only for it to disappear in other scenes. Bogart's character John Murrell was a real-life outlaw born in Virginia and raised in Tennessee. He was not Hispanic. Other historical figures that appear in VIRGINIA CITY include Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Union General George Meade, and the President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. Bogart would cement his leading man status and stardom in 1941 when he played gumshoe Sam Spade in John Huston's THE MALTESE FACLON based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. 

VIRGINIA CITY would be one of the first films where leading man Errol Flynn would be sharing screen time with another leading man type in co-star Randolph Scott. Previously, Flynn had been the solo leading star followed by his love interest (Olivia DeHavilland, Bette Davis or Miriam Hopkins) and supporting cast (Alan Hale, Patric Knowles, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Basil Rathbone, etc.). After VIRIGINA CITY, Flynn would be teamed with another young up-and-coming leading man by the name of Ronald Reagan in Curtiz's SANTE FE TRAIL (1940) and Raoul Walsh's DESPERATE JOURNEY.  With World War II kicking into high gear, Flynn's western days would give way to a series of World War II themed movies including Lewis Milestone's EDGE OF DARKNESS (1943), Walsh's NORTHERN PURSUIT (1943), and Walsh's OBJECTIVE, BURMA! (1945). Flynn's stardom would begin to fade in the mid-40's and 1950s. Randolph Scott's career would rise in the late 40s and 50s. The good-looking Scott would appear almost exclusively in westerns, making him the second most popular western star after John Wayne. Scott appeared in several well received westerns directed by Budd Boetticher including THE TALL T (1957) and DECISION AT SUNDOWN (also 1957). Scott would cap off a successful career in his final film before retiring, Sam Peckinpah's acclaimed RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962) co-starring Joel McCrea. 

I was smitten with Miriam Hopkins several years ago after watching her in the pre-code horror film DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931) with Fredric March as London prostitute Ivy Pearson. With her blonde locks and velvety voice, it's hard to miss her. In VIRGINIA CITY, Hopkins role as saloon dancer and Rebel spy Julia Hayne is a fun turn for her. She's the catalyst for the whole operation to bring the gold back to Richmond from Virginia City. Like a good spy, she's planted in a pro-Union town. She risks her life to return back East to unveil her plan to Vance. The diminuitive Hopkins did not have a prolific career or make multiple film each year like her co-stars. Her other notable movies include Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy caper TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932) with Herbert Marshall; Howard Hawks BARBARY COAST (1935) with Edward G. Robinson and Joel McCrea; and one of her last good big screen performances in William Wyler's THE HEIRESS (1949) starring Olive DeHavilland and Montgomery Clift. 

Errol Flynn had sidekicks in a good number of his films. VIRGINIA CITY provides Flynn with his old friend and co-star Alan Hale (they made 13 films together) as "Moosehead" Swenson.  For the second time, Flynn and Hale are joined by the interestingly named Guinn "Big Boy" Williams who plays Marblehead. Flynn, Hale, and Williams were first a trio in DODGE CITY. A former cowboy and rodeo rider, the sturdy Williams began in silent films like LUCKY STAR (1929) with Janet Gaynor and transitioned easily to talkies. Williams would become another key Warner Brothers player. Flynn, Hale, and Williams would make a third film together with SANTE FE TRAIL. Williams would continue to make westerns for most of his career.  He would reunite with Flynn in William Keighley's ROCKY MOUNTAIN (1950) and appeared with Randolph Scott in Roy Huggins HANGMAN'S KNOT (1952). 

Some final VIRGINIA CITY fun facts. When VIRGINIA CITY was re-released in 1956, Randolph Scott (who was now a bigger star than Errol Flynn) and Humphrey Bogart (who was an international star) got top billing instead of Flynn and Hopkins. Flynn and Hopkins names came beneath the film's title as their star power had dimmed.  VIRGINIA CITY is full of supporting actors who were also in DODGE CITY.  Frank McHugh as insurance salesman Mr. Upjohn, John Litel as a U.S. Marshal, Russell Simpson as Confederate sympathizer Gaylord, and Ward Bond as a Confederate Border guard all appeared in DODGE CITY in different character roles.  Actor Charles Middleton who had played Abraham Lincoln in several films was cast as Confederate President Jefferson Davis in VIRGINIA CITY.  Victor Kilian played Lincoln this time. 

Although not as rousing as its counterpart DODGE CITY, VIRGINIA CITY is another example of the studio system (Warner Brothers) turning out an entertaining adventure story, partly based on historical fact (a wagon train did undertake a journey in 1864 from Virginia City heading east), mostly made up with creative license. It's the only pairing of Errol Flynn with Miriam Hopkins. Humphrey Bogart, and Randolph Scott. Warner Brothers maestro Michael Curtiz was just a few years away from directing his most well-known feature film CASABLANCA which would further cement the leading man status of Humphrey Bogart. VIRGINIA CITY is a crossroads film for all these creative talents and worthy of  two hours of a movie lover's attention. 

Dead Man Walking (1995)

Most everyone has an opinion on whether they are for or against capital punishment. It's a fairly black and white choice.  In high school, I was given an assignment to write a letter to a newspaper editor based on an article I read in the local newspaper. I was stumped so I asked my father (who had lots of opinions) if he had a good topic. He mentioned an article in the current newspaper.  "What do you think about the death penalty," he asked me. I was pretty sure he was for it. A human being kills another human being, often heinously and with no remorse.  If caught and convicted, they should be put to death for their crime. It made sense to me. I wrote a letter to the editor praising the story about the death penalty. I wrote that I agreed that the death penalty is a good determent. The letter was published in the Letters to the Editor section of the newspaper. In those days, your name, address, and city were at the bottom of the letter. I received a passing grade for the assignment. 

That next Saturday morning, my Mom came into my room around 9am.  I was still asleep.  She said someone was on the phone for me. I stumbled to the phone. The person on the other end asked if I was the author of the letter about the death penalty. I said I was. The caller wasn't mean or nasty but they questioned why I chose the pro death penalty opinion. I sheepishly told them it was a school assignment and my Dad has suggested that topic. I thanked the caller and hung up before any debate could begin. As an adult in my late 50s, I think of that call when the topic of capital punishment comes up on the news or internet. My opinion on the death penalty has changed over time.  News stories began to surface of men unjustly arrested, convicted and executed for murders that would later be found they did not commit.  Overzealous police officers and district attorneys trying to convict the wrong person. What seemed like such a black and white topic had become very, very gray. 

To make a film about the pros and cons of capital punishment, the film world had the good fortune that actor/director Tim Robbins decided to take on such a project with DEAD MAN WALKING (1995). Robbins, an accomplished actor known for films like Ron Shelton's BULL DURHAM (1988) with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon; Robert Altman's THE PLAYER (1992), and Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER (2003) costarring Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon had tried his hand at directing earlier with the well-received BOB ROBERTS (1992) co-starring Alan Rickman and Gore Vidal about a conservative folk singer who runs for the Senate. Never one to hide his liberal views, Robbins could have gone for the easy choice and just show one side of the death penalty argument. He doesn't and that makes DEAD MAN WALKING a more compelling, thoughtful film. 

Written and directed by Tim Robbins based on Sister Helen Prejean's non-fiction book of the same title, DEAD MAN WALKING (1995) begins with convicted murderer Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) reaching out via letter to the non-profit Hope House in the projects of New Orleans, Louisiana looking for some legal assistance and someone to talk to. After talking it over with her fellow nun Sister Colleen (Margo Martindale), Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) agrees to meet with Poncelet.  She drives out to Angola Prison where Poncelet is incarcerated.  Sister Helen first meets with Chaplain Farley (Scott Wilson), a crusty prison priest who questions Helen's modern attire and progressive attitude. Farley informs her that Poncelet has been convicted of murdering two teenagers Walter Delacroix (Peter Sarsgaard) and Hope Percy (Missy Yager) out on a Lover's Lane. Hope was raped before she died. Helen meets the pompadour coiffed Poncelet who is surprised that a nun came to talk to him. Poncelet denies killing Walter or raping Hope, claiming he was high on drugs and just along for the ride, blaming their deaths on his scarier buddy Carl Vitello (Michael Cullen). Helen doesn't know what to believe. Poncelet asks her to file an appeal for him. Helen promises she'll do her best.

Back in New Orleans, Helen receives a call from Poncelet.  He's been notified that he's been placed on death row. Helen contacts a tax lawyer named Hilton Barber (Robert Prosky) who agrees to take up his case. Barber wants to present Poncelet at the Review Board as a human being, a man with a family who loves him. He sends Helen to meet with Poncelet's mother Lucille Poncelet (Roberta Maxwell) and his three younger brothers. Helen asks Mrs. Poncelet if she will speak on Matthew's behalf at the hearing. Mrs. Poncelet reluctantly agrees. At the Review Board, Barber presents his case why Poncelet should not be executed. Attending the review are the parents of the slain teenagers: Earl Delacroix (Raymond J. Berry) and Clyde and Mary Beth Percy (R. Lee Ermey and Celia Weston). The State presents its case for Poncelet to be executed. While the Board decides, Sister Helen introduces herself to Earl who's outraged that she has taken up his son's killer's cause. The Board returns and denies Poncelet's request for a stay. He will be executed by lethal injection. 

Poncelet asks Sister Helen to be his spiritual adviser and she accepts. Helen visits Earl Delacroix at his home. His absent wife is ready to move on, but Earl can't let go that his son is dead (later Earl will reveal at a victims counseling meeting his wife has asked for a divorce). Helen visits with the Percy's. They tell her about what their daughter Hope planned to do with her life. The visit goes well until they learn Helen is still advising Poncelet. They angrily ask her to leave. Helen joins some other anti-death penalty protesters at a vigil for another inmate who's executed. Helen and Poncelet discuss his growing up poor and his racist origins. Helen tries to make Poncelet see the Delacroix's and Percy's viewpoints toward him. She asks Poncelet to own up to his role in the teenagers' deaths. Helen starts to feel blowback from the community she works for, even from her mother (Lois Smith). As his execution draws closer, Poncelet is placed all by himself in a special death row wing. Poncelet asks to take a lie detector test to prove he didn't kill those kids. 

Poncelet's mother and three brothers meet with him for the last time in person. The lie detector test comes back inconclusive. Helen talks to Poncelet about that fateful night.  She wants the truth. The warden arrives to let Poncelet know the Federal Appeals Court turned down his last-ditch motion to stay the execution. Poncelet is now on death watch.  He's allowed one final call to his family. He tells Sister Helen he wished he had stood up to Vitello. Poncelet confesses to Helen that he shot young Walter Delacroix. Helen sings a hymn to Poncelet before he's led out of his cell and to the death chamber where prison staff prepare the lethal injection that will end Matthew Poncelet's life.  Earl Delacroix and the Percy's watch Poncelet's final minutes along with Poncelet's lawyer Hilton Barber and Sister Helen. In the end, did the parents get their retribution?  Did Sister Helen help Poncelet find peace? DEAD MAN WALKING'S final shot shows Sister Helen and Earl Delacroix praying together in a small country church. 

A film about the death penalty, coming from the so-called liberal Hollywood would seem like it would be slanted against capital punishment. Director Robbins looks at both sides of the debate with a fair and balanced eye, Sister Helen as the compass, empathizing with both the condemned killer and the parents of the murdered teenagers. We see the anguish that both sets of parents' face after losing a son and a daughter and the toll it takes on them. Earl Devereaux's wife will file for divorce from him.   She's ready to move on from her loss. Earl's haunted by the tragedy, the branch of his family tree ending with his son Walter's death. In flashbacks, we see pieces of that terrible night from Poncelet's perspective. First, it looks like Poncelet's just an accomplice, tagging along like he tells Sister Helen.  Later, when he admits he shot Walter, we're shown that awful moment. As Poncelet lays dying, we see one final flashback. Poncelet not only shot Walter, but he also participated in Hope's rape. Poncelet didn't tell Helen the whole truth. Justice has been handed out right?

DEAD MAN WALKING illuminates the anti-death penalty debate as well.  The disparity between black and poor convicts with little or no legal representation who are executed compared to those inmates with more money and legal expertise who escape the death penalty is out of balance. Poncelet comes from a poor family, the product of a racist father who left them during his formative years. If we call ourselves a civilized society, is killing one human being in retribution for murdering another the right way to go about it? An eye for an eye was the answer back in biblical times. Is it still the answer in the 21st Century? We're told that executions have become less "brutal." The process has progressed from hangings and firing squads and electrocution to the more "humane" lethal injection (Alabama just unveiled its new method of nitrogen gas that asphyxiates the inmate in less than 15 minutes). DEAD MAN WALKING rarely preaches except perhaps Poncelet's final words when he tells those watching, "I just wanna say I think killin' is wrong, no matter who does it, whether it's me or y'all, or your government."

Our guide through this debate whether the death penalty is warranted or not is Sister Helen Prejean played by Susan Sarandon (who would win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in 1996). Sister Helen is a progressive, modern nun which makes her the right person for this complicated journey. She's not Ingrid Bergman from THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S in traditional nun garb.  Helen wears a more modern habit.  When she first visits the prison, she meets Chaplain Farley (Scott Wilson), an old school man of cloth.  We have a face-off between the Old Testament (Farley) and the New Testament (Helen). Both will quote from their preferred Testament as they discuss Poncelet and his crimes. Helen's sole goal is both parties to seek forgiveness. For Poncelet, she wants him to admit to his sins and seek forgiveness from the Lord.  For the Delacroix's and the Percy's, Helen asks them to find it in their hearts to forgive Poncelet for his actions. It's an uneasy tightrope that Sister Helen walks that will test her faith to its core. 

I could swear that Sean Penn won an Academy Award for his performance as death row inmate Matthew Poncelet in DEAD MAN WALKING.  When I fact checked my memory, I was wrong.  Penn was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award but lost to Nicholas Cage in Mike Figgis's LEAVING LAS VEGAS (1995). Having seen Cage's performance and not Penn's back in 1995 I would have agreed. Having now watched Penn in DEAD MAN WALKING, I'm not sure why he didn't win.  Penn could have played the role with plenty of histrionics. He doesn't.  He's charming, appalling, sympathetic, pathetic, and in the end, remorseful. At times, we want him to die for what he's done. At times, we want him to escape the death penalty, rehabilitate his life in prison and become a better human being. Penn would lose the Academy Award Best Actor contest to Cage but he did win Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival for DEAD MAN WALKING. 

The supporting roles are are inspired bits of casting by Robbins. Scott Wilson who portrays the prison priest Farley in DEAD MAN WALKING played a killer himself in Richard Brooks IN COLD BLOOD (1967) based on the non-fiction book by Truman Capote about two ex-cons (Wilson and Robert Blake) on the run after killing a family during a botched robbery. Both Raymond J. Berry who plays Earl Delacroix and R. Lee Ermey who plays Clyde Percy, the fathers of the murdered teenagers, are cast against type.  Berry better known for portraying tough DEA agents or senators plays a tortured parent who loses almost everything because of Poncelet's actions. And who can forget the bombastic and blistering Ermey in Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman and as a racist Ku Klux Klan member in Alan Parker's MISSISSIPPI BURNING (1988). In DEAD MAN WALKING, Ermey is the grieving father of a murdered teenage daughter. Look for early performances in DEAD MAN WALKING by Jack Black (SCHOOL OF ROCK) as one of Poncelet's brothers; Peter Sarsgaard (JARHEAD) as the murdered Walter Delacroix; and Clancy Brown (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) as a Louisiana State Trooper. 

There are some interesting connections in DEAD MAN WALKING between the cast and the director. Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon starred together in BULL DURHAM where they would begin a relationship after the film and live together for 21 years, having two children, before separating in 2009. Sarandon would win her only Best Actress Oscar as Sister Helen Prejean for DEAD MAN WALKING, written and directed by her partner Tim Robbins.  In 2003, Robbins and Sean Penn along with Kevin Bacon would star together in Clint Eastwood's gritty MYSTIC RIVER, about three Boston childhood friends caught up in a murder as adults.  Penn would win his first Best Actor Academy Award for MYSTIC RIVER (he would win a second for Gus Van Sant's MILK in 2008) and Robbins would win Best Supporting Actor for MYSTIC RIVER.  A very young Jack Black appears in DEAD MAN WALKING as one of Poncelet's younger brothers Craig Poncelet.  Black first appeared in Robbins BOB ROBERTS and they would act together in Stephen Frears comedy HIGH FIDELITY (2000) starring John Cusack. Lastly, Robbins and Clancy Brown would appear in Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994) based on the Stephen King novel where Robbins plays a man falsely accused of murder who ends up in prison. 

The subject matter would entice some talented people to participate on DEAD MAN WALKING.  For Academy Award winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (FARGO, SKYFALL), DEAD MAN WALKING is one of his early efforts. Notice how Sean Penn as Poncelet is mostly photographed behind bars or a screen, furthering the sense of incarceration.  Deakins was the Director of Photography for THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, another film mostly set in prison, which starred Robbins and Morgan Freeman. On the music front, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam contributes vocals to a couple of songs on the soundtrack including The Long Road written by Vedder and co-sung with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.  Bruce Springsteen wrote and sang the title song Dead Man Walking over the film's closing credits. The term "Dead Man Walking" is what one of the prison guards calls out when they escort Poncelet to his execution. 

In 2023, 24 inmates were executed in the United States.  So far in 2024, two inmates have been executed: 1 in Alabama and 1 in Texas.  A third execution in Idaho was botched and stopped when officials couldn't set the IV line carrying the lethal injection to the inmate. In Florida this year, a 30th death row inmate was exonerated of his crimes and released in that state since having the death penalty. DEAD MAN WALKING didn't stop executions.  The debate will continue. DEAD MAN WALKING should be required viewing for people on both sides of the argument. If they watch it, they will have the opportunity to see mesmerizing career defining performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon and a powerful story that doesn't provide easy answers.