I started watching Don Siegel's Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) yesterday, but lost interest after the first 40 minutes. The film must have been shocking for some when it was first released, given that it begins with high-ranking officials admitting to flaws in the federal U.S. prison system, and a sympathetic view of both inmates and guards. Nineteen-fifties acting seems so jumpy. Maybe that was it. The prisoners got on my nerves.
A shot near the beginning (top) is a pan of an exterior prison wall, what I believe is Michigan State Penitentiary. A curious pattern, no? Why such variation in the size of the blocks? Some look like bricks, laid sidelong and end-long; a block four rows from the bottom looks much longer than it is taller.
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