No Way Out (1950)

(On Cable TV, June 2021) It’s almost amazing to realize that No Way Out was Sidney Poitier’s feature film debut, because it already shows the characteristics and the persona that would transform him into a movie star during the following decade. Here, he plays a black doctor confronted with a deeply racist criminal as a patient (Richard Widmark, fully playing up his cad persona) that he nonetheless has to treat. A mysterious death ends up causing no end of troubles for the young doctor, and the film keeps exploring racism in a way that still resonates today. Written and directed by the legendary Joseph L. Mankiewicz, No Way Out is well-written and well-structured — a joy to watch despite the tough subject matter. Poitier is already exceptional and the script’s naked racism still rankles today.