**SPOILERS** Powerful indictment against the death penalty with the condemned man, known only as the "Quare Fellow", in the movie undeniably guilty of a capital crime: Murder. What this "Quare Fellow" did was murder and later dismember his brother when he caught him in bed with his wife Kathleen and just lost control of himself. The fact that this was never brought out in his murder trial is the reason that the down on his luck "Quere Fellow" is now facing the hangman's noose!
New kid on the block or Mountjoy Prison guard Thomas Crimmin has his hands full on his first day on the job in being the one to help in the execution of two men at the prison. As things turn out one of the mens, called "Silvertop", trip to the gallows was to be rescinded to life imprisonment by the prison governor. But the poor guy, not knowing that at the time, ended up doing the executioners job by hanging himself in his cell. Now with only the "Quare Fellow" to dispatch Crimmin has seconds thoughts about his job that has to do with helping the hangman in dispatching him!
It's when Crimmin meets the "Quare Fellow's" distraught wife Kathleen that he soon realizes that the guy got a raw deal and tries with what little time, 8:00 AM the very next morning, he still has left to save his life. As it turned out Kathleen kept the secret of her husbands killing her lover in that she was, being a devote Catholic, greatly embarrassed in admitting that she was cheating on him! And worst then even that the person that she was cheating with was his very own, who was just as guilty as she was, brother!
As the minutes slowly ticked away for the "Quare Fellow's" upcoming execution Crimmin tried his best to get the local governor, as well as Prime Minster, to overturn his death sentence. This not only caused Crimmin to lose his enthusiasm for the death penalty not just in the case of the "Quare Fellow" but on everyone else, no matter what the circumstances are, on death row! His now unflinching determination to have the death penalty rescinded is something that Crimmin pledged to spend the rest of his life in doing even while being forced, in being a prison guard, to execute it!
Patrick McGoohan as prison guard Thomas Crimmin gives one of his finest performances as a man torn between his job and his conscience. Head of the guards Regan-played by Walter Macken-as Crimmin's boss is equally effective as a man who's seen so much death, he had witnessed 14 hangings in his 17 years as a prison guard, that he's become sickened of it and just can't wait to retire from his job as soon as he's eligible.
***SPOILERS*** In the end there's nothing that Crimmin could do to save the "Quare Fellow's" life but it was that unsettling experience that made him finally, after years of being in the dark, see the light in just how inhuman government sponsored executions really are. And with that new found knowledge and wisdom he'll now do everything in his power to have it legislated out of existence! And Crimmin is so steadfast to do that even if it ends up killing him in the process!
New kid on the block or Mountjoy Prison guard Thomas Crimmin has his hands full on his first day on the job in being the one to help in the execution of two men at the prison. As things turn out one of the mens, called "Silvertop", trip to the gallows was to be rescinded to life imprisonment by the prison governor. But the poor guy, not knowing that at the time, ended up doing the executioners job by hanging himself in his cell. Now with only the "Quare Fellow" to dispatch Crimmin has seconds thoughts about his job that has to do with helping the hangman in dispatching him!
It's when Crimmin meets the "Quare Fellow's" distraught wife Kathleen that he soon realizes that the guy got a raw deal and tries with what little time, 8:00 AM the very next morning, he still has left to save his life. As it turned out Kathleen kept the secret of her husbands killing her lover in that she was, being a devote Catholic, greatly embarrassed in admitting that she was cheating on him! And worst then even that the person that she was cheating with was his very own, who was just as guilty as she was, brother!
As the minutes slowly ticked away for the "Quare Fellow's" upcoming execution Crimmin tried his best to get the local governor, as well as Prime Minster, to overturn his death sentence. This not only caused Crimmin to lose his enthusiasm for the death penalty not just in the case of the "Quare Fellow" but on everyone else, no matter what the circumstances are, on death row! His now unflinching determination to have the death penalty rescinded is something that Crimmin pledged to spend the rest of his life in doing even while being forced, in being a prison guard, to execute it!
Patrick McGoohan as prison guard Thomas Crimmin gives one of his finest performances as a man torn between his job and his conscience. Head of the guards Regan-played by Walter Macken-as Crimmin's boss is equally effective as a man who's seen so much death, he had witnessed 14 hangings in his 17 years as a prison guard, that he's become sickened of it and just can't wait to retire from his job as soon as he's eligible.
***SPOILERS*** In the end there's nothing that Crimmin could do to save the "Quare Fellow's" life but it was that unsettling experience that made him finally, after years of being in the dark, see the light in just how inhuman government sponsored executions really are. And with that new found knowledge and wisdom he'll now do everything in his power to have it legislated out of existence! And Crimmin is so steadfast to do that even if it ends up killing him in the process!