On the Yard (1978)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

"On the Yard" has good acting, and a great prison location. What is missing is a compelling story. The "Rockview State Correctional Facility" where this was filmed is an actual Pennsylvania prison, but even though the drama has a very realistic feel to it, the story itself is not that interesting. Everything revolves around "top con", Tom Waites, and his control of the cigarette trade within the walls. John Heard makes a habit of making enemies, bucks the system, and finds out that a carton of cigarettes can be very expensive. Meanwhile a no nonsense guard captain, Lane Smith, is trying to shut down Waites enterprise, while a totally superfluous hot air balloon escape is thrown into the mix. Not bad of it's type, but I've seen better. - MERK

One of the best, most grimly realistic and, alas, very neglected and under-appreciated 70's prison films, a meticulously detailed and unflinching portrait of the harsh, rigidly set, and strictly enforced caste system which exists within your average penitentiary. Thomas Waites gives a fine, sturdy, quietly menacing performance as Chilly, a brutal, cagey, ruthless top con who governs over a Pennsylvania calaboose's black market with the proverbial iron fist. John Heard delivers a strikingly excellent and appealing turn as a shy, soft-spoken wife killer who winds up locking horns with Waites after he borrows cigarettes from him without paying for them first. Lane Smith (Nick Nolte's sympathetic cell mate in the lovely drama "Weeds" and the nasty authoritarian warden in the superior supernatural revenge horror picture "Prison") as the hard-nosed security captain, Joe Grifasi as a timid, browbeaten inmate, Richard Bright (Al Neri in the "Godfather" movies) as a shrewd, sneaky top con determined to knock Waites off his throne, and a young James Remar in his film debut as a surly punk kid lend top notch support.But the guy who clearly makes off with the entire feature is Mike Kellin, an always outstanding heavy-set, craggy-faced character actor who never received his full due. Kellin's terrific, touching, wistfully funny portrayal of Red, an amiable, but pretty imbecilic elderly felon who's been in the joint for so long that he's completely lost sync with the outside world and thus will forever remain behind bars for life, radiates a frail yearning and wounded hangdog humanity that's simply a wonder to behold. The scene where Red makes a game, albeit futile attempt at persuading the parole board to spring him rates as a tragicomic gem; it's both sadly affecting and wryly amusing at the same time -- and it's followed by an extraordinarily moving moment of devastating heartbreak that's made all the more poignant by being presented with commendable taste, subtlety, and understatement. Raphael D. Silver's tough, steady, laudable direction, aided by Alan Metzger's silvery, velvety cinematography and Charles Gross' haunting, low-key, melancholy jazz score, forcefully renders a properly grim, desolate and credibly down'n'dirty jailhouse milieu. Only the somewhat rambling and occasionally scattershot narrative and an incongruously light-hearted finale fail to fully pass muster. Those faults aside, "On the Yard" overall cuts it as a gritty, hard-hitting, totally absorbing, and convincing guys doin' time sleeper.

I watched this film, which was on TV recently (in the early hours of the morning - I taped it, naturally!). I agree with the comments made about the ludicrous plot situation re the balloon. If the author (who has served a prison sentence) based this on fact, that's fair enough. But there was more than enough to enjoy apart from that. Particular mention should be made of Mike Kellin ("Red")who gave a very poignant portrayal of a man who's spent the majority of his adult life in prison, and Ron Faber (Manning, the first time offender) whose face told it all at the devastating effect of prison. The swearing was kept to a minimum, which was no bad thing, though offenders tend to use four letter words every other word. Whilst this is not THE prison film, it's certainly worth a viewing.

The main plot of ON THE YARD revolves around inmate Juleson borrowing a couple of packs of cigarettes from prison Mr Fix-it Chilly , but Juleson finds himself unable to pay back Chilly which means intrest on the debt and Chilly is a man who doesn`t like non payment .If the entire movie revolved around its central plot it would have worked far better , but the story is crowded with a few too many characters and subplots . This might have worked in the novel ( Which I haven`t read but I know is well regarded mainly due to the fact that the author wrote it while in a maximum security prison ) but doesn`t really work here . And I`m also led to believe the original novel influenced the HBO prison drama OZ , a show that shares the exact same strength and weakness as this film . Both are gritty , involving and slightly shocking , but both contain too many minor characters who only come to the fore to drive the plot along and then disappear when they`ve done so , and some of the subplots are faintly ridiculous in ON THE YARD especially the one at the end which will have you asking " How did he manage to get all that stuff without the guards noticing ? "One other thing I disliked about ON THE YARD was the mixed bag of acting . John Heard gives a solid performance as Juleson swinging between fear and fatalistic resignation but I had a problem with Thomas G Waites as Chilly , not so much with his acting but more with his physical appearence . He doesn`t carry enough tatoos , scars or look in any way like he`s an archetypal prison thug , but maybe that`s the whole point ? because he`s running things he can pay other inmates to do the dirty work . Most memorable performance is by Hector Troy as the looney latino hitman Gasolino.So if you love OZ you`ll certainly like ON THE YARD . It`s by no means a classic but at least it doesn`t descend into the oft used cliche of having inmates gang-raped every ten minutes so it deserves some credit