Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Cell 2455, Death Row Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 16, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Noir Archive Volume 2: 1954-1956.

Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment mined an interesting nonet of features for their Noir Archive Volume 1: 1944-1954, and now a second volume is forthcoming, with another nine outings that show what a reliable purveyor of noir or at least noir-ish films Columbia Studios continued to be through the mid-fifties. As the subtitle for the first volume made clear, that collection spanned a decade, from what was arguably the apex of noir in the mid-forties to the arguably somewhat less fertile era of Eisenhower. This second volume picks up in 1954 and continues forward two years, assembling a rather diverse collection of writers, directors and stars, some of whom at least many would probably consign to the so-called “B list”, though others, like Kim Novak, Jack Finney and even William Castle, certainly have claims to "A list" fame. One way or the other, though, there are some interesting titles in this second collection, and noir fans may well find this as appealing a set as the first outing.

For many Baby Boomers, William Campbell may forever be associated with either of two wonderful episodes from Star Trek: The Original Series, “The Squire of Gothos” and/or “The Trouble With Tribbles”*, this despite the fact that Campbell had a rather long career in both film and television. Campbell’s first real chance at a starring role came courtesy of Cell 2455 Death Row, an interesting if arguably never quite visceral enough film based on the real life exploits of convict Caryl Chessman, who famously provided his own defense in some of his trials. Here Campbell plays Whit Whittier (Whittier was evidently Chessman’s middle name in real life), a ne’er-do-well who is nevertheless smart enough to “game the system” in order to keep himself away from the electric chair. The film documents Whittier’s fall into sociopathic behavior, which this film seems to suggest may have stemmed at least in part from the sort of “safety net” for devastating injuries that a certain controversial “health care act” passed a few years ago was supposed to address. Campbell is an unabashedly nasty presence throughout much of this film, and manages to invest at least a little energy into what is kind of a curiously listless enterprise. The film does feature an interesting piece of casting: William Campbell's little brother Robert Campbell portrays the younger Whit.

*Years ago I conducted a production of the musical version of The Producers, and our Max Bialystock was the son of “Tribbles” director Joseph Pevney and Pevney’s legendary Broadway actress wife Mitzi Green. The set designer for that production filled Bialystock’s offices with little tchotchkes from the careers of both Pevney and Green, and there were Tribbles on one of Max’s bookshelves.

Cell 2455, Death Row Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cell 2455 Death Row is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a fairly variable looking presentation which, when it's not littered with specks, flecks and other damage, can look pretty darned good, with deep blacks, and a good accounting of textures like the various jackets Whit wears in flashbacks. The film has a perhaps unlikely amount of stock footage, some of which is not particularly artfully integrated into the film, and much of which looks sourced from smaller and/or older elements, some of which are not in great shape. There are occasional slight compression issues, as in a teargas scene at circa 22:00, which is another sequence with some pretty noticeable damage.

Cell 2455, Death Row Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cell 2455 Death Row features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which sounds just a tad boxy during the opening credits music, but which otherwise provides a good accounting of Campbell's frequent narration and sound effects and/or scoring like the recurrent tympani that beats out time "departing" on death row. Dialogue is also rendered cleanly and clearly throughout the presentation.

Cell 2455, Death Row Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

None of the three discs in this set feature any supplements.

Cell 2455, Death Row Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of made for television fare may recall that Alan Alda portrayed Chessman in a 1977 opus called Kill Me If You Can, and for those wanting at least a relatively more factual accounting of Chessman's life, that would be the version to go with. This offers a kind of nasty take on the character by Campbell, but the film is weirdly lacking energy. Video has intermittent issues, but audio is generally fine, for those considering a purchase.