Theme Song: There’s a somewhat drone-y and sparse soundtrack, but I am lazy and did not document it.
Interesting Dated References: Movies about prison being filmed in actual operational prisons with inmates cast as background actors.
Social Context: The writing credits on this are confusing. The movie, which was made for television, is officially credited as Truman Capote’s The Glass House and appears to be a collaboration between him and Wyatt Cooper (father of Anderson). It only existed as a television script, not a formal literary work. Complicating things, this article noted the following regarding director Tom Gries (father of Jon Gries): “During 17 days of filming at the Utah prison, he [Gries] received technical help from the convicts, and more than two‐thirds of the script was changed on location. Several scenes were restructured and improvised on the spot.”
Summary: The Glass House plays like a more procedural Short Eyes with a little less New York and a little more philosophical contemplation with corruption steering the narrative. But holy cow! What an atmosphere! What acting! What sleaze! Vic Morrow is a total scumbag and 100% authentic and gross! That’s a compliment!
Look at this guy, what a talent. Fuck you John Landis! But we’re getting ahead of things.
In the clunky opening, Jonathon Paige (Alan Alda, Jenny), a college-educated professional, witnesses a car hit his wife and baby as they cross the road. In a fit of rage, he then throws/pushes the driver of the vehicle into the wheel well of the now-crashed car, where the driver then instantly dies. What luck! Sounds insane, right? It’s filmed weirdly, disjointed, so it’s much less cool than it sounds.
Newly imprisoned, we join Jonathon as he learns to navigate the peaceful black group led by Lennox (Billy Dee Williams) and the sleazy drug dealer, Hugo Slocum (Morrow). After Jonathan refuses to peddle drugs for Hugo, things escalate.
This culminates in the usual prison film tropes: rape, suicide, shanking, racial conflict, corrupt guards, moral guards and an uncovering of an unscrupulous regime. Although it’s made for television, it steers gritty/sleazy but manages to be subdued and chill with an underplayed dramatic tension. Yes, it is all of these things.
Worth Mentioning:
– Clu Gulager once again delivers an excellent performance as morally conflicted guard Cortland. I feel like I haven’t paid enough attention to Clu. Is his prematurely gray hair the reason he wasn’t more popular?
– This cast delivers: Musician Alan Vint! Kristoffer Tabori! Luke Askew as a predatory sex criminal!
– As mentioned, most write-ups indicate a lot of the extras in this film were actual inmates and that it was filmed in a functioning Salt Lake City prison, though I haven’t identified which.
Poster and Box Art: I cannot find a print ad for the television run. The video release box is okay. It took some thought.
