Vic Morrow – Deathwatch (1966)

Quote:
Based on a play by Jean Genet, a small-time thief battles with his gay cellmate over a third illiterate, muscular convict.

Leonard Nimoy (Jules LeFranc), Michael Forest (Greeneyes), Paul Mazursky (Maurice), Robert Ellenstein (Guard), Gavin MacLeod (Emil)

Sharing a dank cell in a French prison are Jules LeFranc, a social outcast serving time for a minor theft, and Greeneyes, a convicted murderer awaiting the guillotine. Embarrassed by the pettiness of his offense against a society he detests, Jules openly worships the infamous Greeneyes and longs to be his friend. Greeneyes, an illiterate, passively accepts Jules’ adoration and allows him to read and write his letters. In this way, permitted to share the innermost thoughts of his idol, Jules is able to become vicariously the great killer he has always desired to be. Then Maurice, an overt homosexual, is brought into the cell. Unabashed in his courtship of Greeneyes, he caters to his every whim and sexual need. Now the relationships in the cell explode into a violent struggle for love and identity as Jules and Maurice compete for the attention of Greeneyes.

Directed by actor Vic Morrow and written by his wife Barbara Turner, the film is based on a 1947 play by Jean Genet.