Background
Poitier auditioned for the film as a mere acting exercise; he didn't expect to be cast as one of the leads. Thanks to his agent and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Poitier wrangled out of the role and saw his salary balloon from $75 per week to $750.
Poitier and Widmark struck up an immediate friendship and respectful partnership, with Poitier dubbing the actor "the most pleasant and refreshing surprise in my initial exposure to the Hollywood scene. The reality of Widmark was a thousand miles from the characters he played." In fact, the relationship was so respectful that Widmark felt compelled to apologize after each take in which he mistreated Poitier, both verbally and physically.
Twentieth Century-Fox purchased the motion picture rights to Lesser Samuels' original story in Jan 1949 and signed him to a ten-week contract to write the screenplay. Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros. and Columbia were also advocating in bidding for the rights.
Samuels, in a New York Times article dated back from July 1950, stated that he originally wanted to write about "the cancerous results of hatred," but did not intend to focus on an African-American doctor until he learned from colleagues of his daughter's fiancé, a doctor, about the problems faced by African-American doctors.
The script originally ended with Luther being killed, a rough climax that studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck actually liked. Zanuck would later express disdain for the ending, realizing audiences, "would be left with a feeling of utter futility. Luther, a wonderful character, is hideously slaughtered. If his death resulted in something, if something were accomplished either characterwise or otherwise, it would be different and I would accept it." Mankiewicz prepared a new preliminary script, with a new storyline and characterizations, which was ultimately given the greenlight by Zanuck.
No Way Out marked the screen debut of Ossie Davis, and was the first film in which Davis appeared with his wife, Ruby Dee.
Read more about this topic: No Way Out (1950 Film)
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