The Quare Fellow

Zealous rookie prison guard Thomas Crimmin arrives at a crumbling correctional facility where inmates anxiously await a man's imminent trip to the gallows. Though the condemned (called the "quare fellow" in Hibernian jailhouse slang) remains unseen, the cruelty of the brutal murder that has marked his days and the system that would take a life for a life are both keenly felt. Under the tutelage of a retiring guard, and via a chance liaison with Kathleen, a woman with a deep connection to both the man awaiting execution, Crimmin's duty-bound veneer erodes and the tragedy of state-sanctioned murder threatens to claim more than just the life of the guilty. This 1962 film is an adaptation of the legendary Irish playwright Brendan Behan's incendiary insider's look at life on death row.