Parades
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert J. Siegel
Russ Thacker
Brad Sullivan
Lewis J. Stadlen
David Doyle
Dorothy Chace
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When a drug-addicted, suicide-prone inmate, "Baby" Novik, is shot and killed trying to escape the military stockade at Fort Nix, two filmmakers, "T" and "S," arrive to make a documentary about the suspicious incident. Through interviews with the inmates, including Potofski, a close friend Novik, Novik's mother and a prison military captain, the filmmakers gradually learn of the brutality constantly endured by the prisoners at the hands of sadistic Sergeant Hook: Sensing that Novik is weak, Hook particularly harasses the young man, at one point breaking his finger when Novik is in solitary confinement. Unable to bear the brutality, Novik attempts suicide by various means, including cutting himself with a razor blade, hanging himself with bandages and pushing his head out a window, all in vain. During a half-hearted bid for freedom, Novik is shot. "T" and "S" remain at the stockade to gather further material for their film. Deeply distressed by Novik's death, which is tantamount to murder, Potofski organizes an uprising, encouraging the inmates to destroy their living area and refuse to cooperate with Hook and the guards. When people from the nearby town learn of the uprising, they gather at the prison, eventually breaking down the gates, only to have the guards open fire and kill several of them. Having captured the incident on film, "T" and "S" leave the stockade, but at a local diner are set upon and beaten up by MPs who then confiscate their film. Back at the stockade, Hook has Potofski tortured outside while the other inmates are forced to clean up the residue of the murdered protestors.
Director
Robert J. Siegel
Cast
Russ Thacker
Brad Sullivan
Lewis J. Stadlen
David Doyle
Dorothy Chace
Anthony Holland
Joseph R. Sicari
Russell Horton
Andrew Duncan
James Catusi
Erik Estrada
Michael Heit
Tim Riley
Michael Mcgowan
Robert Capece
Don Blakely
John Pleshette
Sab Shimono
Ruth Mckinney
Madeline Lee
Alice Whitfied
Peggy Whitton
Crew
Robert Anderson
Henry L. Hoffman
Barry Manilow
Richard Marks
Linda Mcgowan
Mike Messinger
John Morrin
Sol Negrin
Marty Panzer
Garry Sherman
Robert J. Siegel
George Tabori
Robert Wightman
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles for this unviewed film were Break Loose and Fort Nix Blues. According to the Daily Variety review, publicity materials stated that the film was based on news reports of stockade incidents and prisoner uprisings in Fort Dix, NJ and various other military stockades, as well as material related to producer-director Robert J. Siegel by an acquaintance who had been in a stockade. The film marked the first, and possibly only, dramatic feature directed by Siegel who, according to reviews, was a documentarian and industrial filmmaker.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1972
Released in United States 1972
