When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.
Elenco: Paul Newman , George Kennedy , Luke Askew , Morgan Woodward , Harry Dean Stanton , Dennis Hopper , Lou Antonio , Robert Drivas , Strother Martin , Jo Van Fleet , Clifton James , Marc Cavell , Richard Davalos , Robert Donner , J.D. Cannon , Joe Don Baker , James Gammon , Chuck Hicks , Rance Howard , James Jeter , Joy Harmon , Anthony Zerbe , Warren Finnerty , John McLiam , Wayne Rogers , Charles Tyner , Ralph Waite , Buck Kartalian , Kim Kahana , Donn Pearce , John Pearce , Rush Williams .