Burt Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a reprehensible character discovering, in a prison, dignity and esteem
You see him, at the beginning of the movieas a rising starbeating up a woman, stealing her car, drunken driving, insulting cops in a bar, resisting arrest
He's seen so funny when he insulted the miniature cop who's about to arrest him, while the cop's partner is laughing openly
Eddie Albert was very charming when he meets Paul Crewe at his arrival to Citrus State Prison
Aldrich wanted to play Warden Hazen as the guy who had the veneer of normalcy, the veneer of being a good executive, the veneer of keeping it all together till it starts unraveling
He really was just a despicable, oily, warden type
In one game scene, we see him over and over again, getting up just with that same look of shock on his face
Ed Lauter (Captain Knauer) is wonderful
He runs the football team
He is a bad guy and he represents everything that is wrong with that prison system and everything else
He changes as a result
And to see that is just so delightful
He's got the classic Ed Lauter's scene at the end
James Hampton plays Caretaker, the character who brings the team all together and pushes Burt's character ahead to win the game
Ray Nitschke plays the toughest, meanest linebacker in football
Richard Kiel, Bob Tessier, Charles Tyner, Michael Conrad, and Harry Caesar give the film a certain veracity, you almost thing you are in jail
