Short Eyes

Short Eyes is a 1977 American film adaptation of the Miguel Piñero play of the same title, directed by Robert M. Young. Short Eyes is set in an unnamed House of Detention in New York City, the prisoners of which are predominately black or Puerto Rican. One day, a new prisoner is brought in: Clark Davis, a young, middle-class white man accused of raping a young girl. His fellow prisoners immediately turn on him — pedophiles are considered the lowest form of prison life — except for Juan, one of the institution's older prisoners, who treats him with dignity. While Davis insists he doesn't remember raping the girl, he admits that he has molested several other children. Nevertheless, the case against him is weak and, unless Juan tells...