Prison stuff. In prison movies.
Late in 1927 The Jazz Singer was released, becoming the first ‘talkie’ blockbuster – and condemning this silent epic to a much smaller audience than it perhaps deserved. It was a decidedly international co-production, with the director (Norman Dawn) and the principal actors all American, but the story a quintessentially Australian one. (more…)
Posted on November 1st, 2012 at 7:42 pm. Updated on November 1st, 2012 at 7:52 pm.
Martin Flavin’s 1929 stage play of the same name was made into a film four times, it seems: this one – and possibly an alternative Spanish version, El código penal – in 1931, Penitentiary (1938), and Convicted (1950). Not even The Longest Yard (1974) has had as many remakes, and one of those at least featured a change of football codes; all the Criminal Code productions are virtually scene-by-scene replications.
Posted on October 30th, 2012 at 10:10 am. Updated on April 9th, 2013 at 10:11 pm.
A remake of the 1926 silent film of the same name, Devil’s Island also shares a lot in common with The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Those High Grey Walls (1939) and the later Hellgate (1952); all have the chief protagonist providing medical assistance to a wounded reprobate and then being charged with being an accomplice. The hero in this one, however, seems less a victim of circumstance. (more…)
Posted on October 11th, 2012 at 7:53 pm. Updated on October 11th, 2012 at 8:00 pm.
Looking for creative solutions to prison overcrowding? Try this for size. (more…)
Posted on October 7th, 2012 at 9:11 pm. Updated on August 28th, 2019 at 8:02 pm.
Comparisons between this and A Prophet (2009) are inevitable; for a while, the trajectories of the main protagonists in both movies, two young men introduced into hostile new prisons, are almost identical.
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Posted on September 18th, 2012 at 9:18 pm. Updated on September 18th, 2012 at 9:18 pm.
It’s a bit hard to separate any movie involving Mel Gibson from the ranting, wife-beating, homophobic anti-Semite that the star (and writer) of Get the Gringo has shown himself to be. Allegedly. As a result, I wasn’t much looking forward to this film. Nor am I a fan of the action genre, as I may have said previously; ad infinitum. But this is surprisingly watchable. Enjoyable, even. (more…)
Posted on August 28th, 2012 at 10:01 pm. Updated on August 28th, 2012 at 10:01 pm.
In 1976 the British Government put an end to the special category status of prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army, no longer treating them as prisoners of war, but as common criminals. Mairéad Farrell – on whose life much of the film seems to be loosely based – was the first woman Republican to be refused political status in 1976. By 1980, when the film is set, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and doggedly resolute: “There can be no question of political status for someone who is serving a sentence for crime. Crime is crime is crime.” Silent Grace seeks to capture the struggle for the restoration of political status that was at the heart of prison protests in Northern Ireland – not just by the more celebrated male prisoners – but by a smaller number of women prisoners, led by Farrell, at the Armagh Women’s Prison. (more…)
Posted on August 21st, 2012 at 10:28 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2012 at 10:28 pm.
Shakespeare in prison. It’s been done before [Mickey B (2007), for example, or the Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005) documentary]. But never so well. (more…)
Posted on August 14th, 2012 at 10:23 pm. Updated on August 29th, 2019 at 8:47 pm.
I have no idea what this is about, but if you only watch prison movies for the shower scenes, this could be the film for you. (more…)
Posted on July 24th, 2012 at 9:07 pm. Updated on December 1st, 2012 at 4:56 pm.
Good prison comedy is awfully difficult to write. If you need to be convinced of that, this film proves it. (more…)
Posted on July 22nd, 2012 at 4:46 pm. Updated on August 5th, 2012 at 5:23 pm.