Prison stuff. In prison movies.
Written by Edward Bunker (who did 20-odd years in prison himself) and shot partly in Philadelphia’s closed Holmesburg Prison and several working prisons (substituting for San Quentin, where the film is set), this film about survival in prison should at least have some authenticity. And it does – to a degree. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:27 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pm.
Critically acclaimed Australian movie about a ‘new generation’ prison – with strong, overt references to Jika Jika and Katingal (including a newspaper article on the five deaths from the 1987 Jika fire pasted on one cell wall, and nods to the Russell Street bombing and the murder of Barry Quinn). Co-written by singer Nick Cave and many others in very-1980s polemic – with considerable input, it would seem, from NSW Justice Action’s Brett Collins and Victoria’s Peter Lawless, both of whom have cameo roles. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm. Updated on March 2nd, 2010 at 8:53 pm.
A confronting black-and-white film version of the 1977 play by Ray Mooney, which purports to depict the struggle of Christopher Dale Flannery in ‘H’ Division, Pentridge, and his campaign which resulted in the Jenkinson Inquiry in 1972. Mooney, an ex-‘H’ Division prisoner himself, should know what he’s talking about, but one suspects that he also uses just a touch of artistic licence. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:21 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pm.
This black-and-white film is sometimes referred to as a classic. Personally, I don’t buy it. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:18 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:44 pm.
Melodrama in which Paul Muni plays James Allen, returned from the First World War with a restlessness borne of a desire not to return to the drudgery of his former civilian life in New Jersey and an ambition to use the engineer’s skills he’d learnt in the army. He soon leaves his shipping clerk’s job, but finds work hard to get right across the country. Down on his luck in the South, he teams up with another down-and-outer, thinking he’s getting a free feed at a diner, when his mate pulls a gun and forces Allen to raid the till. Allen gets caught and sentenced to 10 years on the chain gangs. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:15 pm. Updated on March 10th, 2017 at 9:08 pm.
A real ‘70s action flick; tough and gritty. Jim Brown plays the handsome, stoic Curtis Hook. Hook comes to jail on some relatively minor charges, but everyone knows that he alone knows where the proceeds of a drug heist (an attaché case full of skag and $1.5m in cash) are stashed. So he’s a marked man in ‘the slams’, with everyone wanting a piece of what he’s got on the outside. We are asked to join with Hook and hope that he gets away with all the dough… which means that we have to conveniently set aside the seven drug dealers and two accomplices that he killed in order to walk away with the money. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:12 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:45 pm.
I’m not sure how ‘comedy capers’ are different from ordinary comedies, but this is definitely in the caper mould. Peter Sellers plays Dodger Lane in this black-and-white movie from the Carry On era of British cinema. His character is more a refined cockney crook, if there is such a thing, and the film is less of a vehicle to showcase Sellers’ talents than the Clouseau and Strangelove movies that were to follow soon after. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:09 pm. Updated on March 4th, 2010 at 9:37 pm.
This is the film to wear if you’re invited to a 1970s fancy dress party. Shot on location in California’s Folsom Prison (with inmates playing some of the roles) and looking like a grainy home movie, it’s a bit like a fairytale with some solid, believable snippets of prison life thrown in. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:06 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:45 pm.
It must be said: this is not Humphrey Bogart’s best film. Shot partly on location in California’s San Quentin prison, it follows an army officer, Captain Steve Jameson (Pat O’Brien), a renowned ‘man-handler’ (manager of men, one presumes), who is seconded to the prison as Captain of the Yard to restore discipline and public confidence. Mind you, what we see when he takes over seems pretty orderly given the whacking great number of prisoners, and there is little evidence of the ‘small riots and… open rebellion’ which apparently prompted his recruitment. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:01 pm. Updated on August 21st, 2009 at 6:45 pm.
Predictable but largely entertaining remake of the 1974 comedy. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16th, 2009 at 3:57 pm. Updated on March 7th, 2016 at 11:01 pm.