Time in Prison
Or, "Life in The Big House". The prison film has proved to be a popular subject for cinema and many superb titles are represented in this canon of work. Here the human spirit is often shown to thrive in what are generally hostile and oppressive settings. There are the tales of the 'wrongly accused man' protesting his innocence, the 'race against time' thrillers to save the condemned from execution, and the 'prison as hell' where your worst nightmares have come true. There are also the comedies where the familiar prison 'cliches' are parodied, and the science-fiction variants that show the possible shape of things to come...
Now, go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Pictured: Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in "The Shawshank Redemption".
The Defiant Ones (1958)
7.7/10
Director: Stanley Kramer
Starring: Theodore Bikel, Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier
Nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, Stanley Kramer's The Defiant Ones broke new ground by delivering its message of racial toler... Read more
I Want To Live! (1958)
7.5/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent
Susan Hayward won an Oscar for her commanding performance in this true story of prostitute Barbara Graham, who, framed and convicted of murder, was to... Read more
Jailhouse Rock ( Blu-ray ) (1957)
6.5/10
Director: Richard Thorpe
Starring: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Dean Jones, Jennifer Holden
Elvis Presley goes to prison for accidentally killing a man in a bar fight, and is signed to a musical contract following his performance on a TV show... Read more
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
6.5/10
Director: Richard Thorpe
Starring: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy
Elvis Presley goes to prison for accidentally killing a man in a bar fight, and is signed to a musical contract following his performance on a TV show... Read more
Girls In Prison (1956)
5.6/10
Director: Edward L Cahn
Starring: Richard Denning, Joan Taylor, Adele Jergens
A 'babes behind bars' film that has it all: a beautiful woman sent to jail on a trumped-up robbery charge, tough inmates looking for a hidden fortune,... Read more
Call Northside 777 (1948)
7.4/10
Director: Henry Hathaway
Starring: James Stewart, Lee J Cobb, Richard Conte, Helen Walker
When a classified ad grabs the attention of Chicago Times editor Brian Kelly (Lee J. Cobb), he sends ace reporter P.J. McNeal (James Stewart) to dig u... Read more
Brute Force (1947)
7.7/10
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Ann Blyth, Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Hume Cronyn, Yvonne De Carlo, Ella...
As hard-hitting as its title, "Brute Force" was the first of Jules Dassin's forays into the crime genre, a prison melodrama that takes a critical look... Read more
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
8/10
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft
A classic Warner Bros 'urban crime drama' of two kids from the wrong side of the tracks - Hell's Kitchen in New York; one becomes a priest (Pat O'Brie... Read more
The Testament of Dr Mabuse (1933)
7.9/10
Director: Fritz Lang
Starring: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke
In this sequel to "Dr Mabuse, The Gambler", Dr Mabuse has been in prison for ten years, plotting his master crimes of chaos and destruction, while hi... Read more
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
8.1/10
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Paul Muni, Helen Vinson
Mervyn LeRoy's searing adaptation of Robert E. Burns' autobiography stars Paul Muni as a drifter unfairly sentenced to 10 years' hard labour on a Geor... Read more