Film Noir: Prison Movies.
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- DirectorDon SiegelStarsNeville BrandEmile MeyerFrank FaylenFed up with the inhumane prison living conditions, a general prison riot breaks out, leading to hostage-taking, a stand-off with the guards and eventual negotiations with the prison administration officials.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSusan HaywardSimon OaklandVirginia VincentA prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBurt LancasterHume CronynCharles BickfordAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsEleanor ParkerAgnes MooreheadEllen CorbyA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames CagneyBarbara PaytonHelena CarterStarting with a violent prison break, clever, ruthless Ralph Cotter corrupts everyone around him.
- DirectorSteve SekelyStarsJean ParkerLionel AtwillDouglas FowleyA young woman is on Death Row for the murder of a man who was blackmailing her family, although she claims she was framed. Her fiance', a doctor who is conducting experiments on reviving the dead, also happens to be the state's executioner, and is assigned to pull the switch when she is strapped into the electric chair. A famous criminologist, believing her to be innocent, rushes to investigate the case and clear her before her execution date.
- DirectorAnthony MannStarsDennis O'KeefeClaire TrevorMarsha HuntJoe Sullivan (Dennis O'Keefe) has taken the rap for Rick (Raymond Burr), who double-crosses him with a flawed escape plan and other means intended to get rid of him.
- DirectorJames CruzeStarsHenry WilcoxonMarian MarshBernadene HayesA state prison is threatened by approaching floods, an epidemic of typhoid fever breaks out among the inmates, the prison's only doctor falls sick, there are only three nurses to administer vaccines and take care of stricken patients--and a group of prisoners is planning to use the chaos as a cover for a mass escape.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsGlenn FordBroderick CrawfordMillard MitchellA D.A. becomes the prison warden where he tries to help an inmate he prosecuted, because he believes his sentence was excessive.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsPat O'BrienAnn SheridanHumphrey BogartAn army trainer becomes captain of the prison yard and in time, falls for the sister of a hardened inmate.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsRichard DenningJoan TaylorAdele JergensAnne Carson, meeting the seamy side of prison life, finds that everyone thinks she knows where unrecovered bank loot is.
- DirectorPaul SloaneStarsSally ParrPatrick WaltzWalter ReedA young man who insists that he is innocent is slated to be the first executed in the prison's electric chair.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsLloyd BridgesBarbara PaytonJohn HoytSecret Service agents make a deal with a counterfeiting inmate to be released on early parole if he will help them recover some bogus moneymaking plates, but he plans to double cross them.
- DirectorFred F. SearsStarsWilliam CampbellR. Wright CampbellMarian CarrWhit, condemned and awaiting execution, reviews the events of his life that has brought him to Cell 2455 on San Quentin's Death Row, a story he had told in a autobiography that became a sensational best-seller. As a boy, the young Whit stole groceries to help feed his impoverished family, later moving on into major crime to impress a young gang moll, Jo-Anne, and turns into a cold-blooded thug when he is repudiated by the girl he loves, Doll. And by his own lawyer when he is arrested and tried as the infamous Lover's Lane Bandit. In cell 2455, he studies law to the point where he wins stay after stay, twice within minutes of his scheduled execution.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsSpencer TracyBette DavisArthur ByronBrash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDiana DorsYvonne MitchellMichael CraigWoman abused by men meets a man she thinks loves her. He cheats, she kills his mistress. Based on Ruth Ellis, last woman executed in Britain. Less than
- DirectorWalter DonigerStarsPerry LopezBeverly GarlandWalter AbelA power struggle emerges among convicts condemned to prison life.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsIda LupinoJan SterlingCleo MooreA sadistic prison warden takes out her sexual frustration on her women inmates. While a caring physician tries to improve the jail's brutal atmosphere, a pair of rebellious inmates take matters into their own hands.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsSally GrayTrevor HowardGriffith JonesAfter WW2, former RAF airman Clem Morgan joins a gang of black-market smugglers-thieves but when a robbery goes wrong, Clem is caught , framed for a policeman's murder, and is sent to prison where he plots his escape and revenge.
- DirectorCrane WilburStarsRichard BasehartMarilyn MaxwellSigne HassoA paroled convict's infatuation with a gold-digger nurse working at a sanitarium leads him to crime.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsEdward G. RobinsonSusan HaywardRichard ConteAfter years in prison, Max promises revenge on his brothers for their betrayal. His lover Irene and memories of his past yield him a broader perspective.
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyGeorge RaftJane BryanA corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
- DirectorHoward W. KochStarsMickey RooneyFrank OvertonMichael ConstantineA prison break is attempted the same night an execution occurs on death row.
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
- DirectorR.G. SpringsteenStarsGene EvansRobert BlakeTimothy CareyGannon is an imprisoned racketeer kingpin who tries to manipulate his young cell mate into staging a riot and prison break, but the cell mate tries to back out when he realizes other inmates may be killed in the process.
- DirectorLewis AllenStarsEdward G. RobinsonNina FochHugh MarloweAfter an overly aggressive district attorney unknowingly sends an innocent man to the chair, he resigns, turns to drinking, and acquires a criminal clientèle.
- DirectorCrane WilburStarsScott BradyJeff CoreyWhit BissellTwelve inmates plan a prison break from the Colorado State Penitentiary but one of them reluctantly joins the group.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsHoward DuffShelley WintersDan DuryeaUS Treasury agent George Morton persuades convicted criminal Johnny Evans to help him destroy a drug smuggling ring in exchange for early parole.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsVictor MatureBrian DonlevyColeen GrayA crook arrested for a jewelry heist initially refuses to give up his accomplices, but he changes his mind once his wife dies under worrying circumstances.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsSylvia SidneyHenry FondaBarton MacLaneThe public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
- DirectorTed TetzlaffStarsRichard ConteAudrey TotterJohn McIntireAfter a cunning, unscrupulous mobster is sentenced to a Florida prison farm, he launches a deadly escape plan.
- DirectorRussell RouseStarsJack PalanceHarold J. StoneEdward PlattSan Quentin prison inmate Arnie Judlow asks his twin brother Bill and his wife Ruth to assist him in a daring escape plan.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsGeorge RaftVirginia MayoGene LockhartThe former employee of a trucking company, currently in prison for embezzlement, plans his eventual revenge against his former boss.
- DirectorAbner BibermanStarsTom TullySylvia SidneyBetty LynnA group of convicts break out of prison, killing a guard, kidnapping the warden and forcing a reluctant inmate to accompany them. However, when a car accident kills everyone except the warden and the inmate hostage, the warden steals $100,000 of the gang's money, then when police arrive he accuses the inmate of the guard's murder in order to cover up his own crime.
- DirectorJack BernhardStarsJean GillieEdward NorrisRobert ArmstrongA mortally wounded female gangster recounts how she and her gang revived an executed killer from the gas chamber, to try and find out where he buried a fortune in cash.
- DirectorBretaigne WindustRaoul WalshStarsHumphrey BogartZero MostelTed de CorsiaA crusading district attorney finally gets a chance to prosecute the organizer and boss of Murder Inc.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsJohn GarfieldPriscilla LaneAlan HaleEmbittered after serving time for a burglary he did not commit, Joe Bell is soon back in jail, on a prison farm. His love for the foreman's daughter leads to a fight between them, resulting to the older man's death due to a weak heart. Joe and Mabel go on the run as he thinks no-one would believe a nobody like him.
- DirectorBudd BoetticherStarsJoseph CottenRhonda FlemingWendell CoreyAn unhinged, deceptively mild-mannered bank robber escapes prison, seeking revenge on the cop who accidentally killed his wife during a gun battle.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsPhillips HolmesWalter HustonAnita PageJudge and his mistress are investigated on suspicions of corruption.
- DirectorCrane WilburStarsSteve CochranDavid BrianPhilip CareyAt California's Folsom Prison, escape attempts and riots are on the rise due to the old-school sadistic style of management of a brutal warden.
- DirectorHugo FregoneseStarsEdward G. RobinsonJean ParkerPeter GravesGangster Vincent Canelli and bank robber Peter Manning escape from Death Row minutes before their execution by electric chair.
- DirectorLloyd BaconStarsGeorge RaftJane BryanWilliam HoldenAn ex-con who wants to go straight has difficulties trying to reintegrate into society while on parole.
- DirectorDelmer DavesStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallBruce BennettA man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try to prove his innocence.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
- DirectorRowland BrownStarsGeorge BancroftJudith AndersonFrances DeeBill Bailey (George Bancroft) is a Los Angeles, California bail bondsman who lives in a world of complete, casual corruption, where all he has to do is pick up the phone to get the charges against a client dismissed. He falls in love with a slumming socialite who bluntly and startlingly declares her sexual preferences with this immortal line: "If I could find a man who would be my master and give me a good thrashing, I'd follow him around like a dog on a leash."
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDana AndrewsJoan FontaineSidney BlackmerA novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsTyrone PowerDorothy LamourEdward ArnoldThe son of a jailed Wall Street broker turns to crime to pay for his father's release.
- DirectorHugo HaasStarsJohn AgarCleo MooreFrank DeKovaA condemned murderer, scheduled to hang in the morning, asks for the company of a woman in his final hours.
- DirectorJosef von SternbergStarsGeorge BancroftFay WrayRichard ArlenA criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
- DirectorMaxwell ShaneStarsFarley GrangerAnthony QuinnAnne BancroftA mobster (Quinn) springs a condemned murderer (Granger) because he got his sister (Bancroft) pregnant.
- DirectorHoward W. KochStarsBroderick CrawfordRalph MeekerReed HadleyGerry Barker finds a lost boy whose rich father is extorted into paying a ransom for his return but the boy accidentally dies and Gerry goes to prison.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsJoan CrawfordRobert ArmstrongMarie PrevostMary Turner goes up for three years on a crime she didn't commit. Once out she and former prison mates plan a scam in which old men can be sued for breach of promise - the "heart balm" racket. After plotting verious ways to get back at the men who set her up initially, she softens and settles down.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsJack KellyHildy ParksVince EdwardsA group of convicted felons take over a suburban house to escape the ongoing police manhunt, turning the life of the family living there into a nightmare.
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsCathy O'DonnellFarley GrangerHoward Da SilvaAn escaped convict injured during a robbery falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsTony CurtisGeorge NaderJulie AdamsThe emotional story of a lifelong friendship between a Boston rookie cop and a young street-wise delinquent.
- DirectorGeorge WaggnerStarsWilliam GarganJune ClydeJohn LitelA detective begins to suspect that a man may be in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
- DirectorHall BartlettStarsElroy 'Crazylegs' HirschBarbara HaleChester MorrisA convict in a medium-security prison is torn between his need to finish his sentence and get back to his wife and family, and his desire to escape the confines of prison.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsDorothy McGuireStephen McNallyMary MurphyAfter serving 18 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a mobster is paroled and returns to a New Mexico town to exact his revenge on the woman responsible for his conviction.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsHumphrey BogartIrene ManningRichard TravisFearing life in prison for a fourth offense, convict Duke Berne pulls out of an armored car robbery, planned by his crooked lawyer, but he is framed for the robbery anyway.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsVan HeflinRobert RyanJanet LeighAn embittered, vengeful POW stalks his former commanding officer who betrayed his men's planned escape attempt from a Nazi prison camp.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsBrian DonlevyElla RainesCharles CoburnA unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsHumphrey BogartGale PageBilly HalopYouthful tough Johnnie Stone has fallen under the influence of petty crook Frank Wilson, who involves him and robbery and murder using his sister's boyfriend's stolen gun.