I'm all for movies that point out inhumane conditions even if they're in prison. "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (1932) was an excellent movie that pointed out the inhumane conditions at prison camps in the south. "Hell's Highway" isn't too bad either.
Frank 'Duke' Ellis (Richard Dix) and others were convicts in a prison labor camp. They were tasked with finishing a highway that a soulless contractor named William Billings (Oscar Apfel) was building with prison labor. The contractor didn't have direct control of the prison labor, but he could lean on the prison guards to make them force the prisoners to work harder and faster.
One of the main tools of "reform" that the guards used was the sweatbox. If you've seen "Emperor Jones" (1933) or "Django Unchained" (2012) then you know what it is. It's an outhouse sized shed with no windows or ventilation and it's a death trap. Guards happily killed prisoners in such devices if they worked too slow, were insubordinate, or any one of other offenses.
Duke, the main character, had plans to break out of prison until his brother Johnny (Tom Brown) was put into the same prison. If Duke left, who would look out for the young fool?
As much as "Hell's Highway" showed, it didn't show enough. I think the movie could've gone even deeper and showed even more how sinister of an operation most, if not all, prison labor camps were. For more appreciation of the injustice of the system and the inhumanity of the camps, see "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang." "Hell's Highway" is just an appetizer.
Free on Plex.
Frank 'Duke' Ellis (Richard Dix) and others were convicts in a prison labor camp. They were tasked with finishing a highway that a soulless contractor named William Billings (Oscar Apfel) was building with prison labor. The contractor didn't have direct control of the prison labor, but he could lean on the prison guards to make them force the prisoners to work harder and faster.
One of the main tools of "reform" that the guards used was the sweatbox. If you've seen "Emperor Jones" (1933) or "Django Unchained" (2012) then you know what it is. It's an outhouse sized shed with no windows or ventilation and it's a death trap. Guards happily killed prisoners in such devices if they worked too slow, were insubordinate, or any one of other offenses.
Duke, the main character, had plans to break out of prison until his brother Johnny (Tom Brown) was put into the same prison. If Duke left, who would look out for the young fool?
As much as "Hell's Highway" showed, it didn't show enough. I think the movie could've gone even deeper and showed even more how sinister of an operation most, if not all, prison labor camps were. For more appreciation of the injustice of the system and the inhumanity of the camps, see "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang." "Hell's Highway" is just an appetizer.
Free on Plex.