Mutiny in the Big House (1939)

A tireless priest remains convinced he can turn around the lives of convicts.

Johnny Gates (Dennis Moore) - presumably no relation to Bill - has been sent to prison for forgery. The prison chaplain Father Joe (Charles Bickford) is convinced men can be reformed and become model citizens again, though old lags and the prison guards and governor remain unconvinced. Johnny's cellmate Red (Barton MacLane) sees an opportunity to use Johnny to attempt a prison break...

The moralising is laid on a bit thick at times but this is a solid prison drama, tough and dramatic in the right places. The message is good, prison need not be a dead end and reform is possible, though it is a message often forgotten about these days.

Condemned! (1929)

A good early talkie. Michel (Ronald Colman) is a Parisian thief who has been sent to the brutal Devil Island prison. There is no escape the hard and unpleasant warden (Dudley Diggs) growls at the newly arrived convicts. The prison is between a jungle full of fever and the seas full of sharks...

The warden desires a house boy for his nervous wife (Ann Harding) and chooses the suave Michel. The nervous wife soon thaws for Michel but gossip reaches the warden who puts Michel in solitary and wants to send his wife back to Paris. Michel plans to escape... with her.

This is one of the better early talkies, not static as they often were. The plot is a little unbelievable though the leads give good though not flawless performances.