Prison Break Classics 12 Movie Pack

Prison Break Classics 12 Movie Pack
Customer Review: Movies of "convict"ion
ST. CLAIR DVD multi-packs are reasonably priced, and offer fine quality video/audio transfers of unrestored public domain material. Discs are single-side recorded, plastic storage cases fairly sturdy, liner notes appear on box's back cover. Like gangster movies, prison films enjoyed a heyday in the 1930s and '40s. The dozen hour-length B&W examples from that era in the PRISON BREAK CLASSICS movie box set were made by indie studios such as Mercury, Invincible, K.B.S. and Monogram (which would one day become Allied Artists). The stories here are gritty, and the jailed men and women desperate at times. Highlights include: PRISON BREAK-- Character actor Barton MacLane gets a starring role in the story of a wrongly imprisoned fishing boat captain who protects a friend by confessing to a crime he didn't commit. Ward Bond is excellent as MacLane's nemesis. THE OUTER GATE-- Known primarily as a western movie supporting player, here Ben Alexander portrays a man framed by his boss for embezzlement. A further complication is Ben is in love with the bad guy's daughter. THE LAST MILE-- Based on a stageplay. A man, supposedly-innocent-of-murder, arrives on Death Row just before a sadistic inmate instigates a prison break. While he's on the outside, the man's friends try to prove his innocence. LADY GANGSTER-- A typical yarn of false imprisonment is distinguished by its future-star supporting players: Jackie Gleason (Ralph Kramden on TV's "The Honeymooners") and William Hopper (son of gossip columnist Hedda, he would one day portray detective Paul Drake on "Perry Mason"). The INVITATION TO MURDER 10 Movie Pack, also from ST. CLAIR, would make a fine companion to this DVD set. . Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website. DISC ONE-- (3.8) Convicts At Large (1938) - Ralph Forbes/Paula Stone/William Royle (6.5) Prison Break (1938) - Barton MacLane/Glenda Farrell/Paul Hurst/Constance Moore/Ward Bond (6.3) The Outer Gate (1937) - Ralph Morgan/Kay Linaker/Ben Alexander (7.2) The Last Mile (1932) - Preston Foster/Howard Phillips/George E. Stone BONUS: Trivia DISC TWO-- (5.3) Men of San Quentin (1942) - J. Anthony Hughes/Eleanor Stewart/Dick Curtis (5.3) Bridge of Sighs (1936) - Onslow Stevens/Dorothy Tree/Jack La Rue/Paul Fix (6.0) Lady Gangster (1940) - Faye Emerson/Frank Wilcox/Jackie Gleason/William Hopper (6.0) Prison Train (1938) - Fred Keating/Dorothy Comingore/Clarence Muse/Faith Bacon BONUS: Famous Prison Breaks DISC THREE-- (5.5) Mutiny in the Big House (1939) - Charles Bickford/Barton MacLane/Pat Moriarity (3.5) Boys' Reformatory (1939) - Frankie Darro/Grant Withers/Lillian Elliot (5.7) Buried Alive (1939) - Beverly Roberts/Robert Wilcox/Ben Alexander (5.1) Prison Shadows (1936) - Edward J. Nugent/Lucille Lund/Joan Barclay BONUS: "Dragnet" (radio program)