Oh yeah, The Great Escape! Good one, definitely one of my favorites that I didn't even think of!

I have a particular soft spot for a few films from Hollywood's Golden Age:

The Big House (1930) starring Wallace Beery and Chester Morris. Turns up on TCM occasionally, and well worth seeing. Won Oscars for writing and for sound recording.

The Criminal Code (1931) with Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes and Boris Karloff. Howard Hawks directed.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) starring Paul Muni. One of the true classics of the genre from the 1930s.

Each Dawn I Die (1939) starring James Cagney. Taking nothing away from White Heat, this one is prime Cagney, with George Raft thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of George Raft, how many of you are old enough to remember a famous Alka-Seltzer TV commercial he did toward the end of his life? It was set in a prison cafeteria and was a classic. I'll bet it's probably available somewhere online for downloading.

Signor V.

What was the one with Alan Alda and Vic Morrow with Alda as the professor who got sentenced and then got killed at the end in a prison riot? Aroung 1970-71.

I also liked Bikini Chain Gang.

The Glass house?

Yep, that's the one.

Great film, but I haven't seen it in well over twenty years.

Signor V.

Wow, Glass House..... it sure rings a bell. I think I did see it. If I am thinking of the right one it was way back in the 70's. I don't know that I've seen it since though. I'll check for the storyline and see if I remember it.


TIS

"Captain Munsey is now Warden Munsey..."
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"
I'm gonna watch it next week!

Absolutely! The pinnacle WWII propaganda film. My soft spot for WWII films made during WWII is almost as big as the one for prison movies. And "The Purple Heart" beats all of them--even "Wake Island," "Back to Bataan" and "Gung Ho."

"Sick? Sick? He's never been sick a day in his life. What did you do to him, you fiends!!!"

Superior made-for-tv film. From a story by Truman Capote. Terrific acting all the way round. Vic Morrow, who was to smirking-thug roles what Elisha Cook Jr. was to fall-guy roles, was never more calculatingly vicious than in "Glass House." The guy could have been in "Oz."
And a tip of the beenie to RR and PB for opening up this thread.

Don't forget the future Don Barzini as Lt. Canelli!

I dig Lancaster and John Frakenheimer, but I can't ever watch that movie, considering that the real life "Birdman" was a pedophile. How can I root for a pedophile?

Does reform school count?

Ronnie's mention of pedophilia reminded me of Kevin Bacon telling the kid he wanted a blowjob in SLEEPERS (1996).

My favorite prison SCENE ever is, of course, Paulie slicing the garlic in GOODFELLAS.

"It was a very good system."

I always wondered about the bribery portrayed in that scene because I was under the impression that federal prisons were pretty much immune to bribery.

By the way, maybe others noted that in the movie Hoffa, he is talking to his wife in federal prison, but on the wall behind them is the seal of the State of Pennsylvania.

Great catch Olivant!

I'm not a big fan of the film HOFFA because there are so many innacuracies, but I own it, anyway. I'm gonna check it out right now.

My problem with HOFFA is that its just such a botched script and Danny DeVito never could, nor will, cut the mustard as a director.

I dig David Mamet, but why can't he and the producers simply create a drama revolving around a Hoffa-esque figure? (the CITIZEN KANE scenario) and basically use truths of the real Hoffa, but some fiction would be allowable as well.

I mean seriously, you have Nicholson and Mamet....and about Jimmy bloody Hoffa...and its DULL?

Thats an accomplishment. A dubious one, but Hoffa's story fighting for his precious Teamsters, and ultimately destroying it with an ill-fated alliance with the Mafia...thats a riveting tragic story right there.

Then again, FANTASTIC FOUR 2 took the greatest of the comic book stories ever penned when Silver Surfer and his master Galactus arrive to Earth.....

...and made it lame.

Incredible! Will wonders ever cease?

Federal prisons aren't immuned. Maybe tougher to bribe than state joints, but nobody is immuned.

Jimmy Hoffa's story, while interesting, just is not that dramatic. Maybe it could have been directed in a more dramatic fashion, but there's not much there to begin with.

Well, Stallone kind of did that with FIST, a pretty good movie.

I actually liked FIST very much when it first came out.

My favourite prison movies:

Lock Up.
The Green Mile.
The Last Castle.
The Shawshank Redemption.

And don't forget the scenes in Goodfellas where Paulie is slicing the garlic.

Last night I finally saw the 2005 Adam Sandler remake of "The Longest Yard." Not as good as the original, but a pretty funny movie in its own right. The difference being that this one was a flat out comedy, where the original had quite a bit of drama in it. But I'm still not buying Sandler as any kind of athlete. Ever.

The original was a good example of 70s cinema, with the antihero lashing back against the conservative establishment, "The Man." Sandler's remake was another typical comedy of his, though timely castings like Michael Irvin was money in the bank. Plus "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was basically the heel version of his Texas Rattlesnake wrestling character.

But because its a typical Sandler comedy, reusing the original's ending, it lacks the power and nuance because of the narrative context.

Did Capo ghostwrite this for you?

Was I that pretentious?

No one is that pretentious .

But in all honesty, I do miss the guy. I hope he's well.

Has anybody seen Lock Up with Sly?,decent film..

DeNiro, I forgot about that one. I saw it and liked but it's been a long time since I've seen it.




TIS

Came here to see if this movie had been mentioned.

Was not disappointed.

Came here to see if this movie had been mentioned.

Was not disappointed.

Does anyone remember Blood In, Blood Out? Kinda tame by todays standards, but that movie scarred me as a kid. Especially the prison scenes.

I cant for the life of me remember the title right now, but Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence starred in a prison style comedy a while back. While no high art, it was funny enough as I recall.

Dammit, I have some googling to do. Its on the tip of my tongue.

You're thinking about 'Life'. Always enjoyed that movie. When they finally escape from jail, they are in their eighties.