Connection
Penitentiary is a american film of genre Drama directed by John Brahm released in USA on 5 february 1938 with Walter Connolly
Penitentiary (1938)
If you like this film, let us know!
- Infos
- Casting
- Technical infos
- Photos
- Videos
- Film quotes
- Characters
- Music
- Awards
Add to a movie listReleased in USA 5 february 1938
Length 1h19
Directed by John Brahm
OriginUSA
Themes Prison films
Rating62%
Penitentiary is a 1938 American crime film directed by John Brahm starring Walter Connolly, John Howard, Jean Parker and Robert Barrat. It was the second Columbia Pictures film adaptation of the 1929 stage play The Criminal Code by Martin Flavin, after Howard Hawk's The Criminal Code (1931) and followed by Henry Levin's Convicted (1950).
Synopsis
William Jordan (Howard) is befriended by the man who sent him to prison on a manslaughter charge, former DA now prison warden Matthews (Connolly). In order to give Jordan the opportunity to rehabilitate himself Matthews allows him to work as chauffeur to his daughter Elizabeth (Parker), though he's a bit uncomfortable when Elizabeth falls in love with the young convict. All of this extra effort goes out the window when Jordan, adhering to the "criminal code" of never snitching on a fellow con, allows himself to be implicated in the murder of another convict. Jordan is saved from the death penalty by a last-minute confession of his hard-bitten but honorable cellmate.Actors
Walter Connolly
(Dist. Atty. Thomas Mathews)
John Howard
(William Jordan)
Jean Parker
(Elizabeth Mathews)
Robert Barrat
(Prison Yard Capt. Grady)
Marc Lawrence
(Jack Hawkins)
Comments
Leave comment :
Suggestions of similar film to Penitentiary
There are 230 films with the same actors, 26 films with the same director, 78564 with the same cinematographic genres (including 276 with exactly the same 4 genres than Penitentiary), 748 films with the same themes, to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.If you liked Penitentiary, you will probably like those similar films :
Captured! (1933)
, 1h9Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes Prison films, Political films, Évasion
Actors Leslie Howard, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Robert Barrat, Paul Lukas, Arthur Hohl, Margaret Lindsay
Rating64%
British Captain Fred Allison (Leslie Howard) bids farewell to his new wife, Monica (Margaret Lindsay), whom he has only known for six days, and sets out for the war. He ends up a prisoner of war (POW), tortured by the fact that his wife has not written to him since the early days of his two year captivity.
The Undying Monster (1942)
, 1hDirected by John Brahm
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Horror
Themes Films about animals, Wolves in film, Werewolves in film
Actors James Ellison, John Howard, Heather Angel, John Brahm, Bramwell Fletcher, Heather Thatcher
Rating60%
The Hammond family has been cursed since the Crusades, with family members dying or committing suicide under mysterious circumstances. When two people, including Oliver Hammond (John Howard) are attacked by an unknown creature, Robert Curtis (James Ellison) and his sidekick Christy (Heather Thatcher) are dispatched to investigate. Although the local townspeople are convinced that the attacks are the result of a curse upon the Hammond family, Curtis believes that he will be able to find a more scientific explanation for the attacks.
Out of Sight (1998)
, 2h3Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Action, Crime, Romance
Themes Prison films, Psychologie, Évasion, Heist films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina, Steve Zahn
Rating69%
A career bank robber, Jack Foley (George Clooney), and a U.S. Marshal, Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez), are forced to share a car trunk during Foley's escape from a Florida prison. After he completes his getaway, Foley is chased by Sisco while he and his friends—right-hand man Buddy (Ving Rhames) and unreliable associate Glenn (Steve Zahn)—work their way north to Bloomfield Hills, a wealthy northern suburb of Detroit. There they plan to pay a visit to shady businessman Ripley (Albert Brooks), who foolishly bragged to them in prison years before about a cache of uncut diamonds hidden in his home.
Greenfingers (2001)
, 1h31Directed by Joel Hershman
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Comedy, Action, Crime, Romance
Themes Environmental films, Prison films
Actors Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Lucy Punch, David Kelly, Natasha Little, Warren Clarke
Rating67%
When Colin Briggs is placed in an experimental program to finish off his prison sentence, all he wants is peace and quiet. After his wise, elderly roommate Fergus introduces him to gardening, Colin uncovers a talent and passion for plants. Teaming up with his fellow inmates, Colin gets the attention of celebrated gardener Georgina Woodhouse. Soon, the unexpected gardeners are preparing to compete for the Hampton Court Flower Show. When Colin meets Georgina's beautiful daughter Primrose, he discovers another reason to fight for his freedom: true love.
I Love You Phillip Morris (2010)
, 1h33Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Action, Crime, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Prison films, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Évasion, Escroquerie, LGBT-related films, HIV/AIDS in film, LGBT-related film
Actors Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Rodrigo Santoro, Leslie Mann, Brennan Brown, Michael Showers
Rating65%
Steven Jay Russell (Jim Carrey) is on his deathbed, recalling the events of his life that led him to this point. He spent his early adult years in Virginia Beach as a police officer. He plays the organ at church, has unenthusiastic sex with his wife, Debbie (Leslie Mann), and spends his off hours searching for his biological mother, who placed him for adoption as a child. Steven locates his biological mother, but she rejects him.
Murder in the Big House (1942)
, 59minutesDirected by B. Reeves Eason
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Crime, Romance
Themes Prison films
Actors Van Johnson, Faye Emerson, George Meeker, Frank Wilcox, Joseph Crehan, Tod Andrews
Rating62%
Upon receiving a message from death row inmate "Dapper Dan" Malloy (Michael Ames), "Scoop" Conner (George Meeker), top investigative reporter for the Morning News, visits him in prison and learns that before he is to die in the electric chair the following day, Malloy intends to incriminate some top officials complicit in corruption and the murder of the district attorney for which Malloy and his criminal associate "Mile-Away" Gordon (Roland Drew) were sentenced. Trying to prevent the exposure, Malloy's lawyer Bill Burgen (Douglas Wood), himself a member of the corrupt clique, falsely comforts Malloy with the claim that the governor will pardon him after first commuting the sentence to life imprisonment during a radio speech.
The Next Three Days (2010)
, 2h10Directed by Paul Haggis
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime, Romance
Themes Prison films, Films about capital punishment
Actors Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson, Ty Simpkins
Rating72%
Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) is convicted of murdering her boss and is sentenced to life in prison. The evidence seems impossible to dispute: her car is parked right next to the car of her boss, she is seen leaving the crime scene seconds before the body is discovered, the murder weapon (a fire extinguisher) has her fingerprints on it and she has the victim's blood on the back of her overcoat. Following the failure of her appeal, Lara's husband John Brennan (Russell Crowe), a professor at a community college, becomes obsessed with the idea of breaking her out of jail, while their son Luke ceases to acknowledge her during their prison visits, saddening Lara. One day, she attempts suicide, and tells John that she cannot survive a life in prison. John promises that this will not be her life.
Singapore (1947)
, 1h19Directed by John Brahm
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Action, Adventure, Crime, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Seafaring films, Transport films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities
Actors Fred MacMurray, Ava Gardner, Roland Culver, Richard Haydn, Spring Byington, Thomas Gomez
Rating63%
Pearl smuggler Matt Gordon (MacMurray) finds romance with Linda Grahame (Gardner) just before the start of World War II. He proposes to her, and she accepts. However, when the Japanese attack Singapore, the church where she is waiting to marry him is bombed; Gordon searches frantically in the wreckage, but cannot find her. He is forced to sail away on his schooner.
American Me (1992)
, 2h5Directed by Edward James Olmos
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Biography, Action, Crime, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Prison films, Films about drugs, Hip hop films, Gangster films
Actors William Forsythe, Edward James Olmos, Pepe Serna, Jacob Vargas, Eric Close, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Rating71%
The film depicts 30 years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles. It focuses on Montoya Santana, a teen who, with his friends, J.D. (Steve Wilcox) and Mundo (Richard Coca), form their own gang. They soon find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time and are arrested.
Get the Gringo (2012)
, 1h36Directed by Adrian Grünberg, Adrian Grünberg
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Prison films, Children's films
Actors Mel Gibson, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Peter Stormare, Dolores Heredia, Dean Norris, Bob Gunton
Rating68%
The film opens with a getaway driver (Mel Gibson) and a wounded accomplice dressed as clowns fleeing from American police toward the Mexican border. The driver crashes through the border fence, whereupon he is arrested by corrupt Mexican police officers Vasquez (Mario Zaragoza) and Romero (Gerardo Teracena). When they find over $2 million in the car, they incarcerate him in El Pueblito prison under false charges, keep the cash for themselves, and cremate the accomplice, who by then has died. As one of the only Americans incarcerated there, the driver becomes known as "the Gringo". El Pueblito proves surprising, operating more like a small ghetto than a prison. The Gringo quickly manages to work out the prison's criminal hierarchy and engages in petty thefts and robberies from some of the prison's less reputable businesses. One of these thefts is witnessed by an unnamed kid (Kevin Hernandez) who is living with his incarcerated mother (Dolores Heredia) and is protected by the prison's criminals. Curious, the Gringo presses him to explain why the criminals protect him, but the Kid refuses.