I saw this film for the first time on Talking Pictures TV channel the other night and was expecting it to be something like 'The Criminal' (1960) but perhaps I was being unrealistic, given that 'Barrabas' was made some eleven years earlier. It is too cosy a depiction of prison life and ends rather abruptly, without bothering to show the execution of the murderer who is the one of the main characters. No riots or escapes. There is also too much focus on the romantic lives of the inmates for modern tastes.
Interestingly though, although having not being released until 1949, the dialogue in one or two scenes suggests that it is set a few years earlier during the war.
Interestingly though, although having not being released until 1949, the dialogue in one or two scenes suggests that it is set a few years earlier during the war.