Convicted (1950)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Henry Levin

Writers:

Martin Flavin (play)
William Bowers (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

August 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

Two powerful stars in a drama of a convict's love for a warden's daughter!

Plot:

A prison warden comes to believe that an inmate in his facility has been wrongly convicted, and sets out to help prove his innocence.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Self Defense | Brawl | Chauffeur | Attorney

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Joe Hufford
Broderick Crawford	...	George Knowland
Millard Mitchell	...	Malloby
Dorothy Malone	...	Kay Knowland
Carl Benton Reid	...	Captain Douglas
Frank Faylen	...	Convict Ponti
Will Geer	...	Convict Mapes
Martha Stewart	...	Bertie Williams
Henry O'Neill	...	Detective Dorn
Douglas Kennedy	...	Det. Bailey
Roland Winters	...	Vernon Bradley, Attorney
Ed Begley	...	Mackay, Head of Parole Board
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wilton Graff	...	Dr. Agar (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

One Way Out (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #14395) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

George Knowland: A first year law clerk could win this case with an IQ of 50.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Penitentiary (1938)

These are the men i was forced to live with.

Joe Hufford is an honest and affable man, but during an altercation in a bar, he punches out a man who sadly dies from banging his head on the floor. All and sundry realise that this is a tragic accident, including the prosecuting DA who tries to feed the inept defence lawyer ammunition in which to keep Hufford out of jail. Found guilty, Joe is sentenced to one to ten years in the pen, working hard and buoyed by the support of his fragile father on the outside, Joe gets about doing his time and hoping for parole, but bad news comes his way and pretty soon Joe's term in jail will turn bitter, can the new warden and his pretty daughter be his salvation?.

Incarceration based films is a favourite genre of mine, so you can imagine how delighted i am when i happen upon a first time viewing. When the said film turns out to be a positive delight, well i'm in incarceration heaven!. Convicted, directed by Henry Levin, adapted by William Bowers from Martin Flavin's play, and starring Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell and Dorothy Malone {Ed Begley has a cameo}, is not so much underrated i feel, more like under seen and sadly forgotten.

One of the erstwhile reviewers here has suggested that this picture offers nothing new and that we have seen it all before!, really, in 1950?, are you sure?. Truth is, that in spite of this being an update of Flavin's own 1931 piece, The Criminal Code, is that yes this film now looks like standard formula, unlucky prisoner forced to join the convict code of ethics, the yellow snake in the grass, tough guards, the planned break outs, the crusty old lag destined to enact revenge for injustice, but few prison based pictures from the black and white era are as tight and as enjoyable as this one. It boasts a wonderfully reined in performance from Glenn Ford as Hufford, the first quarter where Hufford is struck by the incredulity of his situation, is particularly memorable stuff from Ford. Then we also get a special effort from Crawford as DA/Warden Knowland, one scene as he fearlessly walks amongst the cons is a genre highlight to me. But both these men are in the shadow of a quite grizzled and effective turn from Millard Mitchell as Malloby, it quickly became one of my favourite bitter lag performances.

It's not without failings, the love interest is misplaced and clearly improbable in practicality {tho it should be noted that Dorothy Malone is fine here as Kay Knowland}, and the finale blows out the basis for "solitary" confinement completely. But really to me these are minor quibbles for a 1950 prison based picture, steadily directed and acted with skill, it also benefits from the considerable talents of Burnett Guffey in the photography department. All in all it's a fine picture that i highly recommend to genre hound dogs such as myself, you can probably knock off a point for my obvious bias, but i'm definitely giving this one 8/10.