Carbine Williams

19521952
UnratedUnrated
1h 32m

David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.

7.0/10

1.9K

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James Stewart in Carbine Williams (1952)

James Stewart and Wendell Corey in Carbine Williams (1952)

James Stewart and Jean Hagen in Carbine Williams (1952)

James Stewart, Jean Hagen, and Robert Hyatt in Carbine Williams (1952)

This is the story of David Marshall 'Marsh' Williams, the real life inventor of the world famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in WWII. It all started when Marsh, who was one to do things his way, was caught distilling moonshine, and was accused and convicted of shooting a federal officer in the process. This at first placed him in the chain gang which labeled him as a hard case. Later, to make room for those more deserving, he was moved to a prison farm, where he came under the direction of Captain H.T. Peoples. The Captain was a mild mannered warden, who did not shy from discipline when necessary, but also believed that given the opportunity, most men will respond to good. Believing that Marsh was just such a person, the Captain gave him every opportunity to reform, so much so, that he eventually allowed Marsh to work in the tool shop on his spare time to develop and build by hand, a working rifle, inside the prison farm itself. —Bill Walch <TheWalchs@aol.com>

prison based on true story character name as title nickname in title surname in title 11 more

Taglines
- This is my Story
Genres
Certificate
- Unrated
Parents guide

Trivia
In the film, all of the men working on the still with Williams were white. But in reality, it was five African-American men, all of whom testified against Williams at trial.

Quotes
Marsh Williams: But there isn't enough time Maggie. You can have enough of everything else. You can enough food, you can enough land, you can even have enough money, but you never can have enough time, because it's the only thing you can't save.

Crazy credits
At the beginning of the film - The March, 1951 issue of Reader's Digest published an article in its series. "The Most Unforgettable Character I've Met." That character is David Marshall Williams - and this is his story. He lived it.

Alternate versions
Also available in a computer colorized version.

Top review

8/10

A gun sent him to prison and a gun freed him

This is one of my favorite Jimmy Stewart movies and I feel it's also one of his most under-appreciated. It's a biopic of David Marshall Williams, the inventor of the M1 carbine rifle. Williams was a moonshiner who went to prison for killing a federal agent (a deputy sheriff in reality but changed to a fed here for some reason). While in prison, he works on a new kind of repeating rifle that would be the basis for the carbine invented later.

Stewart dominates the movie and his performance keeps you interested throughout. Jean Hagen and Wendell Corey offer fine support. This is a pretty straightforward and simple biographical movie. There are no bells and whistles. But there's something about it that always appealed to me. Jimmy Stewart fans will love it, I'm sure.

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