La isla de la traición

Champ Larkin (James Craig) and the spartanly named Jimbo (Frank Jenks) are serving their sentences in Alcatraz. The narration by Larkin says that things are not so bad until the war breaks out and all material needed for the inmates to do their jobs - metal and fuel for example - dry up because they are needed on both the homefront and for wartime manufacturing. This causes unbearable boredom on Larkin's part and he and his cellmate break out of Alcatraz.

There have been entire movies made just about trying to break out of Alcatraz, but this programmer makes it look like kindergarten since the escape is not the point. Larkin and Jimbo make it to a lighthouse in the bay and hold the occupants prisoner. The fact that the occupants need to be in constant contact with the authorities to help the war effort means nothing to our escapees, since they are mercenary in character. But then a trio of Nazis show up and become the convicts' accidental hostages. The Nazis are eager to make a deal with the convicts in order to make their rendezvous on time. Will these convicts continue in their mercenary ways? Watch and find out.

James Craig was never an A-list star, but he was pretty good in the Bs of the era. You also have Bonita Granville and Cliff Edwards - who is in the biggest role I've seen him this late in his career. So the quality of the actors in this one makes it worthwhile with pretty good suspense throughout. Also consider that ace noir director Edward Dmytryk is in the director's chair here, so he brings his considerable talents to this production.

Thanks to the fast-moving direction of Edward Dmytryk, SEVEN MILES FROM ALCATRAZ makes for a diverting prison break film, although it definitely shows its B-film origins. In fact, the last twenty minutes is strictly cliffhanger stuff that would have made good material for a Saturday afternoon serial.

It's got lots of wartime propaganda and the plot about Nazi spies using a lighthouse as an operation for their espionage is hard to swallow, but it works as an adventure film with an interesting locale and some competent players.

JAMES CRAIG carries most of the film on his sturdy shoulders, a handsome and rugged leading man who never quite made it to major stardom. FRANK JENKS is "Jimbo", his sidekick, and the supporting cast includes BONITA GRANVILLE (in one of her more underplayed roles), GEORGE CLEVELAND and CLIFF EDWARDS, who does his bug-eyed comic relief with a little too much relish.

There's plenty of action along with the talky moments. Fortunately, the action far outweighs any sense the script makes and is well staged by director Dmytryk. Craig gives one of his livelier performances as the escaped convict with a yen for Granville.

Passes the time quickly and it's easy to get hooked into the spy aspect of the story, but it's nothing special.

Two convicts manage to escape from Alcatraz (they won't tell us how: "trade secrets") and make it to a lighthouse island just off the coast, where they hold 3 men and a woman (Granville) hostage. Luckily for them, the soldier they kill turns out to be a Nazi spy, as they discover when his compatriots arrive in a boat -- just what the 2 convicts need to escape, if they're willing to deal with the Nazis and let them escape with maps of the San Francisco municipal/military works.

Exciting action, some moments of genuine humor, and likeable, human characters make this propaganda pill an easy one to swallow.

The Alcatraz workshop has gone silent during the war as all the needed material gets redirected towards the war effort. Champ Larkin is going stir crazy and ropes his cellmate Jimbo into escaping. They end up stranded on a lighthouse island and take a group of civilians hostage. Then there are the Nazis.

This is a wartime propaganda film. This is the standard message where even the lowest of the low can contribute to the war effort. While I get the message, I don't know if it's the most effective. The plot is already convoluted before the Nazis. Apparently, Nazi operatives were all over the place.

James Craig and Frank Jenks escape "Seven Miles from Alcatraz" in this 1942 propaganda film also starring Bonita Granville and John Banner.

Champ and Jimbo (Craig and Jenks) escape from Alcatraz, as the title says, and manage to get to a lighthouse. They walk into an interesting situation. One of the employees is on the side of the Nazis and feeding messages to the Germans about a submarine - it seems the Germans are trying to invade San Francisco. When they realize what's happening, the crooks and the people at the lighthouse band together, as the Nazis themselves show up.

Bonita Granville marvelously underplays, very different for her, and lets James Craig overplay, not only his role, but the narration as well, with every single line reading in the same snide voice and every character action indicated beforehand. Jenks is good as the sidekick, and it's great to see "Hogan's Heroes" star John Banner young and good-looking as one of the Nazis.

These films were important to the war effort, and this one demonstrates that even criminals were willing to put their own needs aside to fight their country. One of the Hollywood Ten, director Edward Dmytryk was responsible for "The Caine Mutiny," "Broken Lance," and "Crossfire," but also only mediocre such as "The Left Hand of God" and "Soldier of Fortune" and downright schlock such as "Where Love Has Gone" and "The Carpetbaggers." You never really knew what you were going to get with him. I'd say in this case, he did his best with what he had as far as story and cast. And it moves pretty quickly.