Mi padre fue un criminal

Jimmy Stewart plays real-life inventor Marsh "Carbine" Williams, a not-so-very-nice guy, really. Which is mostly the reason why Stewart wanted to take the part. Marsh Williams is convicted of murder although there was really never any proof. He is a bitter man, proud, trying to spare his family the heartache of seeing him in prison, but they stick by him anyway.

I enjoyed this movie; my favorite part probably being the friendship that slowly develops between inmate Williams and Captain Peoples ("Cap"). Watch for a good scene towards the end where Cap makes his friendship for Williams loud and clear - a true symbol of the trust he had in the alleged killer.

The story of the man, his family, and his friends, is the real story here. The fact that he invented a new kind of gun is a side-note. Interesting, though, the ability he had to build things with bare essentials and his own two hands.

Good movie. Not the typical "everyman" Stewart, but he does a great job in the part.

Jean Hagen (perhaps best known for her role as the ditzy silent-movie star opposite Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain") plays Stewart's wife in the movie.

I joined the Navy in 1951. I saw Carbine Williams before I joined in Tacoma, Wa. I saw it in San Diego ,Ca. before I left for Korea Then it was shown aboard the carrier Kearsarge while in the Sea of Japan.I cant remember where I saw it the next few times but I remember I saw it a total of eight times and enjoyed it more each time I saw it. I was especially happy when Marsh was pardoned for his crime.They didn't know for sure if he shot the government man ,but since he was considered the best shot in the group he was blamed and convicted. It was just a movie with a lot of heart.I would watch it again if I could find a copy. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of this movie I would be very happy.

This is a great story about David Marshall Williams - an independent spirited man who rightfully or wrongfully gets accused of killing a law enforcement officer during a moonshine distillery raid and goes to prison. The twist is that he's not a career criminal but a strait forward man, and also an inventor who comes across wrong during the trial for speaking the event as he believes it, and gets the unfair blame for the death. Williams (Jimmy Stuart) is an honest man who says things as he believes it - which doesn't win him charm points with the prison warden, but has a principle he believes in. Some of his integrity shines through, and although seen as a trouble maker, he is entrusted to be in the machine shop of the prison. There he puts his mind to work and starts working on a new rifle design. During one altercation, he's thrown into solitary confinement where he uses the time to invent the new gas action loading mechanism for his rifle. By this time prison warden Capt. H.T. Peoples (Wendell Corey) is sympathetic with Williams and allows him to develop his idea. He even allows Williams to have time out of prison to spend with his wife. Marshall could have escaped during this time, but he returns to prison again showing his strait forward integrity. On the day Williams completes the design, to test fire the rifle, Capt. Peoples hands Williams the bullet - warden is giving his prisoner a bullet to fire a rifle ! The design works, and Williams applies for patent. Colt fire arms is interested in his design, and visits him in prison to license his design. The design becomes none other than the M1 rifle which became the staple fire arms during WW II for the U.S. military.

This is a great story told by great actors about a man who despite his odds achieved something no short of a miracle. It also tells a story about human heart, that there are good men who can be understanding, generous, and develop friendship despite situations they are placed under. James Stuart play the role of Carbine Williams character perfectly. An honest man of few words, but lives by a principle he believes in. He's an anti-hero of a sorts in this movie, but is my most favorite part he's ever played in a movie. Wendell Corey plays somewhat of a protective role to Williams who he understands is living life too honestly for his own good. Their muted but genuine friendship shines through in this film.

One of the few unknown classic of Hollywood. A marvelous movie to watch.

Ten years before Burt Lancaster came out with the acclaimed Birdman of Alcatraz, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced this neglected gem of a film starring a dark and brooding James Stewart as David Marshall Williams who invented the M-1 carbine rifle while in prison.

Before writing this review I took a look at the wikipedia article on Marsh Williams and found that MGM had stuck pretty close to telling the real story about Williams. For the farmer the Great Depression began after the Armistice was signed and the food they produced was no longer needed to feed troops. Many like Marsh Williams turned to making moonshine, not just as a way of distilling spirits for personal use, but for economic survival. That fact cannot be emphasized enough in telling the Carbine Williams story.

The federal men were seen as taking the bread out of the farmer's mouths in the North Carolina hills and other such places and the rural folk reacted accordingly. Williams was convicted of murdering a federal agent during a raid. He didn't get the death penalty because no one could tell who really fired the fatal shot, but as he was part of the group he shared responsibility. He got thirty years.

Williams was a skilled machinist and after he got over the bitterness of his incarceration with the help of a friendly warden he worked out the design of the weapon that later became the M-1 carbine rifle used by our armed forces in World War II.

James Stewart in developing his character as Marsh Williams borrowed a whole lot from some of the characters in his Anthony Mann westerns. This is not the 'aw shucks' Jimmy we all identify him with, but a very bitter man, as bitter even as George Bailey when he thinks the world's deserted him in It's A Wonderful Life.

Jean Hagen plays the Donna Reed like wife here who with a man incarcerated has a lot more troubles than Ms. Reed dealt with. The third major role is that of Wendell Corey's warden whose belief in Stewart is sustained.

Carbine Williams tread earlier along the same lines that Birdman of Alcatraz did. And in depicting the moonshining community, Carbine Williams shows folks that could have been the ancestors of the family Robert Mitchum was part of in Thunder Road. It's a good story about a man who found his soul and his work in the oddest of places.

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.