Vingt mille ans sous les verrous

A good entry in the early prison-drama cycle.Spencer Tracy is good as the cocky inmate.Arthur Byron has an unusual part as the sympathetic warden of Sing Sing.There aren't too many of them in movies.The action sequences in the movie are expertly handled by Curtiz.Bette Davis does a good job in a small part.Louis Calhern is suitably slimy.The ending is typically of the times in which it were made.

One of the best movies from the early era of sound. Both Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis display the wonderful talents that made them legends. In a time when most films were simplistic and performances still laced with pantomime, this movie truly stands out. The script is clever and engaging and director Michael Curtiz displays his vision and prowess in creating one of the first great crime films.

Spencer Tracy is on death row in "20,000 Years in Sing Sing," a 1932 film from Warner Brothers. Tracy here plays Tom Connors, basically a Cagney role, an arrogant tough guy who plans on taking over the prison. He soon finds that he can't. When he finds out that his girlfriend (Davis) is in critical condition after a car accident, the warden risks his reputation by letting Tom out to see her. The warden is sure that he'll return. But will he? The studio didn't know what to do with Tracy when he first started there - he looked like a character actor, so he was put into Wallace Beery parts and roles like this until they figured him out. His authoritative acting made him suitable for dramatic leads.

Nevertheless, Tracy pulls off this role, and Bette Davis is adorable as his girlfriend Fay. Lyle Talbot is on hand as a fellow prisoner, and Arthur Byron has a good turn as the warden, whom he makes decent and sympathetic.

This is no "I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang," but it's pretty good.

Great Pre-Code prison flick from Warner Bros. stars Spencer Tracy as an arrogant hoodlum sent to prison where he learns he's not the big shot he thought he was. Gradually he's humbled by a stern but fair warden and we learn he's not such a bad guy after all underneath all that tough talk. Tracy's good in an early role. The fine cast backing him up includes Bette Davis, Louis Calhern, Lyle Talbot, and Arthur Byron. This was the only screen pairing of Tracy and Davis. Bette's likable and pretty here with one nice scene to display her melodramatic acting chops. This might be the first prison movie to use the plot device of a convict being granted 24-hour leave for but doesn't return on time for one reason or another. It would be used in other prison dramas in the years to come. I'm not certain this is the first but I think it might be. It's also notable for having many scenes filmed on location in Sing Sing. It's solid entertainment that any fan of the types of crime dramas WB was known for in the '30s will enjoy.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing is directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted to screenplay by Wilson Mizner, Brown Holmes, Courtney Terrett and Robert Lord from the book written by Warden Lewis E. Lawes. It stars Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Lyle Talbot, Arthur Byron, Grant Mitchell and Warren Hymer. Music is by Bernhard Kaun and cinematography by Barney McGill.

Cocksure hoodlum Tom Connors (Tracy) enters Sing Sing Prison and is instantly disrespectful towards those in authority. Could it be that the tough - but compassionate for reform - warden can put Connors on the right road?.

Out of Warner Brothers, this crime/prison melodrama manages to rise above its social conscience heart to become gutsy entertainment. This is due in most part to a committed turn from Tracy, the real location photography, the use of real prisoners for key prison scenes and the sense of realism brought about by the adaption from real life Sing Sing Warden Lawes' literature source. Curtiz manages to keep it from being a torrid "message" movie, even keeping a grim feel to proceedings, though his one failing is not to rein in the sometimes over the top perf from Davis as Tom's love interest moll. 7/10