La loi des bagnards

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. However, 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 on IMDb 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 - an unlucky prisoner is 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 arguably 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, with 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, so much so 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 (though 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.

This is your no-frills prison yarn of a man convicted for involuntary manslaughter. The chief asset of this film is the cast, which is led by the highly competent Broderick Crawford and the talented Glenn Ford. The supporting cast does a great job as well. The filming is stark and realistic. Crawford does some of his best work in this film and Ford is very convincing as the tough luck convict trying to stay straight. Worth viewing.

Broderick Crawford plays a district attorney that reluctantly prosecutes a defendant for accidentally killing a man in a fist fight in defense of a lady's honor. Realizing that Ford was being severely under-defended by his own lawyer, Crawford tries to pass every break in the book to the defense attorney, who's too stupid to pick up on it. In the end, Ford is convicted of murder and sentenced to prison. Later, Crawford is assigned as the new warden and attempts to help Ford further.

This is a very good, highly underrated movie. It's worth a look.

Glenn Ford is "Convicted" in this 1950 film that also stars Broderick Crawford, Dorothy Malone, Frank Faylen, Ed Begley, Carl Benton Reid, Will Geer, and Millard Mitchell.

Ford plays Joe Hufford, a war veteran who gets into a bar fight in which a man is killed. Though the DA, Knowland (Crawford) takes pity on him and wishes he had a better attorney, Hufford is sentenced from 1-10 years. Ultimately it's decided he'll serve 5 years, and come up for parole in 3.

He's desperate to see his elderly father again, so when some of the other prisoners plan a break, Joe begs to be part of it. Just before his parole hearing, he receives a telegram that his father died. When a guard yells at him for not doing his work in the laundry room, Hufford punches him and winds up in solitary.

He misses the escape, which ends up in death for the escapees. Ponti (Faylen) is the snitch who tipped off the guards.

When Hufford is released from solitary, there's a new warden - Knowland, the sympathetic DA. He makes Hufford a trustee, chauffeuring his daughter (Malone).

When Ponti is killed, Hufford is in the warden's office, but won't reveal who did it, causing him to lose his trustee status and threatening his parole.

There's good acting throughout, and a sympathetic portrayal by Ford in this film, which moves quickly. Crawford is excellent as a tough but fair warden.

Among the prisoners, veteran actor Faylen, who did such a terrific job as Dobie Gillis' father, does a bang-up job here in a dramatic, showy role. Everyone, though, is very good.

As an actor, boyish Glenn Ford didn't have much range, but he was so likable and attractive, it never mattered. His performances are always natural and underplayed, more on the style of today's actors. However, he was much more of a presence than many working today.

Good film.

Excellent "prison" movie , with several extremely suspenseful scene,particulary the death of convict (informer) Ponti (Frank Feylen ) in a terrifying atmosphere ,with the crowd of cons "yammering" and this clock (featured in almost all the shots of the scene) the hands of which seem stopped on 1:25.

In its first part,it's pure film noir,devoid of sentimentality: one is spared the trial with the interminable pleas (it lasts barely one minute) ,and the scene of the telegram avoids pathos and melodrama.

But the most interesting thing in the rapport con Joe has with his ex-prosecutor turned jail director :"I was your prosecutor, I won't be your persecutor ";as the movie progresses,their relationship almost becomes a father/son one ; and one can go as far as to say that he suffers as much as him when he sends him to the solitary ;Knowland can't refrain from admiring -in spite of his disapproval- his protégé's honor code .Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford ,sparing of gestures and words ,are extremely convincing. Knowland's daughter is a more conventional character, but Dorothy Malone (who would shine in Sirk's movies) makes all her scenes count .