20,000 Years in Sing Sing

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.

... and there were several. Some highlighted the brutality of the incarcerated men, others the brutality of their situation, several highlighted both.

It's based on a book by the warden at Sing Sing, portrayed by Arthur Byron who plays the role tough but fair. Tommy Conners (Spencer Tracy) is sentenced to 5-30 years for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He arrives with a bad attitude, and no wonder as he is given a prison uniform big enough for three Spencer Tracys. He is confined to his cell and, true to the warden's prediction, is eventually happy to work on the rock pile just to get out of that cell.

Tommy is still determined to get out though and falls in with a group planning to break out, but when the actual time comes to escape he refuses to go along with the escapees, who wind up dying in the attempt. This isn't to say he's a reformed guy at this point. I think he is somewhat confused as to why he refused himself, and attributes it to Saturdays being bad luck for him. However it is probably that he is beginning to see a correlation between his actions and consequences, and he is unsure about the consequences of a prison break.

Over time, Tommy and the warden both come to the conclusion that the other is not such a bad guy. And then comes the news that Tommy's girlfriend Fay (Bette Davis) has been injured in an automobile accident and is not expected to live. At this point the warden makes a decision that should have been suicide for his career no matter what happens. Complications ensue. Where Warner's earlier film "I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" revealed the brutality of prison, this film suggested a remedy.

James Cagney was supposed to play the role of Tommy, but he and WB were having one of the first of their many contract disagreements, so Tracy got the job since he had a resume of playing convicts both on stage and screen, and was thus borrowed from Fox. Once again director Michael Curtiz paid attention to photographic detail by working with actual photographs of Ossining prison for art design and using the sets for the 1930 film The Big House, which were still standing at MGM.

The result is one of those relatively short but powerful precodes Warner Brothers was known for.

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

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.

As I write this, "Shawshank Redemption" is IMDb's number two top movie of all time. I find that absolutely fascinating.

The prison movie isn't quite a genre to itself because the story possibilities vary so. But there is a definite collection of cinematic devices that are used in nearly all of them, only "Silence of the Lambs" excepted that I can recall.

This film may be the first to set that collection of cinematic devices. It has a lame redemption story and quite ineffective acting styles. But the way the story is told in images is masterful. The filmmaker is Michael Curtiz, who you will know as the man who took a B movie and framed it beautifully as "Casablanca."

His is an approach very much like the "graphic novel" trend sweeping across Hollywood right now. Simple compositions, starkly presented to be easy to read. A consistent pulse in the way scenes change. Strict attention to the way the brightness is modulated slowly throughout the thing. And of course within this, some shots of prison life that have since become almost mandatory. (Thank God, that slamming door sound effect hadn't found its way into movies yet.)

So, if you are interested in cinematic storytelling, this is something of a must for you.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.