They All Come Out

What starts out as a typical criminals-on-the-lam movie turns into a didactic moral lesson to prove to its probably youthful viewers that crime does not pay. What is surprising is that in spite of the clichés, the talented acting of the principles make the film much more poignant than it could have been. Tom Neal (most memorable in the classic "Detour") plays with youthful sincerity. His conversion makes it hard to believe that later he was involved in a violent and criminal life himself and actually did time for murder. Rita Johnson is completely winning, as opposed to her obnoxious character as Ray Milland's girlfriend in "The Major and the Minor". She brings her own sincerity to her stereotyped character and makes it more believable. The emotional impact of the film is also the result of the script's mixed dramatic and documentary approach showing the characters from inside and out, and Jacques Tourneur's perfect pacing.

B pictures don't come more B than this offering from Jacques Tourneur, but despite the usual flaws that come from a limited budget, most notably less than stellar acting (Rita Johnson and Bernard Nedell partially excepted) and extremely primitive sets and outdoor locations, this fine director in his first feature already shows the pacing and tonal skills that would render "Out Of The Past" one of the five best noirs and "Cat People" the best of the Lewton creep fests. In just under seventy five minutes Tourneur manages not only to bring to life five gangsters but also to follow them through the prison system with forays into the various gradations of incarceration, ranging from corrupt local jail with its inmates kangaroo court, to grim, federal maximum security (with a brilliant brief glance at bleak Alcatraz), to the relatively lenient honor farms ,with side excursions into a prison psychiatric facility, as well as a womans prison (which I noted with amusement in 1939 resembled an Ethan Allen Furniture showroom). So even though the film at times resembles an infomercial for Penal Rehabilitation (I sure as hell didn't believe that the anti woman psycho inmate would be magically cured by a work stint in the fresh air!) it's an impressive debut for its director. Give it...natch...a B.

PS...Dumb title. Sounds like a slogan for spot remover.

Director Jacques Tourneur's first feature is the polar opposite of edgy Prison Noirs since THEY ALL COME OUT is unapologetic propaganda of the U. S. Correctional System, even more than FBI-backed Noirs like THE STREET WITH NO NAME or G-MEN wherein hard-boiled crime fare plays out from beginning to end following a sparse introduction...

Here it's half-and-half starting with the usual Depression-era gangsters robbing banks where Rita Johnson's Kitty makes a terrific femme fatale... but with a soft side... working for no-nonsense gang boss Bernard Nedell as Reno, who leads muggy thugs and a young handsome driver that the dame actually discovered: Enter future DETOUR actor Tom Neal displaying genuine toughness... yet there's some good in him too...

And just as the rudimentary rugged crime flick picks up violent steam, the girl and men are captured and thrown into various prisons. But Tourneur keeps the stories interesting, even when the propaganda kicks into high gear...

As affable officials decide upon what's best for their inmates sans cinema-cliché sadistic wardens, bullying guards and shiv-shoving inmates, THEY ALL COME OUT maintains a pulpy page-turning cadence, keeping the viewer intrigued about how things'll turn out despite being fairly obvious.

Short film made into a full length feature. It highlights how the prisons attempt to rehabilitate people, since most of them will be rejoining society when their sentence is complete. Stars rita johnson as kitty carson (can't help but think of kit carson, famous american outdoorsman, fighting man.) she's the moll for the madigan gang, which is sent up after pulling a bank job. They try to rehab joe (tom neal) and kitty. Reno the boss was sent to alcatraz. And it looks like actual footage from alcatraz and chillicothe prisons. The prison psychiatrist was charles lane; for a time, he held the record for playing the most bit parts in films. Not sure if that's still true. They sure weren't very delicate about the phsych prison...they show us the sign that says "U. S. hospital for defective delinquents." real nice. The film is okay... seems to be a propaganda piece instructing crooks on what to expect when the enter prison. Probably would have been more enjoyable if they dropped the extra boring intro and epilogue at the beginning and end. Directed by jacques tourneur, who had been doing mostly shorts prior to this. Actress rita johnson died at 52 from trauma caused by a hair dryer falling on her head. Bizarre. Tom neal died at 58.

"They all came out" is the first feature film made by Jacques Tourneur in US, after a series of short features directed for MGM in the 1930s.

In fact this one too first was conceived to be a short documentary about federal prisons. In his interview given in 1964 to Simon Mizrahi, Tourneur describes complicated story of the making of the movie. First director went to Washington where he visited different prisons in order to film documentary. When the short film was ready, Louis B. Mayer saw it and asked Tourneur to add more 20 minutes of footage and turn it into something of a half-feature, as an experiment. At this time Tourneur in cooperation with John Higgins wrote a story, which became the story of the film, about a young man that goes out of jail and tries to re-enter normal life while his former friends prepare to commit another crime and drag him along. Tourneur filmed it and showed it to L. B. Mayer again, who end up liking it and asking director to add 1/2 hour more and turn it into feature film. Tourneur and Higgins had to put all their imagination to work in order to invent some new scenes and make movie longer. After seeing the film it was virtually impossible to understand that it went through these three stages in it´s making unless you knew all about it before. Quite an interesting early work from Jacques Tourneur, worth seeing for addicted movie buff only. 7/10