Condamné

This film was based on the bestselling fictionalized account of the escapes of René Belbenoît, a prisoner on the Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana, written by Blair Niles. The novel helped raise awareness of conditions there which eventually led to its closure.

In his second talking film Ronald Colman plays Michel Oman, an unrepentant thief condemned to Devil's Island. Michel is not a noble guy or an innocent guy, so immediately the niceties are out of the way. Madame Vadal (Ann Harding) is the wife of the warden of the prison (Dudley Digges). He is a big slob, harsh and rude to his wife. I wondered how this pretty and demure woman came to be married to this brute beast, but apparently at the time of their marriage he looked like St. John. I doubt that St. John ever looked like Dudley Digges! But I digress.

Vidal is quite a snob considering he is also a slob, and thinks someone of "his station" should have a servant. He makes Michel his houseboy because he seems more refined than the other convicts, and Michel likes this job because it keeps him from having to do hard labor with the rest of the convicts. But Michel and Vidal's wife fall in love, although they don't act on it. But the wives of the other prison employees begin to gossip based on absolutely nothing but their own boredom, and soon the gossip gets back to Vidal, who reacts exactly like you'd expect him to.

I have to wonder...what would this pair be like in everyday life? Would they make it? Or would ordinary life in a world populated with plenty of other people to which they could turn break them up? What happens when one of them forgets to pay the electric bill, when the sex stops being hot, when the upstairs neighbors turn out to be flamenco dancers? This film isn't alone in being one about people from completely different backgrounds falling in love because they are the only people available to one another, but these scripts never have the subjects in love talk about these obstacles. But, again, I digress.

Originally this was supposed to be shot on Devil's Island, but the expense and practicality of it all prevented that from happening. Colman gives a very subtle performance as Michel, contrasting with Digges and Harding being more theatrical. That surprised me, since Digges and Harding have acting styles here that seem somewhat like holdovers from the silent era, yet they never acted in silent films, where Colman was a veteran of silent films and does not display that style.

The camera work here is excellent, really giving off the feeling of being shot in a prison even though it was not.

And if you think Louis Wolheim is being wasted here, I will tell you he is a very key part of the resolution. This is a precode, but it is definitely not one in the Warner Brothers tradition.

There is such an element of unreality to the idea that the warden at the Devil's Island penal colony would allow one of the inmates to act as a servant in his home and to be alone with his wife throughout the day, that you'll have to go into this movie suspending your disbelief. Ronald Colman is suave as the convict, and it's always a joy to see him, and here he is opposite Ann Harding, who varies between down to earth and over-emoting. The film does set the stage with some nice 'hard prison' scenes, including one of a man howling in solitary confinement, but next to Colman smooth-talking Harding, something seems off. Perhaps Colman is a little too debonair. On the other hand, the film is entertaining and worth seeing. I liked the supporting cast most, and thought that Dudley Digges turned in the best performance as the warden, angrily spewing his bile.

Ronald Colman is "Michel", a debonair thief who ends up in prison on Devil's Island. Sandwiched between the shark-infested waters on one side and the bug-infested forest on then other, he is condemned to live out his days under the brutal custodianship of "Digges" (Jean Vidal), the prison warden. When he befriends Ann Harding, the put-upon wife of his nemesis, they begin to work on a daring plan to escape from their living hell. Though he was Oscar nominated for this, Colman doesn't yet have the glint in his eye that gave him star quality and so this is a bit of an unremarkable melodrama with cages and flies - but the quality of the production has held up well over it's 90 years and Wesley Ruggles keeps it all moving along nicely, if a little too predictably. If you do get an opportunity, give it a go.

"Condemned!" is an early prison melodrama with the accent on "melodrama". Admittedly, "melodrama" was much more acceptable to audiences in 1929 than it is today. That being said, this film does have a good deal in its' favor. It has a great cast including Dudley Digges, somewhat miscast as a French prison administrator, and Ann Harding, much better-cast as his meek, put-upon wife. Also, look for a rare appearance by Louis Wolheim (and, admittedly, his presence is very hard to miss) in the role of a convict. Best remembered today for his memorable performance in the 1930 film, "All Quit on the Western Front", Wolheim's career was unfortunately cut short when he died suddenly in 1931 at the age of only 50. Although usually cast as a plug-ugly thug, Wolheim was actually a graduate of Cornell University and a former college professor whose distinctive appearance was the result of a college football injury (apparently football was a rougher game in those far-off days). Lastly, of course, this movie features the great Ronald Coleman in his prime, an actor whose presence was always a major asset to any film.

The overbearing administrator of a French penal colony in South America considers it beneath his dignity for his wife to be seen doing housework. Consequently, overruling his meek and much put-upon wife's protests that she is afraid of the convicts and does not want one of them in the house, the administrator insists upon selecting a convict to serve as their "house-boy". Needless to say, he selects the most handsome and charming of the convicts for the job, Ronald Coleman. This being a melodrama, anyone can immediately predict where that is going to lead except, of course, the woman's husband. It takes him quite a while to catch on to what is perfectly obvious to everyone else. Of course, once he does, his reaction is equally predictably vindictive and nasty.

Being a very early example of a "talkie", this movie inevitably suffers from some technical crudity. However, it also displays some striking visual effects in those scenes which do not require dialogue. In addition, despite this movie's rather dated melodramatics, it is still worth seeing for its' excellent cast.

CONDEMNED! (Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists, 1929), directed by Wesley Ruggles, is an early sound prison movie where "The action takes place at the French penal colony to South America's community known as Devil's Island." Starring Ronald Colman in his second full-length talkie, it seemed unlikely finding Colman, best known for romance stories of the silent screen, in such a premise. Founded upon the book, "Condemned to Devil's Island" by Blair Niles, with screenplay by Sidney Howard, CONDEMNED! turned out to be another winner for the popular actor, even to a point of earning him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor (along with his talkie debut as BULLDOG DRUMMOND) to his resume.

Following the opening credit titles super imposed over the ocean water waves with vocalization to "The Song of the Condemned," the story begins as a prison ship docking on Devil's Island with its handful of new prisoners behind bars, including Michel Oban (Ronald Colman), a gentleman thief of Paris, and his friend, Jacques Duval (Louis Wolheim), sentenced to life for murder. Jean Duval (Dudley Digges), a tough warden living on the penal colony with his young wife (Ann Harding), who's biggest fear is living amongst the surroundings of convicts, meets his new prisoners giving them warning that there is no escape on Devil's Island, which "lies between the jungle and the sea of sharks." Vidal, who finds Michel (Number 7232) to be an "unusual type of criminal thief," assigns him as servant houseboy to his wife's daily duties. While out on the market grounds, Michel brings a smile to Madame Duval's face with a good deed by buying her a pet monkey so she won't be so lonely at home. Losing her fear over this debonair prisoner, she soon becomes attracted him. Rumors by gossipers spread about these two, forcing the jealous warden to place Michel in solitary confinement for six months, and substituting Jacques as his wife's new household servant. After learning the warden is to send his wife back to Paris, Michel makes his daring escape to be with her, only to be surprised by the outcome. Also in the cast are William Elmer (Pierre); Frank Campeau (Gilbert); Ernie Adams, Lionel Bellmore and Constantine Romanoff.

While not as famous or stronger than some of the latter prison movies of the early 1930s, CONDEMNED! is sadly an overlooked item. A bit advanced in camera angles and movement as opposed to other 1929 sound releases, CONDEMNED! holds interest throughout its 87 minutes. Cast against type, Colman allows himself go be shown unshaven, and brave danger while being chased by prison guards through the marshes. Other than that, he continues his debonair style with his distinguished voice and mannerisms that has made him popular throughout his career. Dudley Digges as the sadistic warden whom his wife fears and hates, does a splendid job. He gives the sort of performance most worthy for a Charles Laughton had he been assigned the part. Ann Harding, a stage actress also appearing in her third talkie release, is believable, although looking way too sophisticated for playing a woman who loves a convict. Louis Wolheim is also unforgettable, right down to the giant eye tattoo posted on his chest.

Seldom shown on television since the mid 1970s, CONDEMNED! did show up on occasionally on cable TV over the years as Wometco Home Theater (1986); Nostalgia Television (late 1980s); Turner Network Television (1989-91; and many years later, Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: August 21, 2017) as part of an all-day Ann Harding movie tribute. Never distributed on video cassette or DVD, CONDEMNED! remains a curiosity as best for early Ronald Colman years before he became THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937). (***)