Les révoltés de Folsom Prison

We are inside Folsom Prison and warden Ted de Corsia (Rickey) rules with an iron rod. His method involves strict rules and unofficial punishments dished out in vengeance. New supervisor David Brian (Benson) arrives and has a radical new approach in dealing with the inmates. He is going to use psychology - a bit of understanding and more humane conditions - in order to get prisoners on side. This sets him up in contrast with de Corsia. Of course, none of this has any effect or bearing on the behaviour of prisoners and the inmates still want to escape. Cue Steve Cochran (Daniels) and his plan....

The best characters in the film are de Corsia with his wicked manner and Cochran with his cool kid 'Danny Zuko' jacket. He belongs in "Grease" (1978). Brian is bland as the leading good guy. Yet, somehow, this is a likable film.

Only Leo Gordon was missing among such a cast: Ted De Corsia, Steve Cochran, Phil Carey.... At the same scale as RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 and better than REVOLT IN THE BIG HOUSE, this prison riot film belongs too the top five of them, maybe after BRUTE FORCE and THE LAST MILE, of course. Steve Cochran, for me, nearly steals the show for his performance. The director Crane Wilbur also made a good job with another film : CANON CITY, very close to Howard Koch's BIG HOUSE USA. The directing, photography, cast, story telling are purely flawless, despite the tiny budget. Anyway, don't miss this tough, rough, gritty prison film, and don't get surprised not to find many women here, just some small supporting parts.

Who narrates? A snippet of this film is played in "Walk The Line", and the snippet has turned me into a whirling dervish. The narrator voice I CANNOT get out of my head. I have been on the main message board already. Any help would be appreciated. The narrator sounds like the burning bush voice in The Ten Commandmants. I know it is supposed to be Heston as the God voice in the Ten Commandmants, but ......I am not sure. The two voices, narrator Inside Folsom Prison, burning bush Ten Commandmants sound the same to me and I Do not think it was Charlton Heston. I don't know how much can be done with sound manipulation in the 50's. Is anyone else hearing what I am hearing or am I just crazy? Please see main message board, Trivia for thread of answers. Thanks for any help.

I was really very shocked...pleasantly shocked...when the film began. The narration was among the most vivid and vicious I can ever recall hearing at a film's introduction! You can clearly tell this is NOT one of those films that is anti-prisoner but is an exposé of sorts about the evils of this particular prison! In many ways, the toughness and style remind me of another classic film..."Brute Force".

Soon the prison has a riot and several prisoners try to escape. A couple guards are killed and the psychotic Warden (played wonderfully by Ted de Corsia) seems almost happy about it! Now he can really make the prisoners' lives hell! He also beats the ring leader half to death...and seems to take pleasure doing this. He also uses stoolies...and then deliberately exposes them to the retribution of their fellow prisoners...all for kicks! It's obvious that the place is horrible even by prison standards...thanks to this sociopath.

Not surprisingly, a new Captain of the Guards is brought in from the outside (David Brian). He's not a sadist but has plans on straightening out the system and restoring humanity to Folsom. Surprisingly, the Warden lets him implement his reforms...but you also realize that sooner or later, the Captain's days are numbered and the Warden will attempt to destroy the Captain.

Overall, this is a very impressive film. After all, the film stars a lot of folks who are normally supporting actors and they all acquit themselves very well. This is also thanks to a taut script and excellent direction. Well worth seeing...and far better than I'd anticipated!

The narrator of this film is William T. Woodson. He's done a lot of narrating and voice-overs down through the years, particularly the miniseries THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE.

Woodson narrated the opening credits of THE INVADERS ("David Vincent knows..."). He also narrates the opening credits for THE ODD COUPLE: "Can two divorced men share the same apartment without driving each other crazy?"

He can also be seen in episodes of such varied television series as PERRY MASON, F TROOP, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW as well as many others. According IMDb, his last known credit is for an episode of DUCKMAN in 1995.