I toured the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield last year, the now closed prison that was used to depict the one in "The Shawshank Redemption". Had I not, it would have been hard to imagine the cramped condition that three prisoners were jammed into, in the cell occupied by Machine Gun Butch Schmidt (Wallace Beery), John Morgan (Chester Morris), and the unfortunate Kent Marlowe (Robert Montgomery). The first two were hardened criminals, while Kent had the misfortune to kill someone driving intoxicated. This wouldn't portend well for anyone imprisoned on a first time charge, and with a ten year sentence, Marlowe found it hard to resign himself to the consequence of his misfortune. When Butch incites a riot in the mess hall over the lousy food, he quickly hands off his hidden knife, only to land in the hands of Marlowe. Back in their cell, Marlowe places it in Morgan's bunk, effectively framing him for helping Butch.
In this picture, solitary confinement, or 'the hole' as it were, appeared to simply be a smaller cell, with room enough to barely sit down. At 'Shawshank', the hole was really a hole, not much larger than the size of a person if you scrunched into a crouch and allowing for no movement. Talk about inhumane. Morgan finds himself winding up 'in the dark' with Butch, but after thirty days, he fakes illness in order to get sent to the prison infirmary. From there he plans his escape via the prison's morgue van. He makes his way to a book shop run by Kent Marlowe's sister Anne (Leila Hyams), who he learned about while sharing the cell with her brother. When authorities catch up with him, Morgan is sent back to prison, but with a newly realized goal of going straight once he finished his sentence.
With Butch now planning a breakout with a handful of inmates, he counts on Morgan's support, but once again, Marlowe, now operating as an informant, reveals the timing of the prison break. Sensing Morgan's reluctance to escape, Butch believes Morgan is the stool pigeon, and as a massive riot breaks out, Morgan takes a lead in managing damage control, saving the lives of prisoners and guards. Butch and the hapless Marlowe are killed in the uprising, while Morgan is lauded as a hero and eventually pardoned for his leadership. It doesn't take long for Morgan to make his way back to Anne in an abrupt ending that was characteristic of many of these dramas from the Thirties.
In this picture, solitary confinement, or 'the hole' as it were, appeared to simply be a smaller cell, with room enough to barely sit down. At 'Shawshank', the hole was really a hole, not much larger than the size of a person if you scrunched into a crouch and allowing for no movement. Talk about inhumane. Morgan finds himself winding up 'in the dark' with Butch, but after thirty days, he fakes illness in order to get sent to the prison infirmary. From there he plans his escape via the prison's morgue van. He makes his way to a book shop run by Kent Marlowe's sister Anne (Leila Hyams), who he learned about while sharing the cell with her brother. When authorities catch up with him, Morgan is sent back to prison, but with a newly realized goal of going straight once he finished his sentence.
With Butch now planning a breakout with a handful of inmates, he counts on Morgan's support, but once again, Marlowe, now operating as an informant, reveals the timing of the prison break. Sensing Morgan's reluctance to escape, Butch believes Morgan is the stool pigeon, and as a massive riot breaks out, Morgan takes a lead in managing damage control, saving the lives of prisoners and guards. Butch and the hapless Marlowe are killed in the uprising, while Morgan is lauded as a hero and eventually pardoned for his leadership. It doesn't take long for Morgan to make his way back to Anne in an abrupt ending that was characteristic of many of these dramas from the Thirties.