This early John Ford talkie has the feature film debut of 3 of the 4 stars: Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, and Claire Luce. Of course, Spencer and Bogey would go on to eventually become big stars. Claire would only do a few films, stage work being her forte .Don't get Claire mixed up with her more famous contemporary: Claire Booth Luce. They weren't related.......... The copy I saw, said to be the best surviving one, is full of tiny visual and sound skips, that don't interfere too much with the story.
Spencer plays a hard scramble tough guy, who breaks out of two prisons. In contrast, if you are used to looking at Bogey's '40s films, you will hardly recognize the mild-mannered, polite, young man from a wealthy family he plays, albeit initially a prison inmate. In contrast, to Spencer and his rather dimwit pal, played by Hymer, Bogey is eventually released, and immediately makes for his family in faraway New England. Claire is taken into the women's section of the prison. Via his prison job, Bogey and Claire meet, and hit it off romantically. Apparently, she was framed by her crooked business partner, Frosby. Near film's end, she is pardoned, a few months after Bogey's pardon. Tracey and Hymer, who form a team for most of the film, happen to meet her, as they are, incongruously, returning to the prison, and give her some money to travel to see Bogey.
Bob Burns, as one of the prisoners, made a small career as 'The Arkansas Traveler' : a Will-Rogers-like country bumpkin humorist, on circuits and the occasional film. He is best remembered for his devising of his so-called musical instrument(which just made noise, to my ear): the bazooka: basically, a couple of pipes soldered to a funnel. He demonstrates this in a blackface comedy routine. Somebody thought this looked rather like a shoulder-fired rocket launcher to be used in WWII, hence dubbed this weapon the bazooka.
By the film's title, I assumed the prison was going to be Sing Sing: up the Hudson River from NYC. But a placard said it was somewhere in the Midwest. Thus, the term was being used to refer to prisons, in general. We might also say that the prisoners were 'up the creek', since no river was present
Especially, in the latter part, the screenplay doesn't make much sense. For example, when Bogey travels the long way to his home, Claire's former, crooked, partner, follows him, and blackmails him into helping him do some illegal things. For some? Reason, Spencer and Hymer break out jail, and somehow know where to go to find Bogey. While Bogey is feeling blue, these 2 break into Frosby's office, open his safe, and extract the bonds Bogey was forced to give him. Bogey is very thankful when they return these to him. We leave Bogey to his presumed further misadventures with Frosby, as Spencer and Hymer inexplicitly decide to ride an empty box car back to the prison! They have a reputation as a good pitcher/catcher combo, hence are immediately commandeered to try to get the prison team out of a jam in an interprison game. We don't get to see any of their play, so must just assume that they succeeded, for a happy ending, along with an assumed reacquaintance between Bogey and Claire.
Near the beginning, a former inmate is giving a speech at a reform organization rally about 'Crime doesn't pay', when Spencer drives up in a very expensive open top car, with two cuties beside him. Satire!......... Later, when Spencer is brought into the prison, he is dressed in the most expensive fashion, with baton, acting like he owned the place, demanding all sorts of privileges in his cell.
Overall, a so-so experience. The prison atmosphere seemed unusually congenial. The big prison film for that year was "The Big House", a much tougher prison experience, complete with a mass prison riot.
Spencer plays a hard scramble tough guy, who breaks out of two prisons. In contrast, if you are used to looking at Bogey's '40s films, you will hardly recognize the mild-mannered, polite, young man from a wealthy family he plays, albeit initially a prison inmate. In contrast, to Spencer and his rather dimwit pal, played by Hymer, Bogey is eventually released, and immediately makes for his family in faraway New England. Claire is taken into the women's section of the prison. Via his prison job, Bogey and Claire meet, and hit it off romantically. Apparently, she was framed by her crooked business partner, Frosby. Near film's end, she is pardoned, a few months after Bogey's pardon. Tracey and Hymer, who form a team for most of the film, happen to meet her, as they are, incongruously, returning to the prison, and give her some money to travel to see Bogey.
Bob Burns, as one of the prisoners, made a small career as 'The Arkansas Traveler' : a Will-Rogers-like country bumpkin humorist, on circuits and the occasional film. He is best remembered for his devising of his so-called musical instrument(which just made noise, to my ear): the bazooka: basically, a couple of pipes soldered to a funnel. He demonstrates this in a blackface comedy routine. Somebody thought this looked rather like a shoulder-fired rocket launcher to be used in WWII, hence dubbed this weapon the bazooka.
By the film's title, I assumed the prison was going to be Sing Sing: up the Hudson River from NYC. But a placard said it was somewhere in the Midwest. Thus, the term was being used to refer to prisons, in general. We might also say that the prisoners were 'up the creek', since no river was present
Especially, in the latter part, the screenplay doesn't make much sense. For example, when Bogey travels the long way to his home, Claire's former, crooked, partner, follows him, and blackmails him into helping him do some illegal things. For some? Reason, Spencer and Hymer break out jail, and somehow know where to go to find Bogey. While Bogey is feeling blue, these 2 break into Frosby's office, open his safe, and extract the bonds Bogey was forced to give him. Bogey is very thankful when they return these to him. We leave Bogey to his presumed further misadventures with Frosby, as Spencer and Hymer inexplicitly decide to ride an empty box car back to the prison! They have a reputation as a good pitcher/catcher combo, hence are immediately commandeered to try to get the prison team out of a jam in an interprison game. We don't get to see any of their play, so must just assume that they succeeded, for a happy ending, along with an assumed reacquaintance between Bogey and Claire.
Near the beginning, a former inmate is giving a speech at a reform organization rally about 'Crime doesn't pay', when Spencer drives up in a very expensive open top car, with two cuties beside him. Satire!......... Later, when Spencer is brought into the prison, he is dressed in the most expensive fashion, with baton, acting like he owned the place, demanding all sorts of privileges in his cell.
Overall, a so-so experience. The prison atmosphere seemed unusually congenial. The big prison film for that year was "The Big House", a much tougher prison experience, complete with a mass prison riot.