Alcatraz Island (film)
| Alcatraz Island | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William C. McGann |
| Screenplay by | Crane Wilbur |
| Produced by | Bryan Foy |
| Starring | John Litel Ann Sheridan Mary Maguire Gordon Oliver Dick Purcell Ben Welden |
| Cinematography | L. William O'Connell |
| Edited by | Frank DeWar |
| Music by | Heinz Roemheld |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 63 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Alcatraz Island is a 1937 American drama film directed by William C. McGann and written by Crane Wilbur. The film stars John Litel, Ann Sheridan, Mary Maguire, Gordon Oliver, Dick Purcell and Ben Welden. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 6, 1937.[1][2]
Plot[edit]
 | This article needs a plot summary. (June 2021) |
John Litel is on trial for cheating the government. He makes a deal with the prosecutor who will recommend a six month sentence in jail in exchange for a guilty plea. The judge tosses out the plea agreement and gives John five years in prison. His girlfriend Ann Sheridan promises to wait for him and to look after John’s daughter. Gangster Ben Welden snatches the girl for ransom. He’s caught and sentenced to the same prison as John. They quickly fight and Brady is blamed. Later on they are both transferred to another prison where Welden is stabbed and killed with John’s work knife. John is put on trial for the murder. Defending him is the man in love with his daughter, the guy from the New York DA’s office. A friend of John’s from prison talks another con into taking credit for the crime and John is acquitted. Just as the guilty verdict is about to be read we discover that John’s convict friend is actually a FBI agent who has a recoding of the killer’s confession made just before he hanged himself. An ending worthy of Perry Mason.
Cast[edit]
- John Litel as 'Gat' Brady
- Ann Sheridan as Flo Allen
- Mary Maguire as Ann
- Gordon Oliver as George Drake
- Dick Purcell as 'Harp' Santell
- Ben Welden as 'Red' Carroll
- Addison Richards as Fred MacLane
- George E. Stone as 'Tough Tony' Burke
- Vladimir Sokoloff as The Flying Dutchman
- Peggy Bates as Miss Tolliver
- Doris Lloyd as Miss Marquand
- Charles Trowbridge as Warden Jackson
- Janet Shaw as Sally Carruthers
- Matty Fain as Butch
Reception[edit]
Frank Nugent of The New York Times said, "This rough-and-ready outline may not convey it, but the film has a compact plot, smooth performances by John Litel and the little-known others, and a good bit of interesting material on the present residence of Al Capone. Whether the Alcatraz scenes are accurate or not is beside the point; they do make good watching. And so, for all its Class B-ishness, does the picture."[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Alcatraz Island (1937) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
- ^ "Alcatraz Island". Afi.com. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
- ^ Nugent, Frank S. (1937-10-14). "Movie Review - Alcatraz Island - THE SCREEN; The Freres Warner Continue Their Penal Researches in 'Alcatraz Island,' Showing at the Strand". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
External links[edit]
- Alcatraz Island at IMDb
- Alcatraz Island at the TCM Movie Database
- Alcatraz Island at AllMovie
- Alcatraz Island at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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