20000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)

20000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)

Michael Curtiz directed this above average prison crime drama adapted from the book of the same name written by Lewis Lawes (who really was a Warden at Sing Sing!) by Courtney Terrett and Robert Lord (One Way Passage (1932)) with a screenplay by Wilson Mizner and Brown Holmes. It stars Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis (their only film together) as well as Arthur Byron and Louis Calhern (among others). The film was later remade by director Anatole Litvak as Castle on the Hudson (1940) with John Garfield Ann Sheridan Pat O’Brien and Jerome Cowan (respectively). The title refers to the cumulative sentencing time of all the inmates held at the famous New York state prison.

Since I saw the latter first the plot summary is contained within my review of that film (follow the link above). As far as I can tell there is little difference between the two films. In fact their run-times are within 5 minutes of each other; this one is the longer of the two and its ending does drag a bit. Even though Tracy played a number of tough characters early in his career (like Davis this was one of his first 10-15 roles) I think Garfield was better suited to the role. Tracy’s character is named Tom Connors in this one. Ms. Davis who is perhaps my favorite actress (and the greatest who ever lived?) wasn’t as much of a factor in her ingenue days (e.g. in this film as Fay Wilson she didn’t stand out) as she was later in her career whereas Ms. Sheridan (whose performance is very good) was given more to do in the remake. Byron who was in scant few films does a credible job if not as effusive as O’Brien as Warden Long. Lyle Talbot and Warren Hymer play the smart & dumb cons Bud Saunders & Hype respectively though Burgess Meredith and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams had already established themselves in these type of roles by the time they appeared in the remake. Calhern’s lawyer Joe Finn isn’t much different from the one Cowan played. The role that’s changed the most between the films is that of the death row prison priest played by an uncredited actor (Hardie Albright?) in this one and John Litel who’s given a little more screen-time in the latter. Grant Mitchell appears uncredited in both films as the prison’s IQ tester. It’s ironic that the first film is longer when the second film contains a court scene (with Henry O’Neill) and more of Garfield’s planned escape being shown including his being conscious of "the heat" being put on the warden by the press.

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