The praises of a prison, the famous Sing Sing, are sung in this picture authored by Sing Sing's long-term reform warden, Lewis E. Lawes. Cocksure criminal Spencer Tracy is sent to the slammer on a felony rap. There he is greeted by the kindly warden, A.S. Byron, who explains that good
behavior brings certain privileges. Tough-guy Tracy starts a near-riot and gets 90 days in solitary, where he resolves to escape. He joins some prisoners who are planning an escape attempt until he discovers that their plan is set for Tuesday (he has an odd superstition relating to the days of the
week). Beaten at last, he determines to win parole through good behavior. Meanwhile, Tracy's girlfriend Davis--attempting to win his parole by other means--seeks the assistance of powerful mob chief Harold Huber. In return for his help, Huber wants Davis's favors. While speeding down a street in a
car, Davis repels the gangster's groping and is seriously injured in the resulting automobile crash. When warden Byron hears of her condition, he offers Tracy--now a trusty--compassionate leave to visit Davis. On the outside, however, Tracy runs into some detectives who mistake him for an escapee.
A disastrous shootout follows.
Tracy's role in the film seems tailored more to James Cagney's cinematic persona than to his own--indeed, Cagney, who made the mold in a number of gangster films, was Jack Warner's first choice for the part. But Tracy handled the characterization beautifully. Davis' performance is excessively
histrionic; not even domineering director Michael Curtiz could hold the actress back. This was to be the only time that two-time Oscar winners Davis and Tracy worked together. At the time the picture was made, author Lawes was the warden of Sing Sing and cooperated in every possible way for the
production, allowing the film crew to enter the prison to shoot and permitting real prisoners to play in the mob scenes. The film was the first of many to be based on Lawes's accounts of prison life; others include OVER THE WALL, YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH MURDER, INVISIBLE STRIPES, and CASTLE ON THE
HUDSON, the latter a remake of 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING, starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. Despite the grimness of its subject matter, 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING is laced with humor. leave a comment
