Experiment Alcatraz

Last updated
Experiment Alcatraz
Experiment Alcatraz poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
Screenplay by Orville H. Hampton
Story by George W. George
George F. Slavin
Produced byEdward L. Cahn
Starring John Howard
Joan Dixon
Walter Kingsford
Robert Shayne
Cinematography Jackson Rose
Edited byPhilip Cahn
Music by Irving Gertz
Production
company
Edward L. Cahn Productions
Distributed by RKO Pictures
Release date
  • November 21, 1950 (1950-11-21)
Running time
57 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Experiment Alcatraz is a 1950 American crime film directed by Edward L. Cahn and written by Orville H. Hampton. The film stars John Howard, Joan Dixon, Walter Kingsford and Robert Shayne. The film was released on November 21, 1950, by RKO Pictures. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Many Alcatraz prisoners have volunteered to take an experimental serum that could cure a fatal blood disease, promised parole if they take part. During the experiments, notorious racketeer Barry Morgan steals one of lieutenant nurse Joan McKenna's scissors and stabs convict Eddie Ganz to death, then escapes.

The medical tests are abandoned, and the vaccine is called a failure. Joan is upset for many reasons, including that such a serum could help her brother Dick, who has the disease. Dr. Ross Williams created the medicine and he attempts, with Joan's help, to understand why Morgan behaved the way he did. Ross is beaten by one of Morgan's thugs, Duke Shaw, and told that he and Joan had better drop their pursuit, but they don't.

The trail leads them to Lake Tahoe and a lodge owner, Ethel Ganz, the dead inmate's stepdaughter. She pulls a gun on them. It turns out Eddie hid $250,000 in stolen loot that she found. Ethel is now married to Morgan, with whom she plotted the murder and prison breakout. Morgan turns up with a gun, putting the lives of Ross and Joan in peril, but she is rescued, the villains are incarcerated and the serum is put to good use.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Arrowsmith</i> (film) 1931 film

Arrowsmith is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by John Ford and starring Ronald Colman, Helen Hayes, Richard Bennett, and Myrna Loy. It was adapted from Sinclair Lewis's 1925 novel Arrowsmith by Sidney Howard, departing substantially from the book regarding Arrowsmith's womanizing and other key plot elements. The pre-Code film received four Oscar nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Writing, Adaptation (Howard), Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Shayne</span> American actor (1900–1992)

Robert Shayne was an American actor whose career lasted for over 60 years. He was best known for portraying Inspector Bill Henderson in the American television series Adventures of Superman.

Joan Dixon was an American film and television actress in the 1950s. She is known for her role in the film noir Roadblock (1951).

<i>The Neanderthal Man</i> 1953 film by Ewald André Dupont

The Neanderthal Man is a 78-minute, 1953 American black-and-white science fiction film produced independently by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, as Global Productions Inc., from their own original screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don "Red" Barry</span> American actor (1912–1980)

Don Barry, also known as Red Barry, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 1940 film Adventures of Red Ryder with Noah Beery Sr.; the character was played in later films by "Wild Bill" Elliott and Allan Lane. Barry went on to bigger budget films following Red Ryder, but none reached his previous level of success. He played Red Doyle in the 1964 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Simple Simon".

<i>Lady Godiva Rides Again</i> 1951 British film by Frank Launder

Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Morgan</span> American actor (1908–1994)

Dennis Morgan was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willard Parker</span> American actor

Willard Parker was an American film and television actor. He starred in the TV series Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955–1958).

<i>Goodbye, My Fancy</i> (film) 1951 film by Vincent Sherman

Goodbye, My Fancy is a 1951 American romantic comedy film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Young, and Frank Lovejoy. The film was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Henry Blanke. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film was based on the 1948 play of same name by Fay Kanin and adapted for the screen by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts. Reinforcing social changes brought on by World War II and movies portraying women as successful on their own, such as 1945's Academy Award-winning Mildred Pierce, the plot follows an influential Congresswoman who returns to her former college to receive an honorary degree only to find her old flame as the university president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Elliott</span> American actor (1917–1999)

Ross Elliott was an American television and film character actor. He began his acting career in the Mercury Theatre, where he performed in The War of the Worlds, Orson Welles' famed radio program.

<i>Tarzan and the Slave Girl</i> 1950 film by Lee Sholem

Tarzan and the Slave Girl is a 1950 American adventure film directed by Lee Sholem and starring Lex Barker as Tarzan, Vanessa Brown as Jane, and Robert Alda as big game hunter Neil. The fourteenth film of the Tarzan film series that began with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, the plot involves a lost civilization in Africa, a strange illness, and an evil counselor manipulating a prince into kidnapping large numbers of local women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Kingsford</span> English actor

Walter Kingsford was an English stage, film, and television actor.

<i>Lesley Gore: Its My Party</i> 1994 box set by Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore: It's My Party is a five disc box set from Bear Family Records released June 21, 1994, that includes every Mercury Records release by Gore between 1963 and 1969. It also includes foreign language versions and never-released songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Valerie</span> American actress (1911–1983)

Joan Valerie was an American actress, who appeared mainly in B movies in the late 1930s and 1940s.

<i>Between Two Women</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by Willis Goldbeck

Between Two Women, made in 1945, was the sixteenth film in the Dr. Kildare series. It was the fourteenth of fifteen in which Lionel Barrymore starred as Dr. Leonard B. Gillespie. The film following was Dark Delusion (1947), which was the last in the Dr. Kildare series released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This was the last of Van Johnson's character, Dr. Randall 'Red' Adams, also seen in three previous Kildare films.

<i>The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe</i> 1942 film by Harry Lachman

The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe is a 1942 American drama film directed by Harry Lachman, starring Linda Darnell and Shepperd Strudwick. The film is a cinematic biography of Edgar Allan Poe that examines his romantic relationships with Sarah Elmira Royster and Virginia Clemm. The film presents a sympathetic and positive outline of Poe's life and career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bush (actor)</span> American actor (1907–1987)

James Bush was an American actor from the 1930s until the early 1950s. He appeared in more than 100 television shows and films, more than 80 of them being feature films.

<i>The Amazing Bulk</i> 2012 film by Lewis Schoenbrun

The Amazing Bulk is a 2012 American independent live-action/animated direct-to-video superhero film directed and co-produced by Lewis Schoenbrun, starring Jordan Lawson, Shevaun Kastl, Terence Lording, Juliette Angeli, Jed Rowen and Randal Malone. It is considered to be a mockbuster of the 2008 The Incredible Hulk film, as well as other media featuring the Hulk character. Drawing parallels from the Hulk franchise, the film follows a research scientist who injects himself with an experimental serum, which inadvertently results in him gaining the ability to transform into a giant, purple-skinned humanoid monster whenever he gets angry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stage Door Canteen</span>

The Stage Door Canteen was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City throughout World War II. Founded by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1942, the entertainers were largely unpaid; volunteering their talents as a way of supporting the morale of American troops during the war. Several women in leadership with the ATW played a critical role in establishing the Stage Door Canteen, including actress Nedda Harrigan and ATW co-founders Louise Heims Beck and Antoinette Perry. The canteen opened March 2, 1942 and operated seven nights a week in the previously unoccupied Little Club under the 44th Street Theatre at 216 West 44th Street in Manhattan.

References

  1. "Experiment Alcatraz (1950) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  2. "Experiment Alcatraz". TV Guide. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  3. Hal Erickson (2016). "Experiment Alcatraz (1950)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2014.