Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison

Last updated
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
Folsomprisonposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Crane Wilbur
Written byCrane Wilbur
Produced byBryan Foy
Starring Steve Cochran
David Brian
Narrated by William Woodson
Cinematography Edwin B. DuPar
Edited by Owen Marks
Music by William Lava
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Warner Bros.
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • May 18, 1951 (1951-05-18)(United States)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Crane Wilbur and starring Steve Cochran and David Brian. [1] [2] Set in Folsom State Prison in California, the film was seen both in the United States and Europe. [3] [4]

Contents

Country singer Johnny Cash saw this movie while serving in the United States Air Force in West Germany in October 1951, and used it as an inspiration for his hit song "Folsom Prison Blues," which he recorded numerous times between 1955 and his death in 2003.

The film was featured in the 2005 biographical film Walk the Line , in which Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) and other Air Force personnel are depicted seeing the film.

Plot

During the 1920s, before the 1944 California prison reform, Warden Ben Rickey rules Folsom Prison with a ruthless hand. He believes that prisons should be used for punishment, rather than rehabilitation to reduce the incidence of repeated returns to jail (recidivism). His methods are violent, torturous, and intended to beat the prisoners into submission.

Chuck Daniels, one of the toughest inmates, and his group of followers are intent on escaping. However, after an attempt which is thwarted by Rickey, a riot ensues resulting in the deaths of two officers and a few prisoners. Rickey, with his iron fist, doles out severe and cruel punishments to all prisoners connected to the incident.

In response to increasing violence, and the warden's inhumane treatment, the prison's board of directors hire an assistant, Mark Benson, as captain of the guards. He believes that the inmates, despite their serious crimes, deserve to be treated better and given an opportunity to change by being educated on how to live on the outside, prior to release, in order to increase their chances of becoming productive members of society. Benson makes many changes to the regimen including serving meat, allowing inmates to talk during meal times, and promoting rehabilitation programs such as employment help. He also changes the way the guards do their jobs as well, by expecting them to come to work clean, behave in a professional way, and discontinue the senseless beatings that cause trouble.

These changes go against the wishes of the warden and Benson eventually leaves his post as captain of the guards. With Benson gone, Warden Rickey reverts all of the reforms and the inmates retaliate with yet another escape attempt. A riot erupts in which many are fatally wounded.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folsom State Prison</span> Prison in Folsom, California, United States

Folsom California State Prison is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, United States, approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center</span> Mens prison in California, US

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folsom Prison Blues</span> Song by Johnny Cash

"Folsom Prison Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, based on material composed by Gordon Jenkins. Written in 1953, it was first recorded and released as a single in 1955, and later included on his debut studio album Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar! (1957), as the album's eleventh track. The song combines elements from two popular folk styles, the train song and the prison song, both of which Cash continued to use for the rest of his career. It was one of Cash's signature songs. Additionally, this recording was included on the compilation album All Aboard the Blue Train (1962). In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 51 on its list of the 100 greatest country songs of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater</span> Prison in Bayport, Minnesota, United States

The Minnesota Correction Facility – Stillwater (MCF-STW) is a close custody state prison for men in Bayport, Minnesota, United States. Built 1910–1914, it houses 1,600 inmates in seven different living areas. Additionally, approximately 100 inmates are housed in a nearby minimum security area. It replaced the original Minnesota Territorial Prison located just to the north in the city of Stillwater, Minnesota. Until recent expansion of the medium custody Minnesota Correctional Facility – Faribault, MCF-STW was the state's largest facility by inmate population. A historic district consisting of 22 contributing properties was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as the State Prison Historic District for having state-level significance in architecture. It was nominated for being one of the nation's earliest and most influential appearances of the "telephone pole" layout, with a large main hallway connecting each of the units, that was widely adopted by high-security prisons. MCF-STW is noted for its award-winning publication The Prison Mirror, the oldest continuously-operated prison newspaper in the United States.

<i>At San Quentin</i> 1969 live album by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash at San Quentin is the 31st overall album and second live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, recorded live at San Quentin State Prison on February 24, 1969, and released on June 16 of that same year. The concert was filmed by Granada Television, produced and directed by Michael Darlow. The album was the second in Cash's conceptual series of live prison albums that also included At Folsom Prison (1968), På Österåker (1973), and A Concert Behind Prison Walls (1976).

<i>At Folsom Prison</i> 1968 live album by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records on May 6, 1968. After his 1955 song "Folsom Prison Blues", Cash had been interested in recording a performance at a prison. His idea was put on hold until 1967, when personnel changes at Columbia Records put Bob Johnston in charge of producing Cash's material. Cash had recently controlled his drug abuse problems, and was looking to turn his career around after several years of limited commercial success. Backed by June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three, Cash performed two shows at Folsom State Prison in California on January 13, 1968. The initial release of the album consists of fifteen songs from the first show and two from the second.

<i>Brute Force</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Jules Dassin

Brute Force is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Jules Dassin, from a screenplay by Richard Brooks with cinematography by William H. Daniels. It stars Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford and Yvonne De Carlo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holman Correctional Facility</span> Alabama prison and execution center

William C. Holman Correctional Facility is an Alabama Department of Corrections prison located in Atmore, Alabama. The facility is along Alabama State Highway 21.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Penitentiary</span> Prison in Salem, Oregon, U.S.

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), also known as Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland 173 years ago in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2,242-capacity prison is the oldest in the state; the all-male facility is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). OSP contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennessee State Prison</span> Former state prison in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Tennessee State Prison is a former correctional facility located six miles west of downtown Nashville, Tennessee on Cockrill Bend. It opened in 1898 and has been closed since 1992 because of overcrowding concerns. The facility was severely damaged by an EF3 tornado in the tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Ohio Correctional Facility</span> Maximum security prison in Scioto County, Ohio, U.S.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menard Correctional Center</span> Prison in Illinois, United States

Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high-medium-security adult males. The average daily population as of 2007 was 3,410.

<i>Riot in Cell Block 11</i> 1954 film by Don Siegel

Riot in Cell Block 11 is a 1954 American film noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon and Robert Osterloh. Director Quentin Tarantino called it "the best prison film ever made."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James A. Johnston</span> Prison warden of Alcatraz

James Aloysius Johnston was an American politician and prison warden who served as the first and longest-serving warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, serving from 1934 to 1948. He had earlier served as wardens of California state prisons at Folsom (1912-1913) and San Quentin (1914-1924).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Penitentiary</span> Ohio prison operating from 1834 to 1984

The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, was a prison operated from 1834 to 1984 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The state had built a small prison in Columbus in 1813, but as the state's population grew the earlier facility was not able to handle the number of prisoners sent to it by the courts. When the penitentiary first opened in 1834, not all of the buildings were completed. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955. Prison conditions were described as "primitive" and the facility was eventually replaced by the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, a maximum security facility in Lucasville. During its operation, it housed several well-known inmates, including General John H. Morgan, George "Bugs" Moran, O. Henry, Chester Himes, and Sam Sheppard. A separate women's prison was built within its walls in 1837. The buildings were demolished in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan State Prison</span> United States historic place

Michigan State Prison or Jackson State Prison, which opened in 1839, was the first prison in Michigan. After 150 years, the prison was divided, starting in 1988, into four distinct prisons, still in Jackson: the Parnall Correctional Facility which is a minimum-security prison; the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility where prisoners can finish their general education; the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center which is the common point of processing for all male state prisoners sentenced to any Michigan prison; and the Cooper Street Correctional Facility which is the common point for processing of all male state prisoners about to discharge, parole, or enter a community center or the camp program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Prison, Sacramento</span> Male-only state prison in Folsom, Sacramento County, California

California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Folsom, in Sacramento County, California. The facility is also referenced as Sacramento State Prison, CSP-Sacramento, CSP-SAC, and occasionally, New Folsom or New Folsom Prison which was its official name prior to October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montana State Prison</span> United States historic place

The Montana State Prison is a men's correctional facility of the Montana Department of Corrections in unincorporated Powell County, Montana, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Deer Lodge. The current facility was constructed between 1974 and 1979 in response to the continued degeneration of the original facility located in downtown Deer Lodge.

<i>You Cant Beat the Law</i> 1943 film by Phil Rosen

You Can't Beat the Law is a 1943 American drama film directed by Phil Rosen; also known as Prison Mutiny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucker Unit</span> Prison in Arkansas

The Tucker Unit is a prison in Dudley Lake Township, unincorporated Jefferson County, Arkansas, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Pine Bluff. It is operated by the Arkansas Department of Correction (ADC). Tucker is one of the state of Arkansas's "parent units" for male prisoners; it serves as one of several units of initial assignment for processed male prisoners. It is in proximity to, but not within, the Tucker census-designated place.

References

  1. Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (1987). The Great Gangster Pictures II. Scarecrow Press. p. 215. ISBN   9780810819610 . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  2. Silverman, Jonathan (2010). Nine Choices: Johnny Cash and American Culture . Univ of Massachusetts Press. p.  92. ISBN   9781558498273 . Retrieved 15 November 2019. Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison.
  3. Streissguth, Michael (2019). Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Revised and Updated. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   9781496824912 . Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. Knight, Gladys L. (2014). Pop Culture Places: An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 292. ISBN   9780313398834 . Retrieved 15 November 2019.