I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 American pre-Code crime-drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni as a wrongfully convicted man on a chain gang who escapes to Chicago. It was released on November 10, 1932. The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Muni.
The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who died, all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as a historic event in the prisoners' rights movement.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film M*A*S*H (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS for seven seasons, from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986. Roberts played the character more than twice as long as had Wayne Rogers (1972–75) on the TV series M*A*S*H. The role of Trapper John was played by Elliott Gould in the film.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola from which many slaves originated before arriving in Louisiana.
The Longest Yard is a 1974 American prison sports comedy film directed by Robert Aldrich, written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, based on a story by producer Albert S. Ruddy, and starring Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Mike Conrad and James Hampton. The film was released as "The Mean Machine" in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The film follows a former NFL player recruiting a group of prisoners and playing football against their guards. It features many real-life football players, including Green Bay Packers legend Ray Nitschke.
Stir Crazy is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier, written by Bruce Jay Friedman, produced by Hannah Weinstein, and starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as two unemployed friends who are given 125-year prison sentences after getting framed for a bank robbery. While in prison they befriend other prison inmates. The film reunited Wilder and Pryor, who had appeared previously in the 1976 comedy thriller film Silver Streak. The film was released in the United States on December 12, 1980 to mixed reviews, and was a major financial success.
Pollsmoor Prison, officially known as Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, is located in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai in South Africa. Pollsmoor is a maximum security penal facility that continues to hold some of South Africa's most dangerous criminals. Although the prison was designed with a maximum capacity of 4,336 offenders attended by a staff of 1,278, the current inmate population is over 7,000.
Prison on Fire is a 1987 Hong Kong prison film directed by Ringo Lam and starring Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Ka-fai. Yiu is a young advertising executive in Hong Kong. One night, defending his father from attack, he accidentally shoves a street thug in front of a bus. Sentenced to three years in prison, Yiu is "fresh meat" for the hardened criminals and triad stooges that run things, and is preyed upon by sadistic guard Scarface. The virtuous Ching befriends Yiu and becomes an ally. A sequel, Prison on Fire II, was released in 1991.
Capote is a 2005 biographical drama film about American novelist Truman Capote directed by Bennett Miller, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role. The film primarily follows the events during the writing of Capote's 1965 nonfiction book In Cold Blood. The film was based on Gerald Clarke's 1988 biography Capote. It was released on September 30, 2005, coinciding with what would've been Capote's 81st birthday.
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, also known as Story of Ricky, is a 1991 Hong Kong martial arts splatter film written and directed by Lam Nai-Choi. The film is loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari. Saruwatari also co-wrote the film. The film stars Fan Siu-wong, Fan Mei-sheng, Ho Ka-kui, Gloria Yip, and Yukari Oshima.
In Hell is a 2003 American action film directed by Ringo Lam. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, with a supporting cast of Lawrence Taylor, Marnie Alton, Malakai Davidson and Billy Rieck. An adaptation of the 1978 film Midnight Express, it is the third and final collaboration between Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hong Kong film director Ringo Lam. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on November 25, 2003.
Lock Up is a 1989 American prison action film directed by John Flynn. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore, and John Amos. It was released in the United States on August 4, 1989.
A Man Called Sledge is a 1970 Italian Spaghetti Western film starring James Garner in an extremely offbeat role as a grimly evil thief, and featuring Dennis Weaver, Claude Akins and Wayde Preston. The film was written by Vic Morrow and Frank Kowalski, and directed by Morrow in Techniscope.
Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight is a 1992 American martial arts crime action film directed by Oley Sassone and starring Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Richard Roundtree, and Gregory McKinney. It was written by Allison Burnett. It was the final film in the series to be released theatrically, as the other five sequels went straight-to-video.
Harley Oliver Teets was the warden of San Quentin State Prison from 1951 until his death in 1957. During that time he presided over executions performed in San Quentin's notorious gas chamber. Teets is probably best known for seizing the manuscript of one of condemned prisoner Caryl Chessman's books, arguing that since it was written on death row, it constituted "prison labor".
Alan Alda is an American actor, author, screenwriter, podcast host and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the CBS wartime sitcom M*A*S*H (1972–1983). He also wrote and directed numerous episodes of the series.
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.
Five Fingers is an NBC adventure/drama series set in Europe during the Cold War. It was based on L. C. Moyzich's story "Operation Cicero". It ran from October 3, 1959, to January 9, 1960.
The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains is a 1987 American drama film directed by Daniel Mann, written by Michael Campus, and is based on the true story I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! The film stars Val Kilmer, Charles Durning, Sônia Braga, Kyra Sedgwick, James Keach, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Clancy Brown. The film premiered on HBO on October 31, 1987.
