Sidney Olcott was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.
Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of New York City on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York until the abolition of capital punishment in New York in 1977.
Thomas Mott Osborne was an American prison administrator, prison reformer, industrialist and New York State political reformer. In an assessment of Osborne's life, a New York Times book reviewer wrote: "His career as a penologist was short, but in the interval of the few years he served he succeeded in revolutionizing American prison reform, if not always in fact, then in awakening responsibility.... He was made of the spectacular stuff of martyrs, to many people perhaps ridiculous, but to those whose lives his theories most closely touched, inspiring and often godlike."
20,000 Years in Sing Sing is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film set in Sing Sing Penitentiary, the maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, starring Spencer Tracy as an inmate and Bette Davis as his girlfriend. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and based upon the nonfiction book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing, written by Lewis E. Lawes, the warden of Sing Sing from 1920 to 1941.
John Grant Mitchell Jr. was an American actor. He appeared on Broadway from 1902 to 1939 and appeared in more than 125 films between 1930 and 1948.
Up the River is a 1938 American prison comedy film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Preston Foster and Arthur Treacher and featuring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The film is a remake of a 1930 film with the same name directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in the roles subsequently played by Foster and Tony Martin. The remake changed the sport the plot revolves around from baseball to football.
Castle on the Hudson is a 1940 American film noir drama directed by Anatole Litvak and starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. A thief is sent to Sing Sing Prison, where he is befriended by the reform-minded warden. The film was based on the book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing, written by Lewis E. Lawes, on whom the warden in the film was based. Castle on the Hudson was actually a remake of an earlier Spencer Tracy prison film, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), also based on Lawes's book.
The Humming Bird is a 1924 American silent crime drama film directed by Sidney Olcott and starring Gloria Swanson. Produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is based on the play of the same name by Maude Fulton, who also starred in the Broadway production.
Weary River is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Richard Barthelmess, Betty Compson, and William Holden. The film was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score, singing and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
Sidney D'Albrook was an American actor.
The Beloved Brat is a 1938 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Bonita Granville, Dolores Costello, and Donald Crisp. The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kimble from an original story by Jean Negulesco.
Millionaires in Prison is a 1940 American crime drama film directed by Ray McCarey and written by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton. The film stars Lee Tracy, Linda Hayes, Raymond Walburn, Morgan Conway and Truman Bradley. The film was released on July 12, 1940, by RKO Pictures.
The Only Woman is a 1924 American silent drama film produced by Joseph M. Schenck for Norma Talmadge Productions and distributed by First National. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Norma Talmadge as the leading woman.
Not So Long Ago is a 1925 American silent drama film produced by Jesse Lasky and Adolph Zukor and distributed by Paramount. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Betty Bronson and Ricardo Cortez in the leading roles.
The Daughter of MacGregor is a 1916 American silent film produced by Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Valentine Grant, his wife who wrote the scenario.
The Charmer is a 1925 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Pola Negri in the leading role.
Pardon My French is a lost 1921 American silent comedy film produced by Messmore Kendall and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Vivian Martin in the leading role.
Under Suspicion is a 1918 American silent film comedy-mystery directed by Will S. Davis and starring Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne. Based upon the short story "The Woolworth Diamonds" by Hugh C. Weir that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, it was produced and distributed by Metro Pictures.
Victor Folke Nelson was a Swedish-American writer, prisoner, and prison reform advocate. He spent many years incarcerated in both the New York and Massachusetts prison systems and came to the attention of neurologist Abraham Myerson and penologist Thomas Mott Osborne for his potential as a writer. In 1932, Nelson published his book Prison Days and Nights with the assistance of Dr. Myerson.
Society and Prisons: Some Suggestions for a New Penology is a book by Thomas Mott Osborne that was first published in 1916 by Yale University Press. In this book, Osborne describes the state of the prison system in the United States and proposes recommendations for prison reform. Drawing on his personal experience as a voluntary prisoner, he discusses the purpose of incarceration, treatment of inmates, and the potential for rehabilitation. The book influenced the discussion of prison reform and contributed to a change in societal perceptions of incarcerated individuals.
