Watch 20,000 Years in Sing Sing For Free

the audience applauded

best movie i've ever seen.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

One of the biggest draws of this movie is that it features a couple of legends, Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis, a little bit before they hit it big. Tracy plays a big-time criminal who is imprisoned, and Davis is his girlfriend waiting for him on the outside. Both turn in good performances, with Tracy in particular playing the scenes in which he's called upon to be aggressive well. Partially filmed on location in Sing Sing, director Michael Curtiz does a good job of making use of the setting and varying his camera angles. I loved how he superimposed the number of years the convicts had served while they were walking around at the beginning and end of the film. As for the story, I have to say, it goes beyond plausibility at times relative to how respectfully the inmates are treated. Real life Sing Sing warden Lewis E. Lawes had creative control over the movie, and that may have played a role in that. I liked how there is a sense of honor from both the screen warden (Arthur Byron) and Tracy's character, even though they are on different sides of the law. I also liked the touching simplicity of some of the scenes on death row towards the end. It's not a great film, but it's certainly watchable, and good stuff.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing" is set in the notorious jail in New York State; the title refers to the combined length of the sentences being served by all the inmates of the prison. It was based upon a book written by Lewis E. Lawes, the warden of Sing Sing at the time the movie was made. The character of Paul Long in the film is a thinly-disguised portrait of Warden Lawes. Some prison dramas from this era, notably "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang", highlighted harsh prison conditions and called for reform, but this one is generally supportive of the system.The film opens with a gangster named Tommy Connors arriving in Sing Sing after being convicted of robbery and assault with a lethal weapon. His associate, Joe Finn, attempts to bribe the warden to get Tommy special treatment, but Warden Long indignantly refuses. (Apparently at one time it was commonplace for wealthy or well-connected prisoners in Sing Sing to use their money or influence to obtain special privileges, but Lawes and his predecessor had put an end to such malpractices). At first Tommy proves a cocky, troublesome and rebellious prisoner, but his attitude gradually changes under the influence of Long's discipline. In the early part of the film Long seems a strict-but-fair disciplinarian, but we see a more liberal side to his character when a telegram is received stating that Tommy's girlfriend, Fay, has been seriously injured in a car accident. He grants Tommy a 24 hour leave to see her, on Tommy giving him his word of honour to return at the end of that period. On arrival, however, Tommy gets involved in an altercation with Finn, who has been paying attentions to Fay. A fight breaks out which ends with Finn being shot dead. Tommy now has to decide whether to keep his promise to Long and return to the jail, even though he knows that to do so could result in his conviction and execution for murder. The fatal shot was in fact fired by Fay, but her confession is not believed by the authorities, who think that she is just trying to shield her boyfriend. Spencer Tracy, who normally played the hero, unusually plays a criminal, although in this case one who eventually reforms. Indeed, by the end of the film Tommy has redeemed himself to such an extent that he can be regarded as the film's hero. This means that the role cannot have been an easy one to play, but Tracy handles it well, making us believe in all the stages through which Tommy passes, from arrogant thug to man of integrity. We also get to see a young, pre-stardom Bette Davis as Fay. In its subject-matter and plot the film seems to prefigure the film noir style which was to evolve in the following decade, although it lacks the expressionist photography which was so characteristic of noir. Its main weakness is that the plot is not always easy to follow, but Tracy's performance and the way in which director Michael Curtiz handles Tommy's central dilemma- whether to stay true to his word at the possible cost of his life- means that it retains enough dramatic intensity to keep it watchable even today, more than seventy years after it was made. 7/10

The very same year that Barbara Stanwyck went up the river in "Ladies They Talk About", Spencer Tracy took the Metro North up to Sing Sing. He's guilty of many heinous crimes, and has a 5-30 year stretch for a robbery charge with assault and battery. But if Tracy has his way, his "visit" to Sing Sing will have him whistling a happy tune. He doesn't count on warden Arthur Byron stepping on his toes, turning down his crooked attorney's (Louis Calhern) request for special treatment. After months of confinement in his cell (having been told he'd be longing for the rock pile), Tracy gets out, grabs his sledge hammer, and is happy to finally see the light of day. Eventually, his better behavior lands him a job working in the shoe department.When Calhern begins to put the moves in on Tracy's gal (a young Bette Davis), Tracy plots his breakout, but of course, it happens on Saturday, which he considers his "unlucky" day. The warden, trusting Tracy, gives him a temporary leave when he learns that Davis has been in a car accident and will probably not survive. Tracy intends to return (even if facing execution), but is involved in a murder, and the warden faces the wrath of the press and considers resigning his job.This prison drama doesn't totally sugarcoat conditions in the penal system, but something tells me that even in Pre-Code Hollywood, there was more going on at Sing Sing than what is presented here. An honest warden, strict but essentially kindly guards, and the privilege of temporary leaves made me a bit cynical. Still, when you've got an actor like Tracy, a rising star like Davis, some sizzling dialog, and tight direction by Michael Curtiz, the result is a cracking crime drama that made Warner Brothers movies the most realistic and gritty before that nasty production code come along and took the sass out of their sails.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A tough guy (Spencer Tracy) gets 5-30 in Sing Sing but he thinks the journey will be easy due to his connections on the outside. The Warden (Arthur Byron) eventually reforms the guy but when his girlfriend (Bette Davis) gets injured, the Warden offers the man one night outside the prison if he promises to return the following day. This Michael Curtiz directed prison drama is pretty good, although it really doesn't offer us anything new or original. The story eventually falls apart in the middle section but Tracy and Davis, in their only film together, makes it worth watching.