''Duffy of San Quentin'' is a 1954 American
film noir crime film directed by
Walter Doniger
Walter J. Doniger (July 1, 1917, in New York, New York - November 24, 2011, in Los Angeles, California) was an American film and television director. He was a graduate of the Harvard School of Business.
Career
In the early 1940s, Doniger starte ...
and written by Walter Doniger and Berman Swarttz. The film stars
Louis Hayward
Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a Johannesburg-born, British-American actor.
Biography
Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Scho ...
,
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
,
Paul Kelly,
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...
,
George Macready
George Peabody Macready Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.
Early life
Macready was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 29, 1899. He graduated ...
and
Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon (May 17, 1906 – August 17, 1971) was an American actor. He was one of Hollywood's favorite heavies.
McMahon began his acting career on Broadway, then appeared in many films and television series. In 1962, he received a Pri ...
. The film was released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
on March 16, 1954.
Plot
Clinton T. Duffy (Paul Kelly (Kelly was a prisoner in San Quentin in the 1920s)) suddenly has a job few would ever want. He's the interim warden at San Quentin, given the job for 30 days after violence and corruption swept what was then the nation's largest prison facility. Duffy aims to make his few days matter, cracking down on notorious guards, wiping out a stool-pigeon network and hiring the institute's first female nurse (Joanne Dru). The reforms take hold. Duffy's 30 days would become 12 years. Based on his memoir, Duffy of San Quentin tells the story of the warden's pivotal early tenure through the prism of his interactions with volatile inmate Edward Harper (Louis Hayward). Filmmaker Walter Doniger guides the action. He next made the prison film The Steel Cage (with Kelly and Maureen O’Sullivan returning as the Duffys) and explored life behind bars again in The Steel Jungle
Cast
*
Louis Hayward
Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a Johannesburg-born, British-American actor.
Biography
Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Scho ...
as Edward 'Romeo' Harper
*
Joanne Dru
Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbo ...
as Anne Halsey
*
Paul Kelly as Warden
Clinton T. Duffy
*
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...
as Gladys Duffy
*
George Macready
George Peabody Macready Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.
Early life
Macready was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 29, 1899. He graduated ...
as John C. Winant
*
Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon (May 17, 1906 – August 17, 1971) was an American actor. He was one of Hollywood's favorite heavies.
McMahon began his acting career on Broadway, then appeared in many films and television series. In 1962, he received a Pri ...
as Pierson
*
Irving Bacon as Doc Sorin
*
Joel Fluellen
Joel Fluellen (December 1, 1907 – February 2, 1990) was an actor and an activist for the rights of African Americans. He appeared in the films ''The Jackie Robinson Story'', '' Perils of the Jungle'', '' Duffy of San Quentin'', '' Sitting Bul ...
as Bill Lake
*
Joe Turkel
Joseph Turkel (July 15, 1927 – June 27, 2022) was an American character actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s. He is known for his roles in Stanley Kubrick's films '' The Killing'', ''Paths ...
as Frank Roberts
*
Jonathan Hale as Boyd
*Michael McHale as Pinto
*
Peter Brocco
Carl Peter Brocco (January 16, 1903 – December 20, 1992) was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 credits, notably ''Spartacus'' (1960) and '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), during his career spanning over 60 ...
as Nealy
*Marshall Bradford as Lowell
*
DeForest Kelley as Eddie Lee
*Sandy Aaronson as Guard
References
External links
*
1954 films
Warner Bros. films
American crime drama films
1954 crime drama films
Films directed by Walter Doniger
Films scored by Paul Dunlap
1950s English-language films
American black-and-white films
1950s American films
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