''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

as Edward 'Romeo' Harper *

as Anne Halsey * Paul Kelly as Warden Clinton T. Duffy *

as Gladys Duffy *

as John C. Winant *

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 {{1950s-crime-drama-film-stub