'' Escape from San Quentin'' is a 1957 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

produced by

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

, directed by Fred F. Sears, and starring

Johnny Desmond Johnny Desmond (born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone; November 14, 1919 – September 6, 1985) was an American singer who was popular in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Desmond was born Giovanni de Simone in Detroit, Michigan, ...

and

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress and model who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Ander ...

Plot

Mike Gilbert is doing time at

San Quentin San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...

prison in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. His sentence doesn't have long to go, but when fellow convict Roy Gruber plans a breakout and wants pilot Gilbert to help steal a plane and fly them out of the country, splitting $120,000 in stolen money Gruber has hidden, Gilbert goes along, having heard his wife Georgie wants a divorce. During their escape, inmate Hap Graham tries to tag along. The plane only holds two passengers, so Gruber roughly throws Hap to the ground, injuring him. Low on fuel, the plane can make it only as far as a rural road where Gruber knocks a man unconscious and steals his truck. Mike gets in touch with his sister-in-law Robbie, who tries and fails to get Georgie to help her husband. The money's in Los Angeles, hidden by Gruber's father, Curly. With police watching, Gruber gets a friend named Richie try to retrieve it. Hap turns up, seeking revenge, but he is killed and Richie badly hurt. Robbie comes along as the fugitives flee across the border to

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. The ruthless Gruber decides to take Robbie captive and murders his friend Richie. Mike has little choice but to help the border patrol capture his crony and rescue the girl. He saves a Mexican policeman's life in the process, which law authorities say they will take into consideration as they return Mike to jail, with Robbie promising to wait for him.

Cast

as Mike *

as Robbie *

Richard Devon Richard Devon (born Richard Gibson Ferraiole, December 11, 1926 – February 26, 2010) was an American character actor and voice actor who between the late 1940s and 1991 performed in hundreds of roles on stage, radio, television, and in f ...

as Roy Gruber *

Roy Engel Roy Engel (September 13, 1913 – December 29, 1980) was an American actor on radio, film, and television. He performed in more than 150 films and almost 800 episodes of television programs. Career Engel's ancestry was Irish and Dutch. His ...

as Hap Graham * William Bryant as Richie (as Bill Bryant) *

Ken Christy Robert Kenneth Christy (November 23, 1894 – July 23, 1962) was an American television, film, and radio character actor. Early life Born Robert Kenneth Christy, he was the second of three children of Alice Christy and Olivier B. Christy. ...

as Curly Gruber *

Larry J. Blake Larry J. Blake (April 24, 1914 – May 25, 1982) was an American actor. Career A native of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, he started his career in vaudeville as an impersonator, working his way to a headliner. After appearing at the Roxy Theatr ...

as Mack

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' 1957 films Columbia Pictures films American crime drama films 1957 drama films Films directed by Fred F. Sears 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-crime-drama-film-stub