''20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

set in Sing Sing Penitentiary, the maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, starring

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...

as an inmate and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

as his girlfriend. It was directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...

and based on the nonfiction book ''Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing'' written by Lewis E. Lawes, the

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of Sing Sing from 1920 to 1941. The film was remade by First National Pictures as '' Castle on the Hudson'' in 1940, starring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien.

Plot

Cocky Tommy Connors is sentenced for up to 30 years in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison for men operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining (village), New York, Ossining, New York, United States. It is abou ...

for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. His associate Joe Finn promises to use his contacts and influence to free Connors, but his attempt to bribe the

to provide special treatment is met with disdain and failure. Connors makes trouble immediately, but the prolonged confinement in his cell begins to change his attitude. As the warden had predicted, Connors is glad to contribute some honest work on the rockpile after his period of inactivity. However, Connors's determination to escape is unshaken. Bud Saunders, a highly educated fellow prisoner desperate to be with his pregnant wife, recruits Connors and another inmate for a complicated escape attempt. However, the escape is scheduled for a Saturday, a day that Connors superstitiously regards as unlucky for him. He withdraws from the plan, forcing Saunders to take another volunteer. The warden is alerted to the escape attempt, and although two guards are killed, the attempt is foiled. Trapped, Saunders jumps to his death. His two accomplices are captured and returned to their cells. Connors's girlfriend Fay Wilson visits him regularly in prison since his trial. On one visit, she admits that she has become close to Finn to encourage him to help Connors, but Connors tells her that she is only providing Finn with a reason to keep him locked in jail. Connors learns that Fay was injured in a car accident and is not expected to live. The warden grants Connors a 24-hour leave to see her, and Connors promises to return. When Connors sees Fay, he learns that Finn was responsible for her injuries. He takes a gun from a drawer, but Fay persuades him to give it to her. Finn appears, expecting Fay to sign a statement exonerating him in exchange for $5,000 that he intended to give to Connors. Connors and Finn fight, and Fay shoots Finn. Connors flees, taking the gun with him, and Fay secretly slips the money into his pocket. Before he dies, Finn names Connors as his killer. The warden is lambasted in the newspapers for allowing Connors to leave the prison. Just when the warden is about to sign a letter of resignation, Connors emerges. Connors is found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in the

electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...

despite Fay's testimony that it was she who killed Finn. Connors comforts her before being taken to

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

Cast

as Tommy Connors *

as Fay Wilson * Arthur Byron as the Warden, Paul Long *

Louis Calhern Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known by his stage name Louis Calhern, was an American actor. Described as a “star leading man of the theater and a star character actor of the screen,” he appeared in over 100 roles ...

as Joe Finn * Lyle Talbot as Bud Saunders * Warren Hymer as Hype * Grant Mitchell as Tester of Convicts' IQ

Production

''20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' is the only screen pairing of Bette Davis and Spencer Tracy. They wanted to work together for another film but never had the opportunity, although they did both appear on a radio version of ''

Dark Victory ''Dark Victory'' is a 1939 American melodrama film directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Bette Davis, and featuring George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Henry Travers, and Cora Witherspoon. The screenplay by Casey ...

'' in 1940. Tracy, under contract to

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox (producer), William Fox. It was the corporate successor to ...

, was lent to Warner ''B''ros. for the film. The role was originally intended for

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

, but Cagney was in a dispute with

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's ca ...

. Lewis E. Lawes, who wrote the book that is the basis of the film, was the warden of

at the time of the filming and approved the screenplay. He influenced preliminary versions of the script with suggestions and verified that all of the film's scenes followed the actual procedures used at Sing Sing. Separate film crews worked on the film, one on location at Sing Sing led by director

Ray Enright Ray Enright (March 25, 1896 – April 3, 1965) was an American film director. He directed 73 films between 1927–53, many of them for Warner Bros. He oversaw comedy films like Joe E. Brown vehicles, five of the six informal pairings of Joa ...

, and another in Hollywood directed by

. However, Curtiz is the film's sole credited director. Lawes permitted the crew to film scenes inside the prison, including mob scenes. The film was shot in 30 days with a budget of $215,000. The film's scenes showing the operation of Sing Sing's electric chair reflect the prologue of Lawes's book, which included a graphic description of the electrocution process. Despite supervising the execution of more than 300 men at Sing Sing, Lawes opposed capital punishment and wrote the prologue as an argument against it.

Release

The film's planned release date of December 24, 1932 was delayed until January 14, 1933. It was screened for preview audiences in Hollywood in early November 1932.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.

Box office

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $504,000 in the U.S. and $431,000 in other countries.

Radio series

A radio series, titled ''Twenty Thousand Years at Sing Sing'' (later retitled ''Behind Prison Bars'') ran during various periods from January 22, 1933 to April 21, 1939. It was broadcast alternately on NBC's Red and

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

networks. It featured warden Lewis Lawes as its narrator and its stories ranged from upbeat to grim, with an emphasis on stories of successful rehabilitation.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:20000 Years In Sing Sing 1932 films 1932 crime drama films 1930s prison films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American prison drama films 1930s English-language films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Michael Curtiz Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Films set in Westchester County, New York First National Pictures films Ossining, New York Warner Bros. films Films with screenplays by Robert Lord (screenwriter) Films produced by Robert Lord (screenwriter) 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun English-language crime drama films