Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951)

With the exception of Steve Cochran who did do some leads Inside The Walls Of Folsom Prison is a film Warner Brothers did with a whole lot of their supporting players. Both as convicts and guards they tell a gritty tale about Folsom Prison the place where all the really bad apples in the California Penal System go. Plus others when the system has no room elsewhere. Ted DeCorsia got the career role in this film as the sadistic warden who takes real pleasure in meting out punishment. He has it arranged so he's like Pavlov conducting experiments with rodents all to give him maximum jollies. Some of the cons are people like Cochran, Philip Carey, Paul Picerni, Michael Tolan and William Campbell. Carey's case is a particularly tragic one. He's due for parole and becomes enmeshed in some of the warden's games. Dorothy Hart has a tragic role herself as the expectant wife just waiting for her man to come home.David Brian plays a guard who is sent by the prison board to help bring about some changes. He does to a limited extent, but he's defeated with a combination of DeCorsia's game playing and the fact that he's dealing with some really desperate characters.Inside The Wall Of Folsom Prison is a gripping prison drama that does not let up in tension or drama. A great film about desperate men.

Unfortunately, Crane Wilbur's direction is not strong enough to allow INSIDE THE WALLS OF FOLSOM PRISON to be anything more than a routine prison melodrama illustrating prison reform when a man with new ideas (DAVID BRIAN) is given a chance to change the brutal practices of Warden Rickey (TED DeCORSIA).And fans of STEVE COCHRAN will be surprised that he has such a peripheral part when he's given top billing over David Brian. His part in the prison escape featured at the conclusion of the film is the only time he gets the spotlight. Otherwise, he's just one of the men unhappy with the prison system and looking for the right moment to make his move.All of the brutal episodes featured in the story could have come across with greater effect as they have in many Warner prison melodramas featuring stars like James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson or Humphrey Bogart. Instead, the total effect is less than striking because the story ambles on in a way that never lifts it out of routine.Disappointing. Ted DeCorsia has the meatiest role as the brutal warden and does fairly well with a villainous role. David Brian is merely adequate in a rather colorless role as the good guy.

Who narrates? A snippet of this film is played in "Walk The Line", and the snippet has turned me into a whirling dervish. The narrator voice I CANNOT get out of my head. I have been on the main message board already. Any help would be appreciated. The narrator sounds like the burning bush voice in The Ten Commandmants. I know it is supposed to be Heston as the God voice in the Ten Commandmants, but ......I am not sure. The two voices, narrator Inside Folsom Prison, burning bush Ten Commandmants sound the same to me and I Do not think it was Charlton Heston. I don't know how much can be done with sound manipulation in the 50's. Is anyone else hearing what I am hearing or am I just crazy? Please see main message board, Trivia for thread of answers. Thanks for any help.

Here is a case where a cast of solid and interesting actors become the main reason to watch. INSIDE THE WALLS OF FOLSOM PRISON is not in the league of great prison movies like BRUTE FORCE (Dassin, 1947), but it has some singular qualities that will make fans of the prison movie genre want to seek it out. The film opens with the prison speaking--yes, a familiar-voiced narrator speaking as Folsom itself. The intention of the film is a lesson in prison reform. But we are spared any dryly didactic speech-making. The opening sequence is full of super-charged action, as several prisoners carry out a plot to assault guards and take over. Their initial attempt fails, leaving the ringleaders at the mercy of con-hater warden Rickey (a nicely corrosive Ted De Corsia). Rickey is not just intolerant of any resistance from prisoners, he's sadistic and cruel. In a scene reminiscent of BRUTE FORCE, Rickey beats a prisoner (Paul Picerni) to unconsciousness behind the closed door of his office. But there is no Wagner playing loudly on a phonograph to cover the violent sound, as in the Dassin film. Even his own guards are disgusted by Rickey's brutality. Later, we are treated to scenes of stool-pigeons and the revenge exacted on them by fellow prisoners. Things start getting more out of hand as a new, well-meaning head guard (David Brian of THE DAMNED DON'T CRY) tries to introduce a more tolerant approach. Steve Cochran is billed as the film's star, but his character, Chuck Daniels, does not come into his own until well past the mid-point. Daniels is a prisoner famed for several previous escapes. And in Folsom he does not disappoint. It's great fun watching Daniels lead a daring escape attempt. And the film has a satisfying final payoff. Cochran, De Corsia, Brian, Picerni are terrific, at the top of their acting game. Also great in the cast: Philip Carey and Edward Norris as nasty Sgt. Hart. James Griffith (the 'Zachary Scott of the Bs') makes a notable stool-pigeon. William Lava's score is attractive and rarely intrusive. Watch this one for the great cast.