- TCM schedule – Sept. 2: “Prison Life” is Turner Classic Movies’ daytime theme. TCM will be airing nine titles from the 1930s and 1940s depicting the lives of men confined in U.S. prisons, in addition to the lives of men (and at least one woman) doing their utmost to evade/escape that fate. Jailbirds include Chester Morris (in two movies) and Burt Lancaster.
TCM schedule – Sept. 2: “Prison Life” titles include Jules Dassin’s violent drama Brute Force and George W. Hill’s Oscar-nominated hit The Big House
“Prison Life” is the theme of Turner Classic Movies’ daytime programming on Monday, Sept. 2: TCM will be presenting nine titles about men in prison, getting sent to prison, escaping/trying to escape from prison, and/or doing their utmost to not end up in prison. (See TCM’s “Prison Life” movie schedule further below. Most titles will remain available for a while on the Watch TCM app.)
Seven of TCM’s offerings came out in the 1930s; two in the 1940s. Titles range from obscure Bs/programmers like John S. Robertson’s His Greatest Gamble (1934) to Jules Dassin’s classic 1947 prison drama Brute Force.
The former stars Academy Award nominee Richard Dix (Cimarron, 1930–1931) as an inveterate gambler who makes some weird choices to protect his daughter (Edith Fellows/Dorothy Wilson) from her overprotective mother (Erin O’Brien-Moore). The latter features an A-list cast (Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Charles Bickford, Hume Cronyn) led by a beefy Burt Lancaster. Warning: Besides being more than a tad absurd, the climactic finale is very, very violent.
Charismatic Chester Morris
Also violent are the battles seen in two titles costarring one of most charismatic actors of the 1930s, Chester Morris (Academy Award finalist for Alibi, 1928–1929): George W. Hill’s Best Picture contender The Big House (1929–1930) and J. Walter Ruben’s programmer Public Hero #1* (1935).
A major hit in the United States, The Big House is a gripping prison drama that reaches its climax during a masterfully shot and edited attempted breakout that remains as impressive as it must have been nearly a century ago. Film editor Blanche Sewell would unquestionably have won that year’s Oscar – had the Best Film Editing category been around back then. Another woman, Frances Marion, had better luck, taking home the golden statuette for Best Writing.
A competent thriller, Public Hero #1 revolves around an undercover FBI agent (third-billed but de facto lead Chester Morris) who uses questionable methods in an attempt to nab the members of a dangerous gang. Future Oscar nominee Jean Arthur (The More the Merrier, 1943) is fine in a subordinate role as “the love interest” who also happens to be the sister of one of the gangsters (Joseph Calleia). Note: The previously aired print needs some serious cleaning up.
* That’s how the title is spelled on screen.
Immediately below is TCM’s “Prison Life” movie schedule on Sept. 2.
TCM channel schedule (EDT) – Sept. 2
6:15 AM His Greatest Gamble (1934)
Director: John S. Robertson.
Cast: Richard Dix, Dorothy Wilson, Bruce Cabot, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Leonard Carey, Shirley Grey, Edith Fellows, Eily Malyon.
72m7:30 AM Red Hot Tires (1935)
Director: D. Ross Lederman.
Cast: Lyle Talbot, Mary Astor, Roscoe Karns, Frankie Darro, Gavin Gordon, Mary Treen, Henry Kolker, Bradley Page, Clarence Muse.
61m8:45 AM Bad Guy (1937)
Director: Edward Cahn.
Cast: Bruce Cabot, Virginia Grey, Edward Norris, Jean Chatburn, Cliff Edwards, Charley Grapewin, Warren Hymer.
69m10:00 AM Dust Be My Destiny (1939)
Director: Lewis Seiler.
Cast: John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Charley Grapewin, John Litel.
88m11:30 AM They Live by Night (1948)
Director: Nicholas Ray.
Cast: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen, Helen Craig, Will Wright, William Phipps, Ian Wolfe.
95m1:15 PM Brute Force (1947)
Director: Jules Dassin.
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Charles Bickford, Hume Cronyn, Anita Colby, Sam Levene, Jeff Corey, John Hoyt, Sir Lancelot, Vince Barnett, Jay C. Flippen, Richard Gaines, James Bell, Howard Duff, Whit Bissell.
98m3:00 PM The Big House (1930)
Director: George W. Hill.
Cast: Chester Morris, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery, Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, J.C. Nugent, Karl Dane.
80m4:30 PM Public Hero #1 (1935)
Director: J. Walter Ruben.
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Chester Morris, Joseph Calleia, Paul Kelly, Lewis Stone, Paul Hurst, George E. Stone.
89m6:15 PM Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Director: William Keighley.
Cast: James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft, Maxie Rosenbloom, Stanley Ridges, Alan Baxter, Victor Jory.
92m
notes
TCM schedule (website).
Burt Lancaster and Charles Bickford Brute Force image: Universal Pictures.
“TCM Channel Schedule Today: ‘Prison Life’ Excitement” last modified in September 2024.