Convicted – 1950 – Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford
One of the few films to present a positive portrayal of a prison warden, the incarceration drama Convicted opened in 1950 during a wave of jailhouse films following the classic Brute Force in 1947. American everyman Glenn Ford stars as Joe Hufford, who’s sent up the river following his dubious conviction for the nightclub death of a bigwig politician’s son. Life in the big house proves tough on Joe, who decides to join in an ill-fated breakout attempt rigged by a loathsome stool pigeon, Ponti (Frank Faylen). Fortunately a scuffle with one of the guards lands Joe in solitary, allowing him to dodge the grim fate of his co-conspirators. Soon Joe develops a rapport with the new warden, George Knowland (Broderick Crawford), the former D.A. on his case whose daughter Kay (Dorothy Malone) also takes an interest in the prisoner.
