Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

mark.waltz Moderately decent B drama about a hard working fisherman wrongly accused of murder who ends up in prison, gets a parole, which means jack squat when he tries to find a job. Barton MacLane isn't traditional leading man material, but kept getting leads in B's throughout the late 1930's into the mid 1940's. Sort of a second choice to roles that didn't go to Charles Bickford, he's a dependable character actor who rose above supporting roles. He's supported by Glenda Farrell, aka Torchy Blane, playing his devoted fiancé who stands by him even though her abusive father and brute brother vow to keep them apart. It's fast moving and truthful, but just one of many on the same subject. Good waterfront scenery and a believable prison break are the highlights. When MacLane tries to take a job out of the country and is reminded by his parole officer that he's not allowed to leave the state, all I could say is duh, wondering why the writers thought that it would be believable for him to even try. Minor complaint, but it was just too obvious to overlook.

JohnHowardReid This one is another in the series of Hollywood's campaign against a parole system in which parolees must get work but must also tell their prospective employers that they're on parole. In films – such as this one – their dilemma is usually solved by an act of God. Despite the use of coincidence to bring this about and despite the fact that the movie attempts to crowd so many plot turns into its 72 minutes of running time, there is scarcely a chance to draw breath (I'm not complaining), it's a humdinger of a "B" movie with some great performances all around, particularly from MacLane, Bond, Farrell and Hurst. Arthur Lubin's direction is never less than effective. See is you can spot Glenn Strange, Roy Barcroft and Walter Long in the super-extensive support cast. Available on a very good Alpha DVD.

evening1 This surprisingly powerful and compelling film starts weakly with a hackneyed tale of a curmudgeonly father opposing his daughter's choice of a mate.Glenda Farrell's Jean sees the hero behind the burly fisherman with a fascinating face, Barton MacLane, and waits for him through a maddeningly unfair series of arrests and punishments in prison. Shannon is the archetypal Everyman with integrity who just can't catch a break -- until the romantic final scene, when the good guy triumphs and finally gets the girl. The perfect ending is a bit anticlimactic but once in a while a happy conclusion manages to satisfy. A bravura production that I'll not soon forget.

bkoganbing Prison Break finds the two leads of Warner Brothers Torchy Blane series, Barton MacLane and Glenda Farrell, in a serious sociological drama about the dilemma of an ex-convict trying to go straight. Both in and outside of prison MacLane has it really stacked against him.This film was done for Universal Pictures and MacLane plays a captain of tuna fishing boat who's in love with Glenda Farrell. She's a widow with a small son, but for reasons not quite explained her father Victor Kilian has a vicious hatred for MacLane. MacLane also has a sister played by Constance Moore who is in love with Edmund MacDonald who works on MacLane's boat.On his bachelor party night, MacDonald gets good and drunk and later wakes up next to the unconscious body of Edward Pawley who is brother to Farrell and son of Kilian. MacLane says he clocked, but the next day Pawley dies and MacLane is in a jackpot for manslaughter.In prison MacLane's nemesis is Ward Bond who is one vicious thug, usually the kind of part MacLane plays in films. Which is also coincidental because if you recall both MacLane and Bond played partner cops in The Maltese Falcon and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.In the end it all resolves itself a little too neatly. In fact when Bond kills a prison guard during an escape attempt that should have brought the death penalty for him. I'm surprised that Universal Pictures neglected that little fact.Still MacLane gives a really good and sincere performance as a man trapped by circumstances only partly of his own making. He should never have taken the rap, even though he thought it was only for assault. A bit melodramatic and neat still Prison Break is a well made B film from Universal and it was nice to see Barton MacLane as a good guy and hero in this film.