Prison Movies
Getting into fights, making friends, killing someone, being killed, escaping, being captured. These are all events that take place between the walls of prison yards around the world. The experience of going to prison and living a solitary and confined life is something that any regular person doesn’t wish to do. So we make movies about what we believe prison life is like. It’s more entertaining to watch it than have it happen to you, correct? Prison movies have told the tales of fictitious convicted criminals since the 1930s. What a rush it would be to escape from captivity and run for your life. This is the bases for one of the earliest prison movies. I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, released in 1932, explores the life of a fugitive. Harrison Ford played a similar role in more recent years in Fugitive. From the early black and white prison movies, something awesome has evolved. Every plot you can possibly create can be set in prison or based on prison life. Prison movies have branched off into drama, like The Shawshank Redemption, action, as in Escape From Alcatraz, and even musicals. Does Jailhouse Rock ring a bell? Prison movies have even touched on supernatural powers, as in The Green Mile. Prison movies have a funny way of making us feel sympathetic for a murderer. This is just another part of their magic on us and why we will continue to flock to the screen when a prison movie premieres.
