Just as I started watching “Cool Hand Luke” for the umpteenth time Monday evening Gilda called me in to an early dinner. I set the DVR to watch it at a later date but it prompted me to put together a list of favorite films with prison-themes or important incarceration scenes.
Another communication from Gilda, however, has concerned me. She sent along a column from The Washington Post that lamented the loss of cultural touchstones among younger generations (make sure you read some of the comments, as well—https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/cultural-references-keystone-cops/2021/07/25/d9b11bf8-ebe1-11eb-ba5d-55d3b5ffcaf1_story.html).
As many of the movies I recommend are from decades 50-60-70-80 years ago, I worry that many of you have no touchstone to identify with them. To me, a black and white movie such as “Brute Force” (1947) or “Three Came Home” (1950) represents cinematic excellence. Sadly, Turner Classic Movies is often the only outlet that broadcasts them.
You’ll have to work hard to view my complete selection. Keep in mind the list is restricted to movies I have seen that have made, and continue to make, lasting impressions on me.
That’s life. With that as our mutual sentence, here’s my list of films, involving jail, prison or any form of incarceration. As usual, I welcome some of your favorites:
The Shawshank Redemption
Midnight Express
Ben-Hur
Spartacus
A Face in the Crowd
Cool Hand Luke
Escape from Alcatraz
The Way Back
The Deerhunter
Terminator
Life Is Beautiful
Schindler’s List
Escape from Sobibor
I Want to Live
12 Monkeys
Modern Times
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Brute Force
Birdman of Alcatraz
The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
Captain Blood
The Seahawk
Passage to Marseille
A Tale of Two Cities
Papillon
Empire of the Sun
Stalag 17
The Great Escape
In the Name of the Father
The Producers
Bridge on the River Kwai
Conviction
Three Came Home
The Hill
Each Dawn I Die
White Heat
Silence of the Lambs
