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Castle on the Hudson

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Castle on the Hudson
Directed byAnatole Litvak
Screenplay bySeton I. Miller
Brown Holmes
Courtney Terrett
Based onTwenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing
1932 book
by Lewis E. Lawes
Produced byAnatole Litvak
Samuel Bischoff
StarringJohn Garfield
Ann Sheridan
Pat O'Brien
Burgess Meredith
CinematographyArthur Edeson
Edited byThomas Richards
Music byAdolph Deutsch
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • February 17, 1940 (1940-02-17)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Castle on the Hudson (UK title: Years Without Days) is a 1940 American film noir drama directed by Anatole Litvak and starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. A thief is sent to Sing Sing Prison, where he is befriended by the reform-minded warden. The film was based on the book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing, written by Lewis E. Lawes, on whom the warden (played by O'Brien) in the film was based.[1]. Castle on the Hudson was actually a remake of an earlier Spencer Tracy prison film, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), also based on Lawes's book.[2][3]

Plot

Tommy Gordon (John Garfield), a cocky, arrogant thief, is finally nailed by New York City authorities after pulling a big heist. He is sentenced to a minimum seven years at the state prison in Ossining, aka Sing Sing, on the shores of the Hudson River. There, he meets prison warden Walter Long (Pat O'Brien), to whom he takes an immediate dislike. It takes months, but the rebellious inmate, Gordon, eventually settles into the dull routine of prison life.

There has always been one rule that superstitious Tommy Gordon has stuck with -- never pull a job on a Saturday. So when fellow inmate Steve Rockford (Burgess Meredith) invites Gordon to assist him in a breakout, he at first agrees. Later however, learning that Rockford has scheduled the escape for a Saturday night, he backs out. Sure enough, Rockford's plans backfire, and he dies during the attempt. Warden Long learns afterwards of Gordon's refusal to go along with the escape. Later, when he receives news that Gordon's girlfriend, Kay Manners (Ann Sheridan), is seriously ill, he offers Gordon temporary unsupervised parole, just long enough to visit Kay. Despite the parole's taking place on a Saturday, Gordon gratefully accedes.

Once in New York, however, Gordon is involved in the murder of his shyster lawyer, shot dead by a sick, convalescing Kay. Though he is actually innocent of the crime, Gordon decides to protect Kay's reputation by taking the blame for his lawyer's death. So upon returning to Sing Sing, he greets the warden with a fake confession. A courtroom trial follows, where despite Kay's attempts to explain she is the real murderer, Gordon is convicted and sentenced to the electric chair. Unlike many of his death-row companions who panic and break down as their appointment with fate approaches, Gordon stolidly faces the consequences of his noble decision. In the end, he slowly walks that last mile before execution, accompanied by a solemn Warden Long and the prison chaplain.

Cast

Production notes

John Garfield agreed to star in the film if two conditions were met. First, he demanded that the original ending, where his character dies in the electric chair for a crime he did not commit, be retained in the movie's script. Second, to seal the deal, Garfield pressed for a $10,000 bonus. Warners agreed to both stipulations. [4]

Critical reaction

An unsigned critique in The New York Times, published during Castle on the Hudson's premiere March 1940 engagement, praised the cast as being "so good that a player like Burgess Meredith appears satisfied with fourth billing." The reviewer, however, panned the stock characters they played, complaining that "you have met them all before, and whether you care to renew the acquaintance or not, here is an excellent opportunity."[5]

In 1977, the Greater Ossining Arts Council featured a film festival under the title of Stars in Stripes Forever. The movies selected for showing were those that were either filmed at or set in Ossining (Sing Sing) Prison. Besides paying tribute to Castle on the Hudson, the festival also saluted such features as Invisible Stripes (1940), Each Dawn I Die (1939), and 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932).[6]

See also

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References

  1. ^ Lawes, Lewis E. Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 1932.
  2. ^ Backer, Ron. Mystery Movies Series of 1930s Hollywood. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012. p. 32.
  3. ^ McGrath, Patrick J. John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and On Stage. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2006. p. 39.
  4. ^ Nott, Robert. He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield. New York: Limelight Editions, 1950/2003. p. 118.
  5. ^ "The Screen: 'Castle on Hudson', With John Garfield, Pat O'Brien, Burgess Meredith, Ann Sheridan, Opens at Globe." The New York Times. (Mar. 4, 1940).
  6. ^ Smothers, Ronald. "Doing Time at the Movies." The New York Times. (Oct. 21, 1977): p. 64.
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