Nobody does go Over The Wall in this wan little prison programmer. The ‘working title’ EVIDENCE (see poster) far more accurate. But that’s the least of its problems. Second of five stories Warners got from ‘Sing Sing’ Warden Lewis E. Lawes*, this one passes off bland Irish tenor Dick Foran as a hothead boxer who leads with his fists IN and OUT of the ring. Pudgy, and coming across as an unsympathetic lout, he pummels manager Ward Bond demanding a quick fight only to find himself framed when the guy is killed by his boss. Innocent, but convicted, bad luck turns good for Foran when prison chaplain John Litel hears him singing and slots him into his popular radio show to sing Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria.’ (This really is the film plot! And while Foran is a more believable singer than boxer, his easy top proves short of breath for Schubert.) Meanwhile, forgettable gal pal June Travis gets a job as secretary to the actual killer and soon discovers . . . Well, you get the idea. This one’s a real lemon though Litel (making like Pat O’Brien elsewhere on the Warners lot in ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES/’38) is pretty good, considering, and looks far more physically fit than Foran’s putative pugilist. Busy hack megger Frank McDonald holds a lickety-spit pace, but sure lets everyone ham things up.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: *Lawes best adaptation was his first, 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING, with Michael Curtiz getting great perfs from Spencer Tracy (filling in for a contract breaking James Cagney) and Warners’ newbie Bette Davis.
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