''Condemned'' is a 1929 American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

, directed by

Wesley Ruggles Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. Life and work He was born in Los Angeles, California, younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a do ...

, and starring

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...

Ann Harding Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was ...

Dudley Digges Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...

Louis Wolheim Louis Robert Wolheim (March 28, 1880 – February 18, 1931) was an American actor, of both stage and screen, whose rough physical appearance relegated him to roles mostly of thugs or villains in the movies, but whose talent allowed him to fl ...

William Elmer William Elmer (April 25, 1869 – February 24, 1945) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1942. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and died in Hollywood, California. Elmer acted in ...

, and

Wilhelm von Brincken Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken, and William Vaughan, was a German diplomat and spy during World War I, who went on to become an American charac ...

. The movie was adapted by

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

from the novel by Blair Niles.

Production background

This film was also released in a silent version running 9000 feet.''Condemned''
SilentEra.com; accessed July 23, 2015. In 1930, Colman was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in the

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

category for his work in this film and in ''

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

'' (1929). ''Condemned'' was the first of eight films written by Sidney Howard for producer

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...

, the last of which was '' Raffles'' (1939).

Cast

- Michel *

- Madame Vidal *

- Vidal *

- Jacques *

- Pierre *

- Vidal's orderly (as William Vaughn) * Albert Kingsley - Felix * Constantine Romanoff - Brute Convict * Harry Ginsberg - Inmate * Bud Sommers - Inmate * Stephen Selznick - Inmate * Baldy Biuddle - Inmate *

John George John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

- Inmate *

John Schwartz John Schwartz (October 27, 1793 – June 20, 1860) was an Anti-Lecompton Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1859 to 1860. Biography Schwartz was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania ...

- Inmate

Soundtrack

''Note: this list is incomplete'' * "Song of the Condemned" written by Jack Meskill and Pete Wendling

International releases

The film is known by a variety of other names, including: ''Condenado'' in Portugal and Spain, ''Condemned to Devil's Island'' in the USA reissue, ''Condenado a Isla del Diablo'' in Argentina, ''Flucht von der Teufelsinsel'' in Austria, and ''L'isola del diavolo'' in Italy.

References

External links

*
''Condemned'' at Cine.gr
(in Greek)
''Condemned'' at TCMdb
American prison films 1929 films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films Films directed by Wesley Ruggles Films set on Devil's Island Samuel Goldwyn Productions films 1929 romantic drama films Melodrama films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films {{1920s-romantic-drama-film-stub