''Within These Walls'' is a 1945 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and written by Eugene Ling and

Coles Trapnell Valentine Coles Trapnell (August 2, 1910 – January 29, 1999) was an American television producer, writer, and director most famous for a stint following Roy Huggins as the producer of the Warner Bros. Western series ''Maverick'' starring James ...

. The film stars Thomas Mitchell, Mary Anderson, Edward Ryan, Mark Stevens, B.S. Pully and

Roy Roberts Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones, March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen. Life and career Born in Tampa ...

. The film was released on July 13, 1945, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

Plot

When a judge, Michael Howland, decries conditions at a state prison, the governor recommends he become the new warden. Howland accepts, requiring that his family move to a new home near the penitentiary. His daughter Anne understands the situation, but teen son Tommy is upset by it. While introducing a new no-tolerance discipline to the prisoners, Howland meets convicted embezzler Steve Purcell, whose good behavior while serving his sentence impresses the warden after a jailhouse incident. Howland needs a driver for his family and entrusts Purcell with the job. Befriending a couple of inmates, Tommy assists them with a breakout. After a quarrel with his father, Tommy leaves for college and does not see his family again for nearly two years. One day new prisoners are brought in and among them is Tommy, found guilty of an armed robbery. The warden does not bend the rules for his son. His daughter, meantime, has fallen in love with Purcell, finding out he was innocent of his crime, taking the rap for his guilty brother. Ruthless inmate Martin Deutsch learns this from Tommy and uses this information against Purcell, saying he will inform on the brother if Purcell doesn't help him escape. Tommy's conscience gets the better of him. He knocks out Purcell to keep him from the prison break. Deutsch, trapped at the gate by the warden's guards, shoots Tommy in the back. Howland pursues the fleeing Deutsch and guns him down.

Cast

* Thomas Mitchell as Warden Michael Howland * Mary Anderson as Anne Howland *Edward Ryan as Tommie Howland * Mark Stevens as Steve Purcell * B.S. Pully as Harry Bowser *

as Martin 'Marty' Deutsch * John Russell as Rogers *

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

as Peter Moran * Harry Shannon as Head Guard 'Mac' McCafferty *Edward Kelly as Convict Michael Callahan *Rex Williams as Hobey Jenkins * Ralph Dunn as Pearson *

Dick Rush Richard T. Rush (born 1884) was an Australian-born American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. During his 28-year career, he would appear in between 160 and 300 films (depending on the source). The large majority of his parts wer ...

as Station agent * William Halligan as Collins * Fred Graham as Guard * Joseph E. Bernard as Conductor *Jack Daley as Conductor

References

External links

* {{H. Bruce Humberstone 1945 films 1945 drama films 1940s prison films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American drama films American prison films Films directed by H. Bruce Humberstone Films scored by David Buttolph Films with screenplays by Wanda Tuchock 1940s English-language films 1940s American films