'' Escape from San Quentin'' is a 1957 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

produced by

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financi ...

, directed by Fred F. Sears, and starring

Johnny Desmond Johnny Desmond (born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone; November 14, 1919 – September 6, 1985) was an American singer who was popular in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Desmond was born Giovanni de Simone in Detroit, Michigan. ...

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Anders was born ...

and Richard Devon.

Plot

Mike Gilbert is doing time at

San Quentin San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in ...

prison in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His sentence doesn't have long to go, but when fellow convict Roy Gruber plans a breakout and wants pilot Gilbert to help steal a plane and fly them out of the country, splitting $120,000 in stolen money Gruber has hidden, Gilbert goes along, having heard his wife Georgie wants a divorce. During their escape, inmate Hap Graham tries to tag along. The plane only holds two passengers, so Gruber roughly throws Hap to the ground, injuring him. Low on fuel, the plane can make it only as far as a rural road where Gruber knocks a man unconscious and steals his truck. Mike gets in touch with his sister-in-law Robbie, who tries and fails to get Georgie to help her husband. The money's in Los Angeles, hidden by Gruber's father, Curly. With police watching, Gruber gets a friend named Richie try to retrieve it. Hap turns up, seeking revenge, but he is killed and Richie badly hurt. Robbie comes along as the fugitives flee across the border to

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

. The ruthless Gruber decides to take Robbie captive and murders his friend Richie. Mike has little choice but to help the border patrol capture his crony and rescue the girl. He saves a Mexican policeman's life in the process, which law authorities say they will take into consideration as they return Mike to jail, with Robbie promising to wait for him.

Cast

as Mike *

as Robbie * Richard Devon as Roy Gruber *

Roy Engel Roy Engel (born Leroy Englewood Stults Jr.;"Missouri, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLFM-JTCJ : Thu Jul 18 04:43:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Leroy Englewood Stults and V ...

as Hap Graham * William Bryant as Richie (as Bill Bryant) *

Ken Christy Robert Kenneth Christy (November 23, 1894 – July 23, 1962) was an American television, film, and radio character actor. Early life Robert Kenneth Christy was born on November 23, 1964, in Greenville, Pennsylvania, to Laura E Christy (n� ...

as Curly Gruber * Larry J. Blake as Mack

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' 1957 films Columbia Pictures films American crime drama films 1957 crime drama films Film noir Films directed by Fred F. Sears 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime drama films Films produced by Sam Katzman American black-and-white films {{1950s-US-drama-film-stub