''Experiment Alcatraz'' is a 1950 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Edward L. Cahn Edward L. Cahn (February 12, 1899 – August 25, 1963) was an American film director. Early life and education Cahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He went to work at Universal Pictures in 1917 while still a student at UCLA. Career ...

and written by

Orville H. Hampton Orville H. Hampton (May 21, 1917 – August 8, 1997) was an American screenwriter who worked mostly in low-budget films, particularly for producers Robert E. Kent and Edward Small. A screenplay that he and Raphael Hayes wrote for ''One Potato, T ...

. The film stars

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

Joan Dixon Joan Dixon (June 6, 1930 in Norfolk, Virginia – February 20, 1992 in Los Angeles) was an American film and television actress in the 1950s. She is known for her role in the film noir ''Roadblock'' (1951). Career Dixon appeared in ten fil ...

, Walter Kingsford and Robert Shayne. The film was released on November 21, 1950, by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

Plot

A number of Alcatraz prisoners have volunteered to take an experimental serum that could cure a fatal blood disease, promised a parole if they take part. During the experiments, notorious racketeer Barry Morgan steals one of lieutenant nurse Joan McKenna's scissors and stabs convict Eddie Ganz to death, then escapes. The medical tests are abandoned, the vaccine called a failure. Joan is upset for many reasons, including that such a serum could help her brother Dick, who has the disease. Dr. Ross Williams created the medicine and he attempts, with Joan's help, to understand why Morgan behaved the way he did. Ross is beaten by one of Morgan's thugs, Duke Shaw, and told that he and Joan had better drop their pursuit, but they don't. The trail leads them to

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

and a lodge owner, Ethel Ganz, the dead inmate's stepdaughter. She pulls a gun on them. It turns out Eddie hid $250,000 in stolen loot that she found. Ethel is now married to Morgan, with whom she plotted the murder and prison breakout. Morgan turns up with a gun, putting the lives of Ross and Joan in peril, but she is rescued, the villains are incarcerated and the serum is put to good use.

Cast

as Dr. Ross Williams *

as Lt. Joan McKenna * Walter Kingsford as Dr. J.P. Finley *Lynne Carter as Ethel Ganz * Robert Shayne as Barry Morgan * Kim Spalding as Duke Shaw *Sam Scar as Eddie Ganz * Kenneth MacDonald as Col. Harris *Dick Cogan as Dan Staley *

Frank Cady Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ' ...

as Max Henry * Byron Foulger as Jim Carlton *Ralph Peters as Bartender * Lewis Martin as Asst. District Attorney Walton *

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990) was an American character actor. Early years Lauter was born in White Plains, New York. He worked as a model for a professional photographer and was a rodeo rider before m ...

as Richard 'Dick' McKenna *Raymond Largay as Warden Keaton

References

External links

* 1950 films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films RKO Pictures films Films directed by Edward L. Cahn 1950 crime films American crime films 1950s American films {{1950s-crime-film-stub