swap_horiz State Penitentiary Alternatives

1

Le Trou

Jacques Becker’s *Le Trou* (The Hole) is a seminal 1960 French prison film. The movie gained recognition for its remarka...

Classic French Escape 1960S

9.5 Brilliant

2

The Prisoner (1955)

The Prisoner is a 1955 British psychological drama by Peter Glenville, starring Alec Guinness and nominated for five BAF...

Drama Political 1950S Interrogation

7.6 Good

3

The Hurricane (1999)

The Hurricane is a 1999 biographical prison drama by Norman Jewison, notable for Denzel Washington's Oscar-nominated por...

Boxing Biopic 1990S Wrongful

7.4 Good

4

The One That Got Away

The One That Got Away is a 1957 British war film about Franz von Werra, the only Axis POW to escape Allied captivity and...

True Story Escape 1950S Pow

7.2 Good

5

The Colditz Story

The Colditz Story is a 1955 British POW escape film by Guy Hamilton, based on Pat Reid's memoir of imprisonment at Coldi...

Escape British 1950S Pow

7.1 Good

6

Life (1999)

Life is a 1999 American prison comedy-drama, notable for Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence as bootleggers serving life se...

Comedy 1990S Period Wrongful

7.0 Good

7

The Wooden Horse

The Wooden Horse is a 1950 British POW escape film directed by Jack Lee, based on Eric Williams's Stalag Luft III tunnel...

Escape British 1950S Pow

7.0 Good

8

20,000 Years in Sing Sing

20,000 Years in Sing Sing is a 1932 Michael Curtiz pre-Code prison drama, based on warden Lewis E. Lawes's nonfiction bo...

Classic Drama 1930S Sing Sing

6.9 Fair

9

McVicar

McVicar is a 1980 British prison drama by Tom Clegg, starring Roger Daltrey as armed robber and later writer John McVica...

Escape British 1980S Biopic

6.8 Fair

10

Crown Heights

Crown Heights is a 2017 biographical legal drama, notable for recounting Colin Warner's wrongful murder conviction and h...

Drama True Story 2010S Wrongful

6.7 Fair

11

Castle on the Hudson

Castle on the Hudson is a 1940 Anatole Litvak prison film starring John Garfield, remaking 20,000 Years in Sing Sing fro...

Classic Drama 1940S Sing Sing

6.6 Fair

12

Invisible Stripes

Invisible Stripes is a 1939 Warner Bros. crime film by Lloyd Bacon, starring George Raft as an ex-con struggling after p...

Classic Crime 1930S Parole

6.6 Fair

13

Papillon (2017)

Papillon is a 2017 remake directed by Michael Noer, notable for retelling Henri Charriere's penal-colony escape story wi...

Escape Remake 2010S Devils Island

6.5 Fair

14

Black Tuesday

Black Tuesday is a 1954 film noir by Hugo Fregonese, starring Edward G. Robinson as a condemned gangster escaping on exe...

Crime Noir 1950S Death Row

6.5 Fair

15

Hell's Highway

Hell's Highway is a 1932 American pre-Code chain-gang drama from RKO, noted for its blunt depiction of brutal Southern p...

Classic Drama 1930S Chain Gang

6.4 Fair

16

An Innocent Man

An Innocent Man is a 1989 American prison drama by Peter Yates, notable for casting Tom Selleck as a framed engineer for...

Drama Revenge 1980S Wrongful

6.3 Fair

17

Devil's Island (1939)

Devil's Island is a 1939 American prison film directed by William Clemens, notable for casting Boris Karloff in a sympat...

Classic Escape 1930S Penal Colony

6.1 Fair

18

Up the River

Up the River is a 1930 John Ford prison comedy, notable as the feature-film debut of both Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bog...

Classic Comedy Escape 1930S

5.9 Mediocre

19

Chain Gang

Chain Gang is a 1950 Lew Landers prison drama starring Douglas Kennedy as a reporter working undercover to expose corrup...

Classic Drama 1950S Chain Gang

5.9 Mediocre

20

The Steel Cage

The Steel Cage is a 1954 prison film noir directed by Walter Doniger, built as three San Quentin stories involving Warde...

Classic Drama Anthology 1950S

5.8 Mediocre