Glenn Ford is "Convicted" in this 1950 film that also stars Broderick Crawford, Dorothy Malone, Frank Faylen, Ed Begley, Carl Benton Reid, Will Geer, and Millard Mitchell. Ford plays Joe Hufford, a war veteran who gets into a bar fight in which a man is killed. Though the DA, Knowland (Crawford) takes pity on him and wishes he had a better attorney, Hufford is sentenced from 1-10 years. Ultimately it's decided he'll serve 5 years, and come up for parole in 3. He's desperate to see his elderly father again, so when some of the other prisoners plan a break, Joe begs to be part of it. Just before his parole hearing, he receives a telegram that his father died. When a guard yells at him for not doing his work in the laundry room, Hufford punches him and winds up in solitary. He misses the escape, which ends up in death for the escapees. Ponti (Faylen) is the snitch who tipped off the guards.
When Hufford is released from solitary, there's a new warden - Knowland, the sympathetic DA. He makes Hufford a trustee, chauffeuring his daughter (Malone). When Ponti is killed, Hufford is in the warden's office, but won't reveal who did it, causing him to lose his trustee status and threatening his parole.
There's good acting throughout, and a sympathetic portrayal by Ford in this film, which moves quickly. Crawford is excellent as a tough but fair warden. Among the prisoners, veteran actor Faylen, who did such a terrific job as Dobie Gillis' father, does a bang-up job here in a dramatic, showy role. Everyone, though, is very good.
As an actor, boyish Glenn Ford didn't have much range, but he was so likable and attractive, it never mattered. His performances are always natural and underplayed, more on the style of today's actors. However, he was much more of a presence than many working today.
Good film.
