Castle on the Hudson

Castle on the Hudson (1941)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Pretty much a scene-by-scene remake of the 1932 drama 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING has gangster Tommy Gordon (John Garfield) being sentenced to prison but he's not worried because he thinks his "connections" will get him out. Soon Tommy realizes that those on the outside want him to remain in prison so he thinks about escaping but the Warden (Pat O'Brien) tries to talk some sense into him. Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis were the stars of the original film, which is slightly better than this one thanks in large part to see the two legends working together. If you've seen that version then nothing here is going to come as a shock to you because I wouldn't be surprised if Warner just dusted off the previous screenplay and used it again, just changing names this time. That original film wasn't a classic so if you haven't seen it then you'll probably be caught up in the story plus we get Garfield turning in another winning performance. His character was too large of an ego and comes off as a major jerk but Garfield could always play these characters and in the end make you care about them. That's what pretty much happens here because after Tommy takes his beatings he finally comes to except prison life and how it actually is. Garfield is so believable in the part that you can't help but want to see him succeed in what he's doing no matter what he was convicted of. O'Brien plays his character countless times before in a number of Warner pictures. That heart of gold who takes in the bad and makes them see how good they could be. O'Brien and Garfield work extremely well together and they're certainly the main reason to check this film out. Ann Sheridan plays the girlfriend and isn't too bad in the part but the character is so poorly written that she becomes quite annoying due to how stupid she is. Burgess Meredith plays a fast-talking convict who tries to talk Garfield into escaping and Guinn Williams is the lovable lug head. Warner made a ton of gangster and prison pics and while this here isn't nearly the best, there are at least enough good moments to make it worth viewing but I'd still catch the original first.