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20,000 Years in Sing Sing

Director: Michael Curtiz (Dir) Release Date: 24 Dec 1932 Duration (in mins): 77 or 81 Duration (in reels): 9			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Spencer Tracy	(Tommy Connors)
	Bette Davis	(Fay Wilson)
	Arthur Byron	(Warden [Paul Long])
	Lyle Talbot	(Bud Sauders)
	Grant Mitchell	(Dr. Ames)
	Warren Hymer	(Hype)
	Louis Calhern	(Joe Finn)
	Edward J. McNamara	(Chief of guards)
	Sheila Terry	(Billie)
	Spencer Charters	(Daniels)
	Nella Walker	(Warden Long's wife)
	Arthur Hoyt	(Dr. Meeker)
	William Le Maire	(Black Jack)
	Harold Huber	(Tony)
	George Pat Collins	(Mike)
	Sam Godfrey	(Reporter)

Summary:

Tommy Connors, a cocky tough guy, is sent to Sing Sing but is confident that he will not have to follow the rules of prison life. When his smooth lawyer, Joe Finn, tries unsuccessfully to bribe warden Paul Long, however, it becomes clear that Connors is now just another number. Connors and Long battle in a contest of wills, in which Long practices his modern theories of reform. Long begins to see results when Connors does not participate in an escape attempt designed by educated convict Bud Sauders. Eventually, Long puts his honor system to the test when he trusts Connors outside the walls. Hoping to help, Connors' girl friend, Fay Wilson, makes friends with Finn, but when he attacks her during an automobile trip, she jumps from the car and is badly injured. Long allows Connors to visit Fay, who is critically ill, but upon discovering that Finn is responsible for her injuries, he initiates a fight. Fay shoots and kills Finn, but it is Connors who is convicted for the murder. After Fay recovers, Connors is sentenced to death, and the couple is briefly reunited on death row. Fay attempts to confess her crime to Long, but her pleas are in vain. Connors is left alone to face the electric chair, asking only for one last cigarette.

Production Company:	First National Pictures, Inc.	(Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.)
Distribution Company:	First National Pictures, Inc.
Director:	Michael Curtiz	(Dir)
	Stanley Logan	(Asst dir)
Producer:	Robert Lord	(Assoc prod)
	Ray Griffith	(Supv)
Writer:	Wilson Mizner	(Scr)
	Brown Holmes	(Scr)
	Courtenay Terrett	(Adpt)
	Robert Lord	(Adpt)
Photography:	Barney McGill	(Photog)
Art Direction:	Anton Grot	(Art dir)
Film Editor:	George Amy	(Film ed)
Costumes:	Orry-Kelly	(Gowns)
	Cheney Brothers	(Silks by)
Music:	Bernard Kaun	(Mus score)
	Leo F. Forbstein	(Vitaphone Orch cond)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing by Lewis E. Lawes (Garden City, NY, 1932).
Authors:	Lewis E. Lawes

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
First National Pictures, Inc.	23/12/1932 dd/mm/yyyy	LP3522

Physical Properties:	Sd:
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Genre:	Drama
	Drama
Sub-Genre:	Crime
	Social

Subjects (Major):	Convicts
	Criminals--Rehabilitation
	Prison life
	Reformers
	Sing Sing Prison (NY)

Subjects (Minor):	Automobile accidents
	Confession (Law)
	Death row
	Executions
	Fights
	Gangsters
	Lawyers
	Murder
	Prison escapes
	Prison wardens
	Self-sacrifice

Note:	Author Lewis E. Lawes was warden of Sing Sing Prison for many years and allowed the filmmakers to shoot scenes inside the prison, including mob scenes. He wrote another book, entitled Life and Death in Sing Sing (Garden City, NY, 1928), about his prison experiences. According to production reports in the file on the film at the AMPAS Library, the film took thirty days to shoot and was made for a total cost of $215,000. According to modern sources, James Cagney was first choice for the role of Tommy Connors, but when a salary dispute kept Cagney from playing the part, Tracy was cast in the lead. Shots of the exterior of Sing Sing were intercut with studio recreations, according to modern sources. Modern sources list as additional cast members: Rockcliffe Fellows, Lucille Collins, Clarence Wilson and James Donlan. The film was remade by First National as Castle on the Hudson in 1940 (see above).

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
Film Daily	11 Jan 33	p. 11.
Hollywood Reporter	27 Oct 32	p. 3.
Motion Picture Herald	5 Nov 32	p. 44.
New York Times	10 Jan 33	p. 26.
Variety	28 Oct 1932.
Variety	17 Jan 33	p. 26.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



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