The Criminal Code
| The Criminal Code | |
|---|---|
theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Howard Hawks |
| Produced by |
Harry Cohn Frank Fouce |
| Screenplay by |
Fred Niblo, Jr. Seton I. Miller |
| Based on |
The Criminal Code by Martin Flavin |
| Starring |
Walter Huston Phillips Holmes Constance Cummings Boris Karloff |
| Music by | Sam Perry |
| Cinematography |
James Wong Howe Ted Tetzlaff |
| Edited by | Edward Curtiss |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Criminal Code (1931) is an American Pre-Code Hollywood crime film, directed by Howard Hawks starring Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes. The film is the first of three Columbia Pictures film adaptations of the stage play of the same name by Martin Flavin.
Six years of stress and hard labor working in the prison jute mill has taken its toll on young Robert Graham. The penitentiary's resident doctor and psychiatrist recommends that Warden Brady see him and proposes that he offer him a drastic change of environment and duties before his psychological damages become irreversible. When the warden realizes who the inmate is, or rather was, and recalls that it was he that helped put him behind bars (as with many of the prisoners), he agrees to give him a chance and offers him a job as his valet. Graham enjoys his new employment, especially since he is frequently in the company of the warden's pretty young daughter, Mary. He improves in general character and demeanor and regains his morale.
Meanwhile, one of Graham's cellmates tries to escape at night with two other prisoners. One turns out to be a stool pigeon, breaking the Prisoner's code of silence and lures the men into a death trap. The guards brutally shoot down and kill Graham's cellmate. Ned Galloway, Graham's other cellmate, vows to avenge this death and, more importantly, punish the violator of the unwritten code. He develops an elaborate plan secretly to murder the culprit and carefully warns Graham to stay away from the man. Ill-fated Graham, of course, walks in on the crime no one was supposed to witness.
Upon finding Graham with the dead body, the perspicacious warden again knows that Graham is not the murderer. He does however clearly see that Graham knows who committed the crime. Promising him a speedy parole, though his sincerity is somewhat doubtful, the warden pushes Graham to reveal the name of the killer. He is morally torn. Still an inmate, Graham cannot bring himself to go against the Prisoner's Code and remains loyal to Galloway and the other inmates, who in this case represent the Hawksian group, an ever-present theme in the director's films. The situation also deeply troubles Brady, who feels impelled to send Graham to "the hole," hoping it will change his mind.
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