The Criminal Code (1931)

A young man (Phillips Holmes) is convicted of manslaughter after killing a man by hitting him over the head with a bottle during a fight. When the attorney (Walter Huston) who prosecuted him becomes the new warden, he takes the convict under his wing and mentors him. Based on the play by Martin Flavin and directed by Howard Hawks (SCARFACE). This prison melodrama is somewhat on the preachy side as it urges its audience to question the often dubious methods of a penal system that too often solidifies the tendencies of criminal behavior rather than rehabilitating them. In a rare poor performance, Huston loudly barks his lines as he punches out the dialogue. Holmes is decent but it's Boris Karloff as a vengeance seeking inmate who steals the movie. I don't think it's one of Hawks' better films. I found the film making rather crude but then I'm not partial to prison movies in general so I might be biased. Remade in 1938 and 1950. With Constance Cummings as Huston's daughter and Holmes' romantic interest, DeWitt Jennings, Andy Devine and Mary Doran.