An action-packed slog

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Bernice Claire was billed as "California's Youngest Soprano" and had the most beautiful voice. No one will ever know why she fell by the wayside after the first rash of early movie musicals were over. Even though by 1931 she was touring vaudeville, First National obviously had enough faith in her to put her into "Numbered Men", a film about prison life and definitely not a musical. The star was Conrad Nagel, probably one of the most over worked actors of the early sound period because of his beautiful diction. In 1930 he made 11 pictures, in 1931 he did 10. When talkies were being cast, the word went out "Get Nagel - he can talk"!!! - talkies had refreshed his wilting career.This was a pretty good film with realistic sets and helped by some excellent acting. When prison tough guy Callahan (Ralph Ince) is transferred to the "Honor Wing" (who knows why? - he is as nasty as they come) the other prisoners are up in arms. They are men without names and 26521 (Nagel) is the leader whom the others go to for advice. 31857 (Raymond Hackett) is the eager young kid who was obviously framed (by gangster Rinaldo (Maurice Black)). His girl on the outside Mary (Claire) has promised to wait (10 long years!!) but Rinaldo finds her working at a country diner and convinces her that Buddy will want someone younger when he does get out so she reluctantly agrees to help organise an escape. Meanwhile Callahan has planned a prison riot that gives him a chance to escape with "Babyface" (Ivan Linow, who starred with Lon Chaney in that years "The Unholy Three"), another prisoner, mad with grief because his mother had just died. The warden wants to dismantle the whole honor system but 26521 promises that he and the rest of the road gang will capture Callahan dead or alive if the warden will only keep the system going. Mary can't convince Bud to escape, he feels he owes it to his friends to stick it out but just as she locks him in the store room Callahan climbs in through the window....Conrad Nagel was the nominal star but he was over shadowed by a powerhouse performance by Ralph Ince as the desperate escapee. Raymond Hackett (later married to Blanche Sweet) had a few emotional scenes and Bernice Claire was just fine as Mary. This role proved she was a good emotional actress who didn't need to rely on singing to keep the public interested.

The opening credits, listing the jail characters only by their numbers, and an opening title card, grandly proclaiming how convicts give up the right to a name, promise a grim drama of men imprisoned, and railing against their fate. The director -- Mervyn LeRoy, who would later helm I am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang -- also promises something serious, and perhaps grim. Instead, however, what is delivered is entertaining for all the wrong reasons, as, when the script does not dwell on all the long-standing prison clichés, it fixes on some of the most absurd plotting ever seen in a prison movie.The story features Conrad Nagel as a good-hearted ex-counterfeiter who takes a callow new inmate under his wing, and who, later, helps out the warden when a really nasty convict escapes by generating a prison riot. Nagel's performance is fine, but gets lost in the plot silliness, typified by a prison "honor system" where the warden shows a lack of concern about security that rivals Col. Klink. Other moments of plot outrageousness (mostly involving the lengths Conrad Nagel will go to sacrifice himself for the somewhat dimwitted juvenile hero) destroy any sort of believability, but add a sort of Ed Wood zaniness to the proceedings, particularly in the movie's final reel. LeRoy is a good enough director that the action in this film does not drag, so, if you like "so bad its good cinema", you will probably like this.

Numbered Men (1930) ** (out of 4) Flat prison drama about an ex-counterfeiter (Conrad Nagel) who takes a newbie (Raymond Hackett) under his wing. The two eventually get on the road crew, which allows them to work outside the prison and the newbies girlfriend (Bernice Claire) just happens to be working at a local diner. While those two love birds talk about their future there's a prison riot, which might cost them everything. NUMBERED MEN is a pretty bland and rather forgettable picture that just grows more and more confusing as it moves along. Even though it clocks in at just 65-minutes, the movie is so poorly paced that you can't help but grow tired within the first twenty-minutes and it never picks up any speed. I think the biggest problem is the actual story, which is all over the place and it really never comes together. We learn that the newbie is of course innocent but he's going to need someone to come forward to prove it. We learn that the newbie is terrified that his girl won't wait for him. Then, of course, a big break will eventually come. I'm not exactly sure why various subplots enter the picture as many of them go unanswered or at least none of them really add up to anything. Bagel is pretty good in his role but the screenplay really doesn't give him much to do other than stand around and give out advice. Hackett is pretty forgettable in his part as his acting really doesn't do anything to help the character. Claire, who was mainly in musicals, comes off pretty poorly as her vocal tone is always out of place and she just doesn't give a very good performance. The surprising thing is that this was directed by Mervyn LeRoy who would go onto direct the classic I WAS A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG.

silly, very hammy, kind of annoying prison flick has some campy lines here and there; not a Warners pic, therefore not striving for realism. the leading lady is cute.