A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Pat O'Brien is the new captain of the prison guard at San Quentin who clashes with guard Barton MacLane while romancing the sister (Ann Sheridan) of new convict Humphrey Bogart. A great WB prison flick; one of the best. Solid supporting cast of familiar faces. The leads are all great. Sheridan gets to sing a song. She's not as glamorous here as she would be in the '40s, but she's still a looker. Bogie is very entertaining in one of his early roles. He's got pals on the outside that can pull wires, doncha know? O'Brien and MacLane are good in roles they could play in their sleep. The prison stuff is better than the romantic subplot. Bogie fans will like it for his fun performance. Love that gangster tough guy lingo!

When Bogie once said he made more stinkers than any other actor in Hollywood, one can laugh, but sadly San Quentin can also be one of those stinkers.With an all star cat of O'Brien, Sheridan, and Bogart; it's hard to really think of this film being a let down.In a prison drama with Pat O'Brien taking over, and Bogart's typical 1930's gangster role being thrown in the pen, it's not the actors fault in this movie. Red (Bogart) is as all other gangsters he played in most films from these days, a bad seed. O'Brien is the officer in charge of the prison but really not a bad guy, while dating Red's sister (Ann Sheridan), Red is slowly planning an escape from the prison.Surely it's not one you can remember Bogie by as he was not given much to work with from the start, and Ann Sheridan was in many gangster related pictures, San Quentin falls in the category of the forgettable ones from the classic Hollywood era. I give this movie a 5 out of 10 just for the strong cast. It has a good outline plot but it's poorly executed and serves as a missed opportunity of things that could have worked in this film. Overall if you're collecting Bogart's movies, this is one you can watch and line up on the shelf.

One of the better early prison movies is SAN QUENTIN directed by Lloyd Bacon for Warner Brothers. A fast paced drama starring Pat O'Brien as(Captain Stephen Jameson), a former military officer who accepts a job at the infamous San Quentin prison and brings with him ideas of military-style-reform. His changes don't go over easy with hardened criminals like 'Sailor Boy' Hanson(Joe Sawyer) and fresh new 'fish' like Joe Kennedy(Humphrey Bogart). An uprising of discontent begins when a bitter guard(Barton MacLane)informs some of the prison population that Jameson is dating Kennedy's attractive sister(Ann Sheridan).Movies like this flourished in America during the Great Depression and it is very odd that it was actually banned in Finland. Rounding out the cast: Joe King, James Robbins, Garry Owen, Veda Ann Borg and William Pawley.

In one of his roles before becoming a top star, Humphrey Bogart plays an inmate in the notorious prison. When new warden Pat O'Brien - romantically involved with Bogey's nightclub singer sister (Ann Sheridan) - comes in, he feels a little more sympathetic to Bogey's predicament and decides that it's OK if the guy leaves...but things don't work out so easily.I can see "San Quentin" as a sequel of sorts to the numerous gangster flicks that came out in the '30s. Following their lives of crime - into which economic conditions often forced them - these hard-boiled men ended up in the most unpleasant prisons, watched over by cruel guards. Certainly Humphrey Bogart plays as tough a role as one would expect from him, and Barton MacLane (HB's co-star in later movies, and he later played Gen. Peterson on "I Dream of Jeannie") makes one nasty guard. As it is, Ann Sheridan's character is really the only one for whom you can truly root, as most other people have sordid sides. It's certainly a movie that I recommend. Solid acting from all sides, combined with a tense score and camera angles make it a really good one. You won't be disappointed.PS: San Quentin is now the home of Sirhan Sirhan and Charles Manson.