Prisoner of Shark Island

 

 

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20th Century Fox presents "THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND" (1936) - (96 min/B&W) -- Starring: Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, Claude Gillingwater, Arthur Byron, John Carradine & Harry Carey

Directed by John Ford

In 1865 Dr. Samuel Mudd (Warner Baxter), a known Confederate sympathizer, sets the broken leg of a mud-caked stranger who stumbles into his home. The injured man turns out to be John Wilkes Booth (Francis McDonald), and Mudd is accused of conspiring to murder President Lincoln. Sentenced to hang with the genuine conspirators, Mudd finds his sentence commuted to life imprisonment at the very last moment. He is shipped to Shark Island, a brutal penal colony. Subject to the cruelties of a guard Sgt. Rankin (John Carradine) who hates Mudd because of his "complicity" in Lincoln's death, the doctor suffers the torments of the damned, while back home his wife, Peggy (Gloria Stuart) campaigns desperately to get her husband pardoned. During a Yellow Fever breakout on Shark Island, Dr. Mudd performs heroically to save the survivors. For his humanitarian efforts, Mudd is finally released and reunited with his wife.

An almost unbelievable but true story ... well told by the maestro John Ford

Dr. Samuel Mudd's story was retold in the Hellgate (1952), with Sterling Hayden as the (fictional) doctor. Also worth a view.

BIOS:
1. John Ford [aka: John Martin Feeney] Director)
Date of Birth: 1 February 1894, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA
Date of Death: 31 August 1973, Palm Desert, California, USA (stomach cancer)

2. Warner Baxter
Date of Birth: 29 March 1889 - Columbus, Ohio
Date of Death: 7 May 1951 - Beverly Hills, California

3. Gloria Stuart
Date of Birth: 4 July 1910, Santa Monica, California
Date of Death: 26 September 2010, Los Angeles, California

4. Claude Gillingwater
Date of Birth: 2 August 1870 - Louisiana, Missouri
Date of Death: 2 November 1939 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

5. Harry Carey
Date of Birth: 16 January 1878 - The Bronx, New York
Date of Death: 21 September 1947 - Brentwood, California

6. John Carradine
Date of Birth: 5 February 1906 - New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death: 27 November 1988 - Milan, Italy

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 96 min on DVD ~ 20th Century Fox ~ (December 4, 2007)

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