The Criminal Code
The Criminal Code is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic crime drama film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes. The screenplay, based on a 1929 play of the same name by Martin Flavin, was written by Fred Niblo Jr. and Seton I. Miller, who were nominated for Best Adaptation at the 4th Academy Awards but the award went to Howard Estabrook for Cimarron.
Plot
Six years of hard labor in the prison jute mill has taken its toll on young Graham, convicted of manslaughter after a drunken brawl. The penitentiary's doctor and psychiatrist recommends that he be offered a change of duties before psychological damage become irreversible. When the warden recalls that it was he, as district attorney, that helped put him behind bars, he makes him his valet. Graham enjoys the change, especially the company of the warden's pretty young daughter, Mary.
More details
| author | Fred Niblo, Jr. Martin Flavin Seton I. Miller |
|---|---|
| director | Howard Hawks |
| editor | Edward Curtiss |
| genre | crime drama |
| keywords | code of silence district attorney doctor hard labor hole jute kill physician plan psychiatrist solitary confinement stool pigeon warn young daughter |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay |
| producer | Harry Cohn |
| productionCompany | Columbia Pictures |
| publisher | Columbia Pictures |
| theme | prison romantic drama |