The Criminal Code (1931); By Whose Hand? (1932)

January 17, 2014 - 7:30 pm

Billy Wilder Theater

The Criminal Code (1931)

“Don’t miss this powerful prison drama. You’ll never forget it. Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes head a brilliant cast.” –Photoplay

Directed by Howard Hawks

Sentenced to 10 years for an accidental death, Robert Graham (Phillips Holmes) is given a break when his sympathetic prison warden takes him on as chauffeur. However, Robert’s upcoming parole and his love for the warden’s daughter are threatened when he witnesses a murder by cellmate Galloway (a chillingly vengeful Boris Karloff) and must choose between his freedom and the inmates’ code of silence.

Columbia Pictures Corp. Producer: Harry Cohn. Screenwriter: Fred Niblo Jr., Seton I. Miller, based on the play by Martin Flavin. Cinematographer: Teddy Tetzlaff, James Wong Howe. Editor: Edward Curtiss. Cast: Walter Huston, Phillips Holmes, Constance Cummings, Boris Karloff, De Witt Jennings.

35mm, b/w, 97 min.

By Whose Hand? (1932)

Directed by Ben Stoloff

On the night express train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, everyone’s a suspect when a jewelry magnate is found stabbed to death and an escaped killer is feared onboard. It’s up to reporter Jimmy Hawley (Ben Lyon) to unravel the secrets of the motley group of passengers and find the killer before he strikes again, in this tense and atmospheric whodunit.

Columbia Pictures Corp. Screenwriter: Harry Adler. Cinematographer: Teddy Tetzlaff. Editor: Maurice Wright. Cast: Ben Lyon, Barbara Weeks, Kenneth Thomson, Ethel Kenyon, Dwight Frye.

35mm, b/w, 63 min.

Part of:

Columbia in the 1930s: Recent Restorations

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The Criminal Code (1931); By Whose Hand? (1932)