Seven Miles from Alcatraz *** (1942, James Craig, Bonita Granville, Frank Jenks) – Classic Movie Review 11,691

Director Edward Dmytryk’s 1942 black and white action thriller Seven Miles from Alcatraz is written by Joseph Krumgold, based on a story by John D Klorer, and stars James Craig, Bonita Granville and Frank Jenks.

Two prisoners (Craig and Jenks) break out of the Alcatraz island federal penitentiary and take refuge in a remote San Francisco lighthouse, in this then topical propaganda melodrama, which fits in a Nazi spy plot too when they encounter German spies.

Seven Miles from Alcatraz is a short (62 minutes), sharp programmer, with a rousing fisticuff finish, directed by Dmytryk, his first at RKO Pictures, where he became a star film-maker until they fired him after it was discovered he was a Communist Party member in 1944 and 1945.

George Cleveland and Granville are famous and welcome faces as the brave lighthouse-keeper and his beautiful daughter.

The cast are James Craig as Champ Larkin, Bonita Granville as Anne Porter, Frank Jenks as Jimbo, Cliff Edwards as Stormy, George Cleveland as Captain Porter, Erford Gage as Paul Brenner, Tala Birell as Baroness, John Banner as Fritz Weinermann, and Otto Reichow as Max.

Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was one of the Hollywood Ten who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the McCarthy-era ‘Red scare’. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. But in 1951 Dmytryk did testify to HUAC and named people he claimed were Communist Party members, and rehabilitated his career.

He received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for Crossfire (1947) and is best known for directing The Caine Mutiny (1954).

 © Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,691

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