Prison Without Bars

{{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}} {{Use British English|date=March 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Prison Without Bars | image = Prison_Without_Bars_(1938_film).jpg | caption = | director = Brian Desmond Hurst | producer = Alexander Korda | writer = Arthur Wimperis Margaret Kennedy (dialogue) | based_on = play by Egon Eis Otto Eis Gina Kaus Hans Wilhelm | starring = Corinne Luchaire Edna Best Barry K. Barnes | cinematography = Georges Périnal Bernard Browne | music = John Greenwood | editing = William Hornbeck Charles Crichton | studio = London Film Productions | distributor = United Artists Corporation {{small|(UK)}} | released = {{Film date|1938|09|21|London, UK|1939|04|09|US|df=y}} | runtime = 72 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English }} '''''Prison Without Bars''''' is a 1938 British black-and-white crime film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Corinne Luchaire, Edna Best and Barry K. Barnes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47172?view=cast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116101158/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47172?view=cast|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-16|title=Prison without Bars (1938)}}</ref> It is set in a girl's reform school, and was based on a play by Gina Kaus, previously filmed in France as ''Prison sans Barreaux'' (1938).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.unifrance.org/movie/13607/prison-without-bars|title=Prison Without Bars (1938)}}</ref> Corinne Luchaire starred in both versions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prisonmovies.net/prison-without-bars-1938-uk|title=Prison Without Bars (1938, UK) - Prisonmovies.net}}</ref>

==Synopsis== A young progressive thinking woman becomes superintendent at a French girl's reformatory dominated by the harsh previous head. A young girl is blackmailed by her acquaintance over her love for the superintendent's fiancé, but is released to join him in the end, when all is revealed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47172|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114011758/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/47172|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-14|title=Prison without Bars (1938)}}</ref>

==Cast== *Suzanne Duplat - Corinne Luchaire *Yvonne Chanel - Edna Best *Dr George Marechal - Barry K. Barnes *Renee - Mary Morris *Alice - Lorraine Clewes *Julie Picard - Sally Wisher *Mme Appel - Martita Hunt *Mlle Arthemise - Margaret Yarde *Mme Remy - Elsie Shelton *Nina - Glynis Johns *Mlle Renard - Enid Lindsey *Mlle Pauline - Phyllis Morris *Mlle Dupont - Nancy Roberts

==Critical reception== In ''The New York Times'', Frank S. Nugent dismissed the film as "another prison picture, and while we would not want to pass too harsh a sentence upon it, neither can we fairly pretend that it is innocent":<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9501E7DE1439E03ABC4852DFB2668382629EDE | title=Movie Reviews | newspaper=The New York Times | date=6 May 2022 }}</ref> whereas, in December 1938, ''The Daily Telegraph'' selected it as one of their ten best films of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.briandesmondhurst.org/prisonwobars.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150426142958/http://www.briandesmondhurst.org/prisonwobars.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=26 April 2015|title=Prison Without Bars (1938)}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180823092804/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b386ef4 ''Prison Without Bars''] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} * {{IMDb title|0030629}} * {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20150426142958/http://www.briandesmondhurst.org/prisonwobars.html ''Prison Without Bars'']}} at the website dedicated to Brian Desmond Hurst

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prison Without Bars}} Category:1938 films Category:1938 crime drama films Category:1938 romantic drama films Category:British prison drama films Category:British romantic drama films Category:British black-and-white films Category:Films produced by Alexander Korda Category:Films directed by Brian Desmond Hurst Category:British multilingual films Category:1938 multilingual films Category:1930s prison films Category:1938 English-language films Category:1938 British films Category:Films scored by John D. H. Greenwood Category:English-language crime drama films Category:English-language romantic drama films Category:Romantic crime films