Michael_Elliott Millionaires in Prison (1940) ** (out of 4) Silly "B" picture from RKO about four businessmen who go to prison for embezzlement and we see the "changes" they make while behind bars. Whenever I see a movie come up on Turner Classic Movie and it involves prison, it always gets recorded because the Golden Age of Hollywood usually delivered some pretty good prison films. Sadly, this here isn't one of the good ones despite some fine performances. The biggest problem is the screenplay, which just offers up way too many cliché moments as well as some really stupid plot twists and turns. One such moment is some comic relief when two of the men want better food to eat during their stay. Um, not funny. Another weird twist happens towards the end and involves a doctor needing to do something good but I won't spoil it for you. Again, at just 63-minutes the film seems twice as long and that's never good when you're watching a second-tier picture. The one saving grace are the fine performances scattered throughout the film. Lee Tracy is extremely good in his leading role and we get nice support from Raymond Walbum, Morgan Conway, Linda Hayes and even Shemp Howard has a nice role that you wouldn't expect to see him in. Still, MILLIONAIRES IN PRISON just doesn't have enough credibility to work.

dogwater-1 A thoroughly "Pac Man" plot that busily chews its way through any scenario of reason, this film features a cure for "Malta Fever", a con scheme involving a copper mine, and two rich men trying to improve prison cuisine. There is also two love stories of a sort and a murder off-screen featuring a convict shoved into a furnace. Lee Tracey stars with a great group of character actors, Raymond Walburn, Thurston Hall, Shemp Howard and Chester Clute. Top it off with Horace McMahon and Cliff Edwards and who wouldn't bite.It's another country club prison where the warden admits if he were fired, he wouldn't run the place without Mickey Burke (Tracey) who, indeed seems to be the general manager of the place. Burke has stuck up a joint to get money to marry his girlfriend and is rather happily serving an eight year stretch. Its all total nonsense, but these are the mugs anyone would serve time with.

Larry41OnEbay-2 There's nice work from supporting players Paul Guilfoyle, Cliff Edwards, Raymond Walburn, Thurston Hall and Shemp Howard, but this is the squeaky cleanest jail with the nicest crooks this side of THE PRODUCERS.SPOILERS: The only real dramatic conflict is will the good doctor save the cons the warden has agreed to secretly inject with killer germs against the good doctors wishes to save the good doctors good face and test an untried drug so that the cons families can get $10k in case they die, or as I like to call it Plot #27. And then there's the corrupt pair of millionaires who want to steal even more money by duping their new roommates (remember their murders, rapist, homicidal maniacs) out of what little money they have by tricking them into investing in a busted copper mine so they can get richer (millionaires who risk their lives in jail for another $50k, right?)! The bottom line it is an Andy Hardy Goes To Jail movie light drama.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'Millionaires in Prison' is an excellent example of something that doesn't exist anymore, but which was commonplace in the days of the big Hollywood studios: the second feature. In the 1930s and '40s, Americans went to the movies expecting to receive a full evening's worth of entertainment: a double feature plus short subjects and a newsreel. The second feature (which was actually **first**, as it was screened **before** the main feature) typically had a shorter running time, lower budget and more obscure actors and director than the more prestigious main feature ... but, at their best, the second features were always well-made and solidly entertaining in their own right. 'Millionaires in Prison' is one of the very best examples of that tradition.The movie opens with a brisk but heavy-handed expository scene, featuring a newspaper editor named R.J. Reynolds. (Could this be a plug for the tobacco company?) Reynolds is giving his reporters an assignment to do a story on four millionaire financiers who have recently been sent to prison for financial shenanigans. Interestingly, the editor tells his reporters in advance precisely how they're supposed to slant their reportage. (This sort of thing happens all the time in the real world, but I've never seen it depicted in any other movie: in Movieland, reporters are always objective truth-seekers.)Two of the millionaires, well-played by veteran actors Raymond Walburn and Thurston Hall, are befuddled fall guys who somehow took the rap for someone else's embezzlement. Reynolds tells his reporters (and us) that these lads are innocent, and he adds: 'Go easy on them, boys.' On the other hand, the other two millionaires are outright crooks who are guilty as hell, and Reynolds gleefully tells his newshounds to pull all the stops out on them.Walburn and Hall give enjoyable performances, but the characters they're playing aren't very credible. It's difficult to believe that these two dimwits could ever have been successful financiers. They're in a fairly conventional prison (not a Club Fed), doing hard time, yet they seem to think they're in some sort of country club.There's a nice complement of veteran film faces here, with Lee Tracy and Morgan Conway at their cynical best, and a welcome turn by Shemp Howard. Even the annoying Chester Clute, one of my most un-favourite actors, manages to be less annoying than usual here. I kept hoping there'd be a cellblock riot and Clute would get taken hostage. (Or maybe a scene in the prison showers where Clute drops the soap...)'Millionaires in Prison' is very ably directed by Ray McCarey, who was much less talented than his brother Leo McCarey but who was nonetheless a reliable director in his own right. Ray McCarey's work is long overdue for reappraisal, and 'Millionaires in Prison' is a good place to start. I'll rate this film 8 points out of 10.