Henri Young stole five dollars from a post office and ended up going to prison - to the most famous, or infamous, prison of them all: Alcatraz. He tried to escape, failed, and spent three years and two months in solitary confinement - in a dungeon, with no light, no heat and no toilet. Milton Glenn, the assistant warden, who was given free reign by his duty-shirking superior, was responsible for Young's treatment. Glenn even took a straight razor and hobbled Young for life. A... (Full plot summary below)
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Henri Young stole five dollars from a post office and ended up going to prison - to the most famous, or infamous, prison of them all: Alcatraz. He tried to escape, failed, and spent three years and two months in solitary confinement - in a dungeon, with no light, no heat and no toilet. Milton Glenn, the assistant warden, who was given free reign by his duty-shirking superior, was responsible for Young's treatment. Glenn even took a straight razor and hobbled Young for life. After three years and two months, Young was taken out of solitary confinement and put with the rest of the prisoners. Almost immediately, Young took a spoon and stabbed a fellow prisoner in the neck, killing him. Now, Young is on trial for murder, and if he's convicted he'll go to the gas chamber. An eager and idealistic young attorney, James Stamphill, is given this impossible case, and argues before a shocked courtroom that Young had a co-conspirator. The true murderer, he says, was Alcatraz.
Leave your thoughts about Murder in the First.
| ReelViewsJames BerardinelliRegardless of how this version raises the hackles of Alcatraz aficionados, Marc Rocco's movie is a solid and affecting example of film making. |
| Washington PostDesson ThomsonA reasonably exhilarating hybrid of prison movie and courtroom drama. |
| Common Sense MediaSarah WenkMoving story of justice but too intense for kids. |
| The New RepublicStanley KauffmannIt's a struggle for Bacon -- and I'm not doubting the facts of the matter -- because the part is so clearly designed to knock us out; but Bacon is honest, in touch with Young's sources or lack of them. |
| CinematterMadeleine WilliamsAttempts to masquerade as a historical drama, but twists the facts to have them fit the traditional Hollywood courtroom drama. |
| Deseret News (Salt Lake City)Chris HicksAs a thriller, Murder in the First has all the elements but is so flamboyant and overblown that it becomes off-putting quite quickly. |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleAn example of what happens when a picture has everything going for it except good writing and good direction. |
| PopcornQBrandon JudellA must see for Kevin Bacon's performance, especially in the early scenes. |
| User ReviewZoeghdie SOne of my alltime favourites... Kevin Bacon is excellent, while Slater and Oldman give great performances too. Based to true events at Alcatraz the movie is hard-hitting and intense. I'm very surprised this movie never got many accolades. |
| User ReviewJamie BI have actually watched this quite a few times. If I ever get a DVD collection going I will have this one in my collection. Made me very sad |
