San Quentin (1937)

Notable Action Sequence: Prison Escape

Duration: 00:04:56

Act: 4th

Action Scenarios:

Capture

Escape

Fall

Fight

Pursuit

Speed

Transfer

Description: As one would expect from a prison film, the main set piece of San Quentin (1937) is an escape sequence that involves a well-staged vehicular pursuit. The escape sequence directly stems from the major preceding plot turns that center upon events relating to Joe ‘Red’ Kennedy, a small-time crook played by Humphrey Bogart. These plot turns entail Kennedy’s arrival at San Quentin, becoming aware of ‘Sailor Boy’ Hansen’s escape plan, and finally agreeing to participate in the escape after discovering that the captain of the prison is romancing his sister [Figure 1 and 2]. The pursuit component of the escape also includes a memorable twist on the race-against-time convention that instead of a race-to-the-rescue, the chase involves Kennedy and Hansen, while pursued by the police, racing a freight train to two railway crossings. At the first crossing they manage to beat the train [Figure 3], but at the second they are unsuccessful and to avoid a collision, Kennedy steers the vehicle through a fence where it rolls down a ravine [Figure 4].