Preston Foster (Killer Mears), Howard Phillips (Dick Walters), George E. Stone (Berg), Noel Madison (Six), Alan Roscoe (Seven), Paul Fix (Eight), Al Hill (Three), Daniel L. Haynes (Two), Alec B. Francis (Father O'Connor), Frank Sheridan (Warden Lewis), Edward Van Sloan (rabbi), Louise Carter (Mrs Walters), Ralph Theodore (Callahan), Jack Kennedy (O'Flaherty), Albert J. Smith (Drake), William Scott (Peddie), Kenneth MacDonald (Harris), Walter Walker (governor), Gladden James (warden's secretary), Max Wagner (Kruger), Francis McDonald (bandit).
Director: SAM BISCHOFF. Screenplay: Seton I. Miller. Based on the play by John Wexley. Foreword by Lewis E. Lawes, warden of Sing Sing Prison. Photography: Arthur Edeson. Film editor: Rose Loewinger. Art director: Ralph M. DeLacy. Music director: Val Burton. Producer: Sam Bischoff. Executive producers: Burt Kelly, Sam Bischoff, William Saal.
A K.B.S. Production, copyright 21 August 1932 by World Wide Pictures. New York opening at the Capitol: 25 August 1932. 75 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Eight prisoners are in the "Death House" at Sing Sing. Although one of them is completely innocent of any crime, his hope for a stay of execution is remote. The head guard is totally unsympathetic.
NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Harris on 13 February 1930 and was so successful (285 performances), it spawned a West Coast production starring Clark Gable. Spencer Tracy played Mears on Broadway supported by James Bell, Joseph Calleia, Henry O'Neill, Howard Phillips, Bruce MacFarlane and Hale Norcross. Chester Erskine directed, Herman Shumlin produced.
The Seton I. Miller screenplay was remade in 1959 with Mickey Rooney as Mears.
COMMENT: Faultlessly executed in all departments, and brilliantly photographed by masterful cinematographer (The Lost World, All Quiet on the Western Front, Casablanca) Arthur Edeson, "The Last Mile" rates as a minor noir masterpiece, and is my pick as one of the best "B" features ever made.
It's also the only film directed by prolific producer Sam Bischoff who has done an inventively powerful job in transferring the hard- hitting Wexley play to the screen, complete with its cast of sadistic head guard, unctuous rabbi, fearless priest, by-the-book warden and bestial convicts. (The 10/10 Mill Creek DVD is a superb 35mm transfer).
Director: SAM BISCHOFF. Screenplay: Seton I. Miller. Based on the play by John Wexley. Foreword by Lewis E. Lawes, warden of Sing Sing Prison. Photography: Arthur Edeson. Film editor: Rose Loewinger. Art director: Ralph M. DeLacy. Music director: Val Burton. Producer: Sam Bischoff. Executive producers: Burt Kelly, Sam Bischoff, William Saal.
A K.B.S. Production, copyright 21 August 1932 by World Wide Pictures. New York opening at the Capitol: 25 August 1932. 75 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Eight prisoners are in the "Death House" at Sing Sing. Although one of them is completely innocent of any crime, his hope for a stay of execution is remote. The head guard is totally unsympathetic.
NOTES: The stage play opened on Broadway at the Harris on 13 February 1930 and was so successful (285 performances), it spawned a West Coast production starring Clark Gable. Spencer Tracy played Mears on Broadway supported by James Bell, Joseph Calleia, Henry O'Neill, Howard Phillips, Bruce MacFarlane and Hale Norcross. Chester Erskine directed, Herman Shumlin produced.
The Seton I. Miller screenplay was remade in 1959 with Mickey Rooney as Mears.
COMMENT: Faultlessly executed in all departments, and brilliantly photographed by masterful cinematographer (The Lost World, All Quiet on the Western Front, Casablanca) Arthur Edeson, "The Last Mile" rates as a minor noir masterpiece, and is my pick as one of the best "B" features ever made.
It's also the only film directed by prolific producer Sam Bischoff who has done an inventively powerful job in transferring the hard- hitting Wexley play to the screen, complete with its cast of sadistic head guard, unctuous rabbi, fearless priest, by-the-book warden and bestial convicts. (The 10/10 Mill Creek DVD is a superb 35mm transfer).