Condemned! (1929) User Reviews

A subtle technique

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 21 August 2017]

Ronald Colman's second talkie feature film was Condemned and for that and Bulldog Drummond he received his first Oscar nomination. He lost in that second Oscar sweepstakes for Best Actor to Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona. Nevertheless Condemned holds up very well in this story set in the infamous French Devil's Island penal colony.

In the story Colman's a convict and since it's Ronald Colman he's going to have a bit of polish more than the others there like fellow new inmate Louis Wolheim. The warden's wife Ann Harding is unhappily married to warden Dudley Digges who insists that she get herself a house servant from the group. Colman is a bit less threatening so he's chosen.

The inevitable happens as Colman is better company than her lout of a husband. That's when they planned to escape.

Dudley Digges who also doubled as dialogue director for this new fangled talking picture said that stage trained actors like both Colman and Ann Harding were a pleasure to work with. Both grasped that a bit more subtlety in technique had to be used. Both also emoted well when that was called for.

According to Citadel Film series book on Ronald Colman, Colman said how grateful he was that sound came along and what a boon it was to him and other players like William Powell who was both staged trained and a good friend of Colman's. Powell also did well in his talkie debut in one of the Philo Vance films he made.

The depiction of Devil's Island was outstanding. Condemned still holds up well for today's audience.

Prisoners of Love

[lugonian · 6/10 · 27 August 2017]

CONDEMNED! (Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists, 1929), directed by Wesley Ruggles, is an early sound prison movie where "The action takes place at the French penal colony to South America's community known as Devil's Island." Starring Ronald Colman in his second full-length talkie, it seemed unlikely finding Colman, best known for romance stories of the silent screen, in such a premise. Founded upon the book, "Condemned to Devil's Island" by Blair Niles, with screenplay by Sidney Howard, CONDEMNED! turned out to be another winner for the popular actor, even to a point of earning him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor (along with his talkie debut as BULLDOG DRUMMOND) to his resume.

Following the opening credit titles super imposed over the ocean water waves with vocalization to "The Song of the Condemned," the story begins as a prison ship docking on Devil's Island with its handful of new prisoners behind bars, including Michel Oban (Ronald Colman), a gentleman thief of Paris, and his friend, Jacques Duval (Louis Wolheim), sentenced to life for murder. Jean Duval (Dudley Digges), a tough warden living on the penal colony with his young wife (Ann Harding), who's biggest fear is living amongst the surroundings of convicts, meets his new prisoners giving them warning that there is no escape on Devil's Island, which "lies between the jungle and the sea of sharks." Vidal, who finds Michel (Number 7232) to be an "unusual type of criminal thief," assigns him as servant houseboy to his wife's daily duties. While out on the market grounds, Michel brings a smile to Madame Duval's face with a good deed by buying her a pet monkey so she won't be so lonely at home. Losing her fear over this debonair prisoner, she soon becomes attracted him. Rumors by gossipers spread about these two, forcing the jealous warden to place Michel in solitary confinement for six months, and substituting Jacques as his wife's new household servant. After learning the warden is to send his wife back to Paris, Michel makes his daring escape to be with her, only to be surprised by the outcome. Also in the cast are William Elmer (Pierre); Frank Campeau (Gilbert); Ernie Adams, Lionel Bellmore and Constantine Romanoff.

While not as famous or stronger than some of the latter prison movies of the early 1930s, CONDEMNED! is sadly an overlooked item. A bit advanced in camera angles and movement as opposed to other 1929 sound releases, CONDEMNED! holds interest throughout its 87 minutes. Cast against type, Colman allows himself go be shown unshaven, and brave danger while being chased by prison guards through the marshes. Other than that, he continues his debonair style with his distinguished voice and mannerisms that has made him popular throughout his career. Dudley Digges as the sadistic warden whom his wife fears and hates, does a splendid job. He gives the sort of performance most worthy for a Charles Laughton had he been assigned the part. Ann Harding, a stage actress also appearing in her third talkie release, is believable, although looking way too sophisticated for playing a woman who loves a convict. Louis Wolheim is also unforgettable, right down to the giant eye tattoo posted on his chest.

Seldom shown on television since the mid 1970s, CONDEMNED! did show up on occasionally on cable TV over the years as Wometco Home Theater (1986); Nostalgia Television (late 1980s); Turner Network Television (1989-91; and many years later, Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: August 21, 2017) as part of an all-day Ann Harding movie tribute. Never distributed on video cassette or DVD, CONDEMNED! remains a curiosity as best for early Ronald Colman years before he became THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937). (***)

worthwhile 1929 film

[Marlburian · 7/10 · 1 December 2016]

I've just watched "Condemned!" on the Talking Pictures TV channel and was impressed with the quality of the print and the film in general. As another reviewer has noted here on IMDb, the plot isn't too ridiculous.

What most dates this film as being made in the 1920s is Ann Harding's acting in an emoting (that is to say, theatrical) manner.

The film was produced before the Hays Code was introduced, and there a couple of scenes that might not have been allowed after it was: men fighting over a nice-looking young convict, and Vidal wanting to exercise his marital rights and Madame Vidal not wanting him to.

SPOILER: I did wonder how long Michel's original sentence was and how much was added to it following his escape attempt.

Engrossing film although the theme is depressing.

[salvidienusorfitus · 7/10 · 4 October 2017]

I enjoyed the film in spite of the rather somber depressing theme. I am not usually a fan of Ann Harding's rather theatrical over the top acting but she is surprisingly down to earth in this picture and enjoyable. Dudley Digges plays his part as her husband well manages to be both repulsive and disgusting in his portrayal. Ronald Colman is very good as the convict who falls in love with the warden's wife, played by Ann Harding.

The film only seems to be available in a post 1934 reissue print.... the original titles have ending have been replaced so I can only assume some Pre-Code footage is missing as the new titles look like they date to the late 1930's or 1940's.

Beautiful cinematography

[axeldahl · 24 October 2011]

No story value here but worth for Ronald Colman - always emotional in his own restrained way.

I have alas never seen this obscure early talkie with a fair 35mm print but the 16mm used for the french VHS Samuel Goldwyn 1990 edition allows to see that the sets and photography of this "Condemned" were of absolute first rate : William Cameron Menzies (sets), George S. Barnes & Greg Toland (photography) make for quite a team !

A bit like Susan Lenox two years later and its magnificent William H. Daniels lighting/framing and Cedric Gibbons angled sets : script-wise a very passable and previsible film but visually a true feast for the eyes.

The 16mm print/edition is also mushy, unfocused and the video transfer is at least 6 stops below... Hopefully a proper 35mm original still exists somewhere - if only for the end sequence in the train station.

Condemned

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 12 September 2022]

Ronald Colman is "Michel", a debonair thief who ends up in prison on Devil's Island. Sandwiched between the shark-infested waters on one side and the bug-infested forest on then other, he is condemned to live out his days under the brutal custodianship of "Digges" (Jean Vidal), the prison warden. When he befriends Ann Harding, the put-upon wife of his nemesis, they begin to work on a daring plan to escape from their living hell. Though he was Oscar nominated for this, Colman doesn't yet have the glint in his eye that gave him star quality and so this is a bit of an unremarkable melodrama with cages and flies - but the quality of the production has held up well over it's 90 years and Wesley Ruggles keeps it all moving along nicely, if a little too predictably. If you do get an opportunity, give it a go.

Ronald Colman's second talking film

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 17 August 2023]

This film was based on the bestselling fictionalized account of the escapes of René Belbenoît, a prisoner on the Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana, written by Blair Niles. The novel helped raise awareness of conditions there which eventually led to its closure.

In his second talking film Ronald Colman plays Michel Oman, an unrepentant thief condemned to Devil's Island. Michel is not a noble guy or an innocent guy, so immediately the niceties are out of the way. Madame Vadal (Ann Harding) is the wife of the warden of the prison (Dudley Digges). He is a big slob, harsh and rude to his wife. I wondered how this pretty and demure woman came to be married to this brute beast, but apparently at the time of their marriage he looked like St. John. I doubt that St. John ever looked like Dudley Digges! But I digress.

Vidal is quite a snob considering he is also a slob, and thinks someone of "his station" should have a servant. He makes Michel his houseboy because he seems more refined than the other convicts, and Michel likes this job because it keeps him from having to do hard labor with the rest of the convicts. But Michel and Vidal's wife fall in love, although they don't act on it. But the wives of the other prison employees begin to gossip based on absolutely nothing but their own boredom, and soon the gossip gets back to Vidal, who reacts exactly like you'd expect him to.

I have to wonder...what would this pair be like in everyday life? Would they make it? Or would ordinary life in a world populated with plenty of other people to which they could turn break them up? What happens when one of them forgets to pay the electric bill, when the sex stops being hot, when the upstairs neighbors turn out to be flamenco dancers? This film isn't alone in being one about people from completely different backgrounds falling in love because they are the only people available to one another, but these scripts never have the subjects in love talk about these obstacles. But, again, I digress.

Originally this was supposed to be shot on Devil's Island, but the expense and practicality of it all prevented that from happening. Colman gives a very subtle performance as Michel, contrasting with Digges and Harding being more theatrical. That surprised me, since Digges and Harding have acting styles here that seem somewhat like holdovers from the silent era, yet they never acted in silent films, where Colman was a veteran of silent films and does not display that style.

The camera work here is excellent, really giving off the feeling of being shot in a prison even though it was not.

And if you think Louis Wolheim is being wasted here, I will tell you he is a very key part of the resolution. This is a precode, but it is definitely not one in the Warner Brothers tradition.

Not all that believable, but some nice scenes and Digges is great

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 14 October 2017]

There is such an element of unreality to the idea that the warden at the Devil's Island penal colony would allow one of the inmates to act as a servant in his home and to be alone with his wife throughout the day, that you'll have to go into this movie suspending your disbelief. Ronald Colman is suave as the convict, and it's always a joy to see him, and here he is opposite Ann Harding, who varies between down to earth and over-emoting. The film does set the stage with some nice 'hard prison' scenes, including one of a man howling in solitary confinement, but next to Colman smooth-talking Harding, something seems off. Perhaps Colman is a little too debonair. On the other hand, the film is entertaining and worth seeing. I liked the supporting cast most, and thought that Dudley Digges turned in the best performance as the warden, angrily spewing his bile.

Good Colman Movie

[januszlvii · 7/10 · 29 May 2021]

Condemned is a good not great Ronald Colman movie I saw today on Amazon Prime. Colman was excellent as usual as Devil's Island prisoner Michel, and he was assisted.well by Louis Wolheim ( Jacques). The biggest problem was Ann Harding.( Madame Vidal). I never cared for aristocratic type ladies of that era such as Katherine Hepburn, Kay Francis and her. I simply prefer a woman with bite like Myrna Loy or Irene Dunne. Another problem is her husband.the warden ( Dudley. Digges). That man was simply a pig. It it not enough to be a corrupt person, but watch the way he eats, and dresses. He would command respect of absolutely no one. When you see him and Colman together you would think he is more like a convict then the convict himself. As for Colman, although he is the best one in the movie ( followed by Wolheim) this movie is actually in the bottom of the films of his I saw ( I have seen 21). The only ones I rated lower are. The Late George Apley ( I could not get through that movie) and The Devil To Pay. Spoilers ahead: As you can predict Harding and Colman fall in love, Wolheim kills Digges and Colman finishes his sentence and Harding waits for him and they end up together. Again I give it 7/10 stars.

Early Prison melodrama with the accent on "melodrama"

[robertguttman · 6/10 · 10 February 2021]

"Condemned!" is an early prison melodrama with the accent on "melodrama". Admittedly, "melodrama" was much more acceptable to audiences in 1929 than it is today. That being said, this film does have a good deal in its' favor. It has a great cast including Dudley Digges, somewhat miscast as a French prison administrator, and Ann Harding, much better-cast as his meek, put-upon wife. Also, look for a rare appearance by Louis Wolheim (and, admittedly, his presence is very hard to miss) in the role of a convict. Best remembered today for his memorable performance in the 1930 film, "All Quit on the Western Front", Wolheim's career was unfortunately cut short when he died suddenly in 1931 at the age of only 50. Although usually cast as a plug-ugly thug, Wolheim was actually a graduate of Cornell University and a former college professor whose distinctive appearance was the result of a college football injury (apparently football was a rougher game in those far-off days). Lastly, of course, this movie features the great Ronald Coleman in his prime, an actor whose presence was always a major asset to any film.

The overbearing administrator of a French penal colony in South America considers it beneath his dignity for his wife to be seen doing housework. Consequently, overruling his meek and much put-upon wife's protests that she is afraid of the convicts and does not want one of them in the house, the administrator insists upon selecting a convict to serve as their "house-boy". Needless to say, he selects the most handsome and charming of the convicts for the job, Ronald Coleman. This being a melodrama, anyone can immediately predict where that is going to lead except, of course, the woman's husband. It takes him quite a while to catch on to what is perfectly obvious to everyone else. Of course, once he does, his reaction is equally predictably vindictive and nasty.

Being a very early example of a "talkie", this movie inevitably suffers from some technical crudity. However, it also displays some striking visual effects in those scenes which do not require dialogue. In addition, despite this movie's rather dated melodramatics, it is still worth seeing for its' excellent cast.

Early prison talkie

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 30 April 2017]

CONDEMNED! is an early talkie prison film for screen star Ronald Colman, then riding high after the success of BULLDOG DRUMMOND. Colman would go on to cement his suave reputation with his turn as RAFFLES the subsequent year. This film is set on the notorious Devil's Island prison, a place where Colman's slightly smarmy thief is sent. It doesn't take long for him to begin an ill-fated romance with the governor's wife, and of course his sights are soon set on escape.

For an early talkie, CONDEMNED! is acceptable enough fare. It has dated somewhere in the subsequent decades and fans of prison movies will be hard pressed to enjoy the slow-moving and over-obvious antics on display here. The romantic sub-plot really serves to drag things down considerably although things pick up towards the climax.

Solid, surprisingly interesting early talkie

[the_mysteriousx · 8/10 · 23 November 2002]

This Ronald Colman film was his second talkie, following a rousing success in Bulldog Drummond earlier in 1929. For these two films, Colman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and his work in this one is good. Samuel Goldwyn went through great pains to prepare Colman for talkies and for audiences' expectations of his voice to match his on-screen persona. In this film, Colman plays a suave thief who is sentenced to prison on Devil's Island. Once there, the warden employs him to aid his wife in household chores and there Colman falls in love with the beautiful Ann Harding.

The plot is surprisingly not too ridiculous as both Colman's and Harding's characters really don't want to start an affair out of respect for each other and for the warden (a solid Dudley Digges). However, once the warden buys into local gossip that his wife is having an affair, he cannot help but constantly become angry. Each time the plot has a chance to become silly and over-melodramatic, it takes a step back and seems to have a conscience. For an early talkie, that is impressive. Further more impressive were the many dolly moves employed by the cameraman. This is not too static for such an early sound film and there is good use of sound effects being layed over the montage. All that being said, it is not a great film. It is never fully engrossing as Alibi and Applause were at times, but for a film from the class of 1929 this one is a winner and Colman, Harding, Digges and Louis Wolheim as Colman's convict friend are all excellent.

Quite striking and fluent, with one problem

[marcslope · 7/10 · 6 September 2023]

Ronald Colman has never been a favorite of mine, but in this early talkie, as a convicted thief on Devil's Island who lucks into a job caring for warden's wife Ann Harding and engineers an escape, he's convincing, and even manages to generate some sex appeal. Ms. Harding, as ever, is womanly and subtle and beautiful, and the acting throughout is several notches above the early-talkie norm, with Dudley Digges an eminently hatable spouse, and Louis Wolheim doing one of his useful sidekick turns. But there's much more to it than that. Wesley Ruggles, about to be a top director, paces it far faster than most 1929 films struggling with the new technology, and the deep-focus photography and unusual angles are quite striking. Small wonder: Gregg Toland worked on it, and the production design, by William Cameron Menzies, is so bleached you can feel the French Guyana heat. Some dialogue gets lost, but the sound recording is pretty good for the period. It was a hit, and a deserved one, marred only by a too-rushed happy-ish ending that comes out of nowhere and seems awfully unlikely. I liked it quite a lot, though, and may even have to check out some more Ronald Colman output.

Yeah, No

[view_and_review · 2/10 · 22 December 2022]

Ronald Colman goes from crime fighting ladies man in "Bulldog Drummond" to convicted felon ladies man in "Condemned!"

Ronald Colman played convicted thief Michel Oman. He and a bunch of other convicts were imprisoned on Devil's Island in Cuba. While all of the other convicts drew hard labor as a punishment, the soft-handed Michel was selected to be a servant to the warden and his wife.

Because movies like this like to be overtly obvious and telegraph the entire plot, the warden was mean to his wife which meant it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with someone else.

In steps Michel.

Michel was young, handsome, treated the warden's wife (Ann Harding) kindly, and they were in each other's company all day. In other words, it was a recipe for infidelity aka love. It was clear to everyone EXCEPT the warden, Jean Vidal (Dudley Digges).

This movie lacked subtlety or uniqueness. The Shakespearian script did it no favors either. Madame Vidal waxed on poetically about Michel and her love for him and how she'd die for him--it was all so nauseating.

To deal with the two lovebirds Jean Vidal sent his wife back to France and sent Michel to solitary. When Michel got a love note from his paramour he plotted to escape from the inescapable island.

Unfortunately, even though this movie was made in 1929 and predated thousands of movies, I'm only now watching it in 2022 which means that I've seen this tale before. Unhappy wife with boorish husband meets a suave heart throb, they fall in love and the audience collectively places their hands on their chests and say "Aaawwww" as though they've seen the most precious and romantic thing in the world. Yeah. No.

Free on Internet Archive.

I love Ronald Colman, but...

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 5/10 · 11 June 2018]

Yes, I love Ronald Colman. Most of all for his starring role in "Random Harvest", but also for "A Tale Of Two Cities", "Lost Horizon", "Prisoner Of Zenda", "The Light That Failed", "The Talk Of The Town", and "Arrowsmith". But this film -- only his second talkie -- is simply too decrepit for me to enjoy...other than to see him in such an early role.

Nevertheless, Colman is the one bright spot here. The acting of Dudley Diggs...did anyone...even way back then...think this man could be a movie actor. It may very well be the worst acting performance I've ever seen. And Ann Harding -- now I've seen Harding in a number of other films and rather enjoyed her. But here the overacting is just terrible.

Clearly, for its time, this was an ambitious film. But as much as I like films beginning around 1933 (give or take a year), this one is just too decrepit. I'll keep the DVD simply because I love Ronald Colman.

".....only since I could walk..."

[Brucey_D · 9/10 · 7 March 2018]

Talkies were still a very new idea when this film was made, and this was star Ronald Coleman's second film with sound.

Surprisingly perhaps the film isn't particularly archaic in the way it is made; the camerawork, the lighting, the direction etc all bear comparison with later films. Of particular interest is the soundtrack; for a 'new idea at the time' the soundtrack is surprisingly good, for example you hear the taunting voices echoing in the warden's mind in one scene.

The plot and acting are of their time, of course; one only needs to (say) listen to popular music of the time to see how certain cultural ideas have changed, but the language of cinematography it seems remains more constant.

Interestingly this film was originally also released in a silent version; presumably many cinemas were not then sound equipped and it wasn't yet certain whether this 'new sound thing' would just be a fad or not.

For something that should be completely anachronistic, a museum piece even, this is a surprising watchable film.

Colman's second talkie and one of his best!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 22 August 2017]

Copyright 1 December 1929 by Samuel Goldwyn. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Selwyn: 3 November 1929. 10 reels. 93 minutes.

1944 re-issue title: CONDEMNED TO DEVIL'S ISLAND.

SYNOPSIS: A convict falls in love with the warden's wife.

NOTES: Ronald Colman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, losing to George Arliss in "Disraeli".

COMMENT: For his second talkie, Ronald Colman enjoys a considerable change of pace from "Bulldog Drummond". This time, he's not so romantic. He's dirty, disheveled, sweaty, sardonic, impulsive, self- deprecating, selfish, uncaring, even despairing. What a great performance! In fact he plays here with more animation than in many of his later roles, including Clive of India. Unfortunately, his realistic study of a brazen thief is slightly undermined by Ann Harding's overly theatrical posturing and Dudley Digges' overly theatrical delivery of his dialogue. Fortunately, Louis Wolheim is on hand to support Colman at crucial moments, though his part (after a splendid introduction) does turn out to be a bit disappointingly small.

Despite its vintage (way back in 1929) and some unconvincing dramatics, as said, from Harding and Digges, "Condemned" seems not the least bit dated. Whilst other directors were moving over-cautiously into sound, or trying vainly to transplant outmoded silent techniques, Wesley Ruggles and two others, Tay Garnett and William K. Howard, managed to grasp all the essentials of sound cinema straight away. In fact, Condemned rates easily as Ruggles' best film. Look at the wonderful climax with Ann Harding moving diagonally out of the frame, or the tossing ship-board camera at the opening, or the fantastic pan into the silhouettes of the prisoners, or the fast tracking shot with Digges as he delivers his introductory speech to the new inmates. True, once the action settles down and the triangle romance rears its not unexpected head, the picture does become more static and dialogue-bound, but even these scenes are leavened by a marvelously realistic use of sound effects and other cinematic devices.

The camera-work too is a constant delight. True, we are blinded by soft focus light every time the lens picks up Miss Harding, but some appealing, typical-Toland, atmospheric effects enliven the prison scenes.

Also to be commended are the superlative sets designed by the masterful William Cameron Menzies.

Present prints have been astutely shortened by nine or ten minutes, to make the thrills come faster. There are no lapses in continuity.

Historic in the true sense

[Equinox23 · 10/10 · 27 January 2007]

First of all I have to contradict my fellow reviewer.Colman's character Michel is far from being innocent, in fact he is convicted for being a thief and trying to rob a bank. The anguish that the convicts encounter on their journey to devil's island is among the most impressive scenes of this early talkie.Another is when Michel has to endure solitary confinement because of his alleged liaison with the warden's wife. These depictions of the prisoners' conditions on devil's island -though they may seem rather mild nowadays- together with the book by Blair Niles had such a strong impact on the public opinion that it led to public protest in the USA and eventually helped to enlighten the conditions of the real-life prisoners.

"You aint heard nothing yet"

[trimmerb1234 · 8/10 · 10 April 2018]

This was produced just a year after those famous words - the first words in the first talking picture. What is amazing is how creative it was with sound - techniques that rarely appeared in theatre and some that were entirely new.

First there is the overlaying of the sound of the prisoners "choir" over sound and pictures inside the governors house cutting with continuity to pictures of the prisoners singing - all in sync. And, entirely novel the sound of the governors voice as he looks in the mirror - we are hearing the voices in his head. The sound of drums in sync with the guarding soldier's walk.

It was not until after WW2 that magnetic tape recording - with multitracks was available. I can only guess that this film was all done with gramophone discs.

I was for a while a videotape editor in the earliest days so appreciate how revolutionary and sophisticated was the use of sound just one year after it started. Had radio pioneered this or was it entirely the work of the new talkie movies?

Seen on Talking Pictures TV - yet another overlooked historic film with exceptional qualities.

"The question is - what becomes of a man here?"

[guswhovian · 8/10 · 24 August 2020]

Condemned to Devil's Island, thief Michel Oman becomes house servant to sadistic warden Vidal (Dudley Digges), but Oman soon falls in love with Vidal's wife (Ann Harding).

I wasn't expecting much from Condemned, but this was surprisingly entertaining. Ronald Colman is excellent, and deservedly snagged an Oscar nomination. Ann Harding is quite good, while Dudley Digges hams it up a bit as the warden. My favorite performance was Louis Wolheim as a convict friend of Colman's.

It's quite well made for an early talkie, with good cinematography and direction. Overall, a most enjoyable film.