THE LAST MILE is a dated prison melodrama from the early days of talkie cinema. Given that for most of the running time it consists of half a dozen guys chatting on a prison set it must have been cheap to make. The film's protagonist is wrongfully accused of murder (as so many were during that decade) and sent to Death Row, where the prisoners are about to stage a violent uprising.
The plot has elements of interest for sure but ultimately this is too dated to be a success. The acting verges on ham throughout and there's far too much overwrought melodrama for modern audiences to take it seriously. The interminable prison singing doesn't help much either. About the only thing THE LAST MILE is good for is a look at social attitudes towards condemned men during the era, and this is a surprisingly sympathetic viewpoint.
The plot has elements of interest for sure but ultimately this is too dated to be a success. The acting verges on ham throughout and there's far too much overwrought melodrama for modern audiences to take it seriously. The interminable prison singing doesn't help much either. About the only thing THE LAST MILE is good for is a look at social attitudes towards condemned men during the era, and this is a surprisingly sympathetic viewpoint.