PRISON WITHOUT BARS

Prison Without Bars is a 1938 British black-and-white crime film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Corinne Luchaire, Edna Best and Barry K. Barnes. It is set in a girl's reform school, and was based on a play by Gina Kaus, previously filmed in France as Prison sans Barreaux (1938). Corinne Luchaire starred in both versions.

Synopsis:

A young progressive thinking woman becomes superintendant at a French girl's reformatory dominated by the harsh previous head. A young girl is blackmailed by her acquaintance over her love for the superintendant's fiancé, but is released to join him in the end, when all is revealed.

Critical reception:

In The New York Times, Frank S. Nugent dismissed the film as "another prison picture, and while we would not want to pass too harsh a sentence upon it, neither can we fairly pretend that it is innocent": whereas, in December 1938, The Daily Telegraph selected it as one of their ten best films of the year.

Cast:

Suzanne Duplat - Corinne Luchaire

Yvonne Chanel - Edna Best

Dr George Marechal - Barry K. Barnes

Renee - Mary Morris

Alice - Lorraine Clewes

Julie Picard - Sally Wisher

Mme Appel - Martita Hunt

Mlle Arthemise - Margaret Yarde

Mme Remy - Elsie Shelton

Nina - Glynis Johns

Mlle Renard - Enid Lindsey

Mlle Pauline - Phyllis Morris

Mlle Dupont - Nancy Roberts