San Quentin

Much of this grim prison drama was filmed on location at the title California penitentiary. With an underlying message of prison reform, it is the story of a young nightclub singer who falls in love with her incarcerated brother's keepers, the dashing new warden who is trying to enact more humane, but still tough policies. At first, she doesn't realize that her new beau works at San Quentin and their love affair blossoms. One day, she is visiting her sibling and is caught smuggling him some cash. As a result she is sent to the warden. Seeing that he and her lover are the same and feeling like she is being disloyal to her brother, she immediately breaks up with the warden. To win her favor, the besotted warden begins giving her brother special treatment. He broadens this to the other prisoners and this creates trouble with the jealous superintendent of the guards who sees to it that the brother learns of his sister's affair with the warden. This starts a tragic change of events.