Bob Graham (Phillips Holmes) accidentally kills a man in a barroom scuffle and can’t afford a good lawyer. As a result, no-nonsense district attorney Martin Brady (Walter Huston) has no choice but to have Graham tried for murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. After six years of hard labor, Bob has begun to go stir crazy, but also, by this time, Brady has been appointed warden, and sees the effects of prison life on the young man. He picks Graham to work as chauffeur for his beautiful daughter, and the young couple begins to fall for each other, but when the other prisoners conspire against a stool pigeon, Graham is torn between a possible parole and the criminal code of silence. THE CRIMINAL CODE, a thoughtful look at the social problem of prisons, especially the ramifications they pose for otherwise decent men, features strong performances from Huston as the tough but fair warden and Boris Karloff as a scheming con.

release year: 1932

star(s): Boris Karloff