The Last Mile (1932 film)
Encyclopedia
Plot summary
The movie presents the life in a prisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
where men are on a death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
. Some of them are wrongfully accused and convicted, there is nothing else in their future but the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
.
Richard Walters is condemned to death for crime he claims he never committed. While the drama inside the prison unfolds, his friends on the outside are trying to find evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
that he is innocent.
A clip from this film was used by progressive rock band Rush as their intro to the song "Lock and Key" during it's performance on the "Hold Your Fire" tour, later released on the "Show of Hands" laserdisc. (VHS version excluded the "Lock and Key" performance, and subsequently so did the DVD years later.)
Cast
- Preston FosterPreston FosterPreston Foster was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled Two Seconds starring Edward J. Pawley...
as John "Killer" Mears, Cell 4 - Howard Phillips as Richard "Dick" Walters, Cell 5
- George E. StoneGeorge E. StoneGeorge E. Stone was a Polish-born American character actor in movies, radio, and television.-Career:Stone's slight build and very expressive face first attracted attention in 1927, in the popular silent-film romance Seventh Heaven...
as Joe Berg, Cell 1 - Noel MadisonNoel MadisonNoel Madison was an American character actor in the 1930s and '40s and appeared in 75 films, often as a gangster.-Partial filmography:*Sinners' Holiday *Little Caesar *Play-Girl...
as D'Amoro, Cell 6 - Alan RoscoeAlan RoscoeAlan Roscoe was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 108 films between 1915 and 1933. His interment was located in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.-Selected filmography:...
as Kirby, Cell 7 - Paul FixPaul FixPaul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Eddie Werner, Cell 8 - Al HillAl Hill (actor)Al Hill was an American film character actor who appeared in over 320 films between 1927 and 1954, including the 1951 film The Girl on the Bridge.Hill died in 1954 on his 62nd birthday.-References:...
as Fred Mayer, Cell 3 - Daniel L. Haynes as Sonny Jackson, Cell 2
- Frank Sheridan as Warden Frank Lewis
- Alec B. FrancisAlec B. FrancisAlec B. Francis was an English actor, largely of the silent era. He appeared in 241 films between 1911 and 1934.He was born in London and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:...
as Father O'Connor - Edward Van SloanEdward Van SloanEdward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
as Rabbi - Louise Carter as Mrs. Walters
- Ralph Theodore as Pat Callahan, Principal Keeper
- Jack Kennedy as Mike O'Flaherty, Guard
- Albert J. Smith as Drake, Guard
- William ScottWilliam Scott (actor)William Scott was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 90 films between 1913 and 1934.He was born in Wisconsin and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Jackie...
as Peddie, Guard - Kenneth MacDonaldKenneth MacDonald (American actor)Kenneth MacDonald was an American film actor. Born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1970.-Career:...
as Harris, Guard - Walter Walker as Governor Blaine