Life and Times of Mickey Rooney, The
MILLIONAIRES IN PRISON (1940)
Film Pick of the Day
Sunday, October 25, 2026
Five millionaires arrive at the State Penetentiary: Dr. Bill Collins for drunk driving manslaughter, James Brent & Sidney Keats for stock fraud, and Bruce Vander & Harold Kellogg, two naive businessmen involved in one of Brent's and Keats' schemes. The five share a dormitory cell with three other convicts, among them the Professor (Shemp Howard) and Happy (Cliff 'Ukulele Ike' Edwards). Nick Burton (Lee Tracy), an apparently good-hearted man serving time for armed robbery, has a gift for gab and getting things done, which has earned the respect of the prison population. Dr. Collins is assigned as a medic in the prison hospital, and at Burton's urging, decides to continue his previous research in finding a vaccine for Malta fever. But Burton also takes on the role of confidence man, assisting Conway & Keats in a scheme to unload fake copper mine stock on fellow inmates. Do Burton's sympathies truly lie in helping his fellow convicts, or earning a fast buck?
Shemp Howard and Cliff Edwards round out the main cast, but most of the film's humor revolves around the fish-out-of-water attempts by Vander & Kellogg to fit into prison life. They simply cannot understand why filet mignon isn't on the mess hall menu.
Details
Average Rating:   [ 7.40/10 ] 5 votes |
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| Featuring | Shemp Howard (Solo) |
|---|---|
| Release Date | Friday, July 26, 1940 |
| Studio | RKO |
| Production Type | Feature Film |
| Duration | 64.2 min. |
