San Quentin

Women of San Quentin

October 1983 •English

A young female prison guard finds out that her first assignment is to San Quentin, one of the toughest prisons in the country.

Felon

July 2008 •English

A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.

Men of San Quentin

May 1942 •English

A corrupt official at San Quentin tries to frame an innocent guard for several murders within the prison.

A Little Thing Called Murder

January 2006 •English

Fast forgery without mistakes. Shoplifting under pressure. Effective body disposal. The ability to multitask various felonies. These are just a few of the "talents" that mother-and-son grifters Sante and Kenny Kimes possess. Based on shocking true events, this flick takes you into the dark, sordid world of this deadly duo, from their bizarre relationship to their heinous crimes. It's no surprise that two-time Emmy winner Judy Davis earned a nomination for this performance.

The Steel Cage

December 1954 •English

Drama set in San Quentin prison.

Chain Gang

November 1950 •English

Crusading newspaperman Cliff Roberts masquerades as a prison guard to document inhuman conditions.

Zoot Suit

October 1981 •English

Part fact and part fiction, Zoot Suit is the film version of Luis Valdez's critically acclaimed play, based on the actual Sleepy Lagoon murder case and the zoot suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles. Henry Reyna is the leader of a group of Mexican-Americans being sent to San Quentin without substantial evidence for the death of a man at Sleepy Lagoon. As part of the defense committee, Alice Bloomfield and George Shearer fight the blatant miscarriage of justice for the freedom of Henry and his friends.

Weeds

October 1987 •English

A San Quentin inmate, sentenced to life without parole, writes a play that catches the interest of a reporter.

Duffy of San Quentin

March 1954 •English

San Quentin's new warden crusades for reform and for a framed inmate who loves a nurse.

A Double Life

October 2023 •English

The grim news made international headlines: On August 21, 1971, prison authorities discovered a gun on famed Soledad Brother author, activist and San Quentin inmate George Jackson. A shootout ensued, killing Jackson, two other inmates and three guards, and wounding three more officers. Authorities asserted that only lawyer Stephen Bingham could have smuggled the weapon into the prison. Fearing that a conviction for abetting the guards’ deaths would lead to his own murder, the attorney fled, beginning a long, strange odyssey of pseudonymous exile. Strange indeed for the Yale-graduate scion of politically prominent New England elites.

Gang Busters

June 1955 •English

A life-long criminal continues his practice of breaking out of Oregon State Prison – much to the frustration of the police.

Johnny Cash at San Quentin

September 1969 •English

On February 24th, 1969, two days before he turned 37, Johnny Cash led his traveling troupe behind the foreboding walls of the California State Penitentiary at San Quentin, long known as one of America's toughest prisons.

San Quentin

December 1946 •English

An ex-con sets up a program to straighten out hard-core prisoners. Things don't go as planned.

Escape from San Quentin

September 1957 •English

Desmond plays convict Mike Gilbert, who goes on the lam with fellow prisoners Gruber and Graham when he finds out his wife is divorcing him and feels he has nothing to lose. Gruber intends to get his robbery loot, which his father, Curly, has successfully hidden from the law. After commandeering a plane, they double-cross Graham, who assembles his gang to get revenge - and Gruber's loot. Meanwhile, Gilbert falls in love with Robbie, his ex-wife’s sister. Through Robbie’s influence, Gilbert decides to go straight, but his cohorts aren’t quite so willing to reform.

Free Chol Soo Lee

August 2022 •English

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

Ballad of an Unsung Hero

September 1983 •English

Using rare historical footage, vintage musical recordings, and interviews with 88-year-old Pedro J. Gonzalez and his wife, this film chronicles Gonzalez’s long and colorful life, from his early days with Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution, to his career as a popular radio personality in Los Angeles in the 1930s, to the controversial court case that sent him to San Prison, a victim of the repressive forces operating against the Chicano/Mexicano community during that period.

The Dragon Coffin of Penglai

July 2022 •Chinese