Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Crane Wilbur and starring Steve Cochran and David Brian. Set in Folsom State Prison in California, the film was seen both in the United States and Europe. Country singer Johnny Cash saw this movie while serving in the United States Air Force in West Germany in October 1951, and used it as an inspiration for his hit song "Folsom Prison Blues," which he recorded numerous times between 1955 and his death in 2003. The film was featured in the 2005 biographical film Walk the Line, in which Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) and other Air Force personnel are depicted seeing the film. Plot During the 1920s, before the 1944 California prison reform, Warden Ben Rickey rules Folsom Prison with a ruthless hand. He believes that prisons should be used for punishment, rather than rehabilitation to reduce the incidence of repeated returns to jail (recidivism). His methods are violent, torturous, and intended to beat the prisoners into submission. Chuck Daniels, one of the toughest inmates, and his group of followers are intent on escaping. However, after an attempt which is thwarted by Rickey, a riot