If you see the name Crane Wilbur in the credits, either as writer or director, especially if it is a crime picture, you can be sure that it will be above average. Wilbur used his skills as a veteran actor (going as far back as the silent Perils Of Pauline serial) as an author and later as a director to deepen the quality of the genre work he took on, often through research before shooting, so that the results had more unusual dialogue and a richness of realistic detail. Here he starts off what is basically a standard movie formula by having the prison itself, in this case Folsom, narrate the story! The plot pivots on the contrast between sadistic warden Ted De Corsia who wants to restrict the menu his inmates can eat ("Beans three times a day") and a well meaning new captain of the guard David Brian who believes in psychology and compares the De Corsia character to history's dictators (" You're as much a psychopathic case as any man in here") The treatment also benefits from use of the real Folsom location, touted in the opening (it would later be used again in such as Revolt In The Big House) some nice lensing (the scene where 5 convicts in a cell make plans, after the lights have been turned off early, their faces glimpsed in the dark) and effective musical underscoring by William Lava. If there is a big flaw in the film it's the decision to portray the brutal conditions as something way in the past- the turn of the century, in fact- and to assure the audience at the end with the return of narration that things have now improved, a somewhat false sweetness and light conclusion. If you want to learn more about Wilbur's fascinating career I recommend the biographical article by scholar Brent Walker in the Spring 2011 issue of the publication Noir City. Walker says that Inside The Walls Of Folsom Prison "may be Wilbur's signature work."
