THE POWDER KEG

by Frances Marion ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 18, 1953

An inside perspective of the stone walls which do a prison make, this- along with some not too obtrusive tubthumping for reform of the life led behind bars- takes its strong story interest from the inmates and the emotional and economic circumstances which help to make a criminal which society cannot cure. Under the tightlipped, strong- armed supervision of Mrs. Clara Watson, the life within a (California- presumably) woman's prison is restive and resentful, and it is her assistant, Kate Porter, who tries to soften the system for her girls. There's Kinko, the matron, who will exchange kindnesses for sexual services, while other matrons are to be had for money ; Ivy, who ""finks"" (informs) and faces complete exclusion; Sandy, who has lived and killed for her younger sister; but mostly this is Bonnie Lorraine's story, Bonnie who has a loving heart- but particularly for Eddie Meegan, a fighter- and her diehard loyalties which override his marriage to another girl and extend to the child that Eddie leaves behind when he is killed...The hope of going ""freeside"", the occasional attempts to ""take the fence"", the violence which is bred by injustive, all documents a public issue which is handled in personal terms by a (Hollywood) scenarist who keeps a practised hand on the dramatic sequences here, and her eye on the sentimental susceptibility of her public.

Pub Date: Nov. 18, 1953

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1953

Categories: FICTION