Prison has long fascinated film makers and audiences alike. The author explores the dark enclosed world of prisons on film from light-hearted comedies to the deeper implications of people imprisoned for their political and religious beliefs. The book covers the whole spectrum of prison life - gangster movies such as Riot in Cell Block Eleven; the particular fascination of Alcatraz, including the memorable Birdman of Alcatraz; prisoners of war featured in The Great Escape and The Colditz Story; the complex psychological themes of prisoners of conscience in Kiss of the Spiderwoman; women in Yield to the Night; and the ultimate sanction of society against its transgressors, the death penalty in I Want to Live. While many of the films are simple adventure stories using prison as a backdrop, others consider the social issues sensitively. Occasionally a movie has stirred a nation to change its way of thinking about its wrong-doers.