They All Come Out (1939) User Reviews (13)

Tourneur goes from shorts to feature film "noir"

[IlyaMauter · 7/10 · 22 April 2003]

"They all came out" is the first feature film made by Jacques Tourneur in US, after a series of short features directed for MGM in the 1930s.

In fact this one too first was conceived to be a short documentary about federal prisons. In his interview given in 1964 to Simon Mizrahi, Tourneur describes complicated story of the making of the movie. First director went to Washington where he visited different prisons in order to film documentary. When the short film was ready, Louis B. Mayer saw it and asked Tourneur to add more 20 minutes of footage and turn it into something of a half-feature, as an experiment. At this time Tourneur in cooperation with John Higgins wrote a story, which became the story of the film, about a young man that goes out of jail and tries to re-enter normal life while his former friends prepare to commit another crime and drag him along. Tourneur filmed it and showed it to L. B. Mayer again, who end up liking it and asking director to add 1/2 hour more and turn it into feature film. Tourneur and Higgins had to put all their imagination to work in order to invent some new scenes and make movie longer. After seeing the film it was virtually impossible to understand that it went through these three stages in it´s making unless you knew all about it before. Quite an interesting early work from Jacques Tourneur, worth seeing for addicted movie buff only. 7/10

An enjoyable film that is part documentary and part drama.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 28 June 2021]

"They All Come Out" is a most unusual film from MGM. In some ways, it's a traditional crime drama but about midway through the picture it changes to a pseudo-documentary about the prison system and how it sorts prisoners according to their willingness to be rehabilitated.

When the story begins, Joe (Tom Neal) is out of work and hungry. When he meets Kitty (Rita Johnson) he thinks his luck is improving, as she buys him some food and takes him with her on a cross-country drive. However, she works for Reno Madigan, a career criminal who runs a gang who robs banks. Soon, Joe is their driver and soon after that, the gang is captured.

The next portion of the story shows a very detailed account about how federal prisons operated back in the day. Much time in the film is spent showing how the prisoners are sorted according to their likelihood of being rehabilitated. Joe is a first-time offender, and they offer his job training and more. Reno, naturally, is NOT an ideal candidate and his behaviors soon result in his being sent to Alcatraz. But there's much more to it than this...as well as an exciting and satisfying finale.

Despite the film seeming a bit overly idealistic at times, it never is dull and first time director Jacques Tourneur did a great job with this B-movie. It also helped that despite being a B, the budget was bigger than usual and allowed for filming at various penitentiaries across the nation. Worth your time.

Early Tourneur Is Very Watchable

[boblipton · 7/10 · 28 March 2018]

Apparently Louis Mayer liked the CRIME DOESN'T PAY short in progress so much that he had director Jacques Tourneur expand it into his first American feature -- he had directed a couple in France in the early 1930s. It's about how Rita Johnson picks up tramp Tom Neal and gets him a job .... as driver for the gang of bank robbers she is a member of. They are caught by the Feds and sent to prison, whereupon the story shifts to show how they fare in prison, some being rehabilitated, some sinking into permanent incarceration.

It's an early and well-directed piece by Tourneur, primary because of the clipped manner in which the dialogue is directed. It's an outgrowth of the shorts series, and Tourneur keeps the pace up, with people going about their work fast and eficiently, with some nice camerawork by Paul Vogel and Clyde de Vinna. Neal is shown being trained in a machine shop and I think that that dramatic lighting, including some shots that are illuminated largely by oxy-acetylene torch, are by de Vinna.

In this little B, crime seems to pay if you get caught!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 26 May 2018]

This was on TCM for the first time in years the other day, and at first I was surprised at how much it seemed like a documentary - specifically one of the "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts MGM did. Actually, it started out that way and Louis Mayer liked it so much he asked that it be expanded into a feature film. Tom Neal stars as Joe Cameron, made an unemployable vagrant by a wounded hand that made him unfit for manual labor and with him not knowing a trade, on the road he went, often picked up by the police for not having a dollar. Hungry, he orders a big meal at a diner that he knows he can't pay for and is bailed out of his troubles by gun moll Kitty Carson (Rita Johnson). This is how he winds up entangled with Reno Madigan's gang, with the job of driving for them whenever they pull jobs.

At first they live it up, but they are eventually captured. But not before Reno and Joe hide 33K in stolen loot but do not tell the others about it. The rest of the film is about how the federal prison system treats each one of the gang - even operating on Joe's hand and teaching him a trade. The lesson seems to be that the feds know who is redeemable and who isn't, and if you're not it's off to "The Rock" - Alcatraz. Before their capture, Joe and Kitty seem to have an understated romance going, and during their imprisonment they are allowed to write letters where this romance seems to blossom. But against them when they get out is their record, local papers looking for sensational stories, and then there is still Reno inside prison expecting Joe to help spring him with the 33K they hid. And Reno has friends on the outside.

I doubt that the federal prison system was ever that good, and even if it was, I doubt a prison psychiatrist could just talk a seemingly crazy man out of believing he had women in his pockets and cure him with talk alone.

imdb currently rates this as a 6/10, but knowing its roots as a short/documentary, I'd give it a 7/10. The leads give real depth to their rather rushed performances, and it is an interesting tale.

A Docudrama

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 22 June 2021]

A quasi-documentary that starts as a crime caper and ends as a dramatized tutorial on the American penal system, this film is fairly comprehensive in explaining the options available to prisoners, depending upon their histories and attitudes. It especially emphasizes the differences between correctional or reform facilities and those dedicated to penitence or punishment.

The problem with the film is its one-sided view of things. In the real world, every guard, warden and board member is not so altruistic or benign. And politics can interfere with good intentions. Still, it paints a picture of a model prison system that is worth keeping in mind.

The film also minimizes the extent to which anti-social inmates and their social structures make meaningful reform (of individuals) extremely difficult. In today's world, this film might be considered naïve.

But the concept of justice is at the heart of the film and it rings just as true today.

The G-MEN of Prison Flicks

[TheFearmakers · 7/10 · 30 June 2021]

Director Jacques Tourneur's first feature is the polar opposite of edgy Prison Noirs since THEY ALL COME OUT is unapologetic propaganda of the U. S. Correctional System, even more than FBI-backed Noirs like THE STREET WITH NO NAME or G-MEN wherein hard-boiled crime fare plays out from beginning to end following a sparse introduction...

Here it's half-and-half starting with the usual Depression-era gangsters robbing banks where Rita Johnson's Kitty makes a terrific femme fatale... but with a soft side... working for no-nonsense gang boss Bernard Nedell as Reno, who leads muggy thugs and a young handsome driver that the dame actually discovered: Enter future DETOUR actor Tom Neal displaying genuine toughness... yet there's some good in him too...

And just as the rudimentary rugged crime flick picks up violent steam, the girl and men are captured and thrown into various prisons. But Tourneur keeps the stories interesting, even when the propaganda kicks into high gear...

As affable officials decide upon what's best for their inmates sans cinema-cliché sadistic wardens, bullying guards and shiv-shoving inmates, THEY ALL COME OUT maintains a pulpy page-turning cadence, keeping the viewer intrigued about how things'll turn out despite being fairly obvious.

fun prison propaganda film from the 1930s

[jamcdaid · 6/10 · 29 November 2021]

How can you not like a movie that features a bad guy getting a blowtorch to the face when threatening the handsome young naive hero? And action scenes where they just speed up the film? Good fun.

second half flat

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 13 October 2020]

It's the "Crime Doesn't Pay" series. The opening has former AG Homer Cummings and director of Federal Bureau of Prisons James Bennett telling the audience that prisoners eventually come out back into society. Then the movie follows Kitty who is casing a bank for Reno's gang. She helps out a tramp named Joe who ate at a diner without paying. Joe joins the gang. Kitty is shot and rescued by Joe. They are all caught but not everyone is willing to go straight.

The bank robbery first part is pretty good crime thrills. The movie drags after that in prison. It is waiting for the inevitable but the movie has to go through a lot of bureaucracy. The tension is drained out and it becomes closer to an industrial education film about prisons. The second half turns really flat in narrative intensity.

Innocuous Light-Hearted Fluff

[herbqedi · 7/10 · 5 May 2002]

The usual misunderstanding-paves-way-for-embarrassing-situations plot is backed by Tom Keane's everyman and a marvelous supporting cast. The pace is brisk. The chemistry is fine. Charles Lane has a standout bit as a psychiatrist. Some intriguingly shadowy camera work makes the suspense part of this comedy more interesting than most.

Surprisingly moving "B" movie

[wickest · 8/10 · 30 August 2012]

What starts out as a typical criminals-on-the-lam movie turns into a didactic moral lesson to prove to its probably youthful viewers that crime does not pay. What is surprising is that in spite of the clichés, the talented acting of the principles make the film much more poignant than it could have been. Tom Neal (most memorable in the classic "Detour") plays with youthful sincerity. His conversion makes it hard to believe that later he was involved in a violent and criminal life himself and actually did time for murder. Rita Johnson is completely winning, as opposed to her obnoxious character as Ray Milland's girlfriend in "The Major and the Minor". She brings her own sincerity to her stereotyped character and makes it more believable. The emotional impact of the film is also the result of the script's mixed dramatic and documentary approach showing the characters from inside and out, and Jacques Tourneur's perfect pacing.

odd piece discusses rehabbing prisoners

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 12 March 2022]

Short film made into a full length feature. It highlights how the prisons attempt to rehabilitate people, since most of them will be rejoining society when their sentence is complete. Stars rita johnson as kitty carson (can't help but think of kit carson, famous american outdoorsman, fighting man.) she's the moll for the madigan gang, which is sent up after pulling a bank job. They try to rehab joe (tom neal) and kitty. Reno the boss was sent to alcatraz. And it looks like actual footage from alcatraz and chillicothe prisons. The prison psychiatrist was charles lane; for a time, he held the record for playing the most bit parts in films. Not sure if that's still true. They sure weren't very delicate about the phsych prison...they show us the sign that says "U. S. hospital for defective delinquents." real nice. The film is okay... seems to be a propaganda piece instructing crooks on what to expect when the enter prison. Probably would have been more enjoyable if they dropped the extra boring intro and epilogue at the beginning and end. Directed by jacques tourneur, who had been doing mostly shorts prior to this. Actress rita johnson died at 52 from trauma caused by a hair dryer falling on her head. Bizarre. Tom neal died at 58.

Well worth watching!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 5 April 2018]

Copyright 11 July 1939 by Loew's Inc. An M-G-M picture. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 2 August 1939. U.S. release: 14 July 1939. Australian release: Not recorded. 70 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: Gangsters try to prevent an ex-convict going straight.

NOTES: Made with the active collaboration and approval of the United States Department of Justice, with scenes photographed inside federal prisons at Alcatraz, Atlanta, Springfield, Chillicothe.

Originally made as a 2-reel short subject in M-G-M's "Crime Does Not Pay" series, They All Come Out was expanded to 4 reels and then to 7 because of Louis B. Mayer's interest in the project (and the fact that it had such powerful government support and co-operation). "It's too good for 4 reels," Mayer is quoted as saying; "so let's make it 7!"

COMMENT: Director Jacques Tourneur's first feature, this semi-documentary lauding the efficiency of the U.S. prisons system (both in reforming those who want to reform and surprisingly putting out of society's way those prisoners deemed incorrigible) was Tourneur's first U.S. feature. Apparently it was originally intended as a 2-reeler and gradually grew like Topsy.

All the same, despite a great many scenes of self-congratulatory paper-shuffling (yes, paper-shuffling, it's one of the few movies that presents bureaucracy in action in great detail, which itself is actually rather interesting), the scriptwriter presents us with a well-rounded assortment of characters that maintain audience interest and/or sympathy.

Attractively photographed, Rita Johnson comes across well as the reformed moll, and if Tom Neal seems a little too eager-beaver as the reformed hero he does share a nicely atmospheric, superbly photographed and sharply edited run-in with gangster Paul Fix ("I don't mind doing Reno a favor if there's something in it for me.") at the climax. Bernard Nedell is thoroughly convincing as the don't-let-them-make-a-sucker-out-of-you incorrigible, and there's even sizable parts for not-overbright but eager to reform Edward Gargan and downright crazy John Gallaudet ("Tell me, these women that you keep finding in your pockets, are they pygmies or regular-sized?" - "Both.").

Real locations add to the film's authenticity in a movie that despite the co-operation and endorsement of the prisons system pulls only two major punches (there's no hint of overcrowding or sub-standard conditions, but the scenes on Alcatraz are absolutely terrifying all the same; and of course there's no such animals as corrupt prison officers).

Tourneur directs with confidence and a sure hand, keeping the interesting documentary flavor yet using angles and compositions that are dramatically effective and even an occasional burst of dazzlingly fluid camerawork (very suitable for the upbeat conclusion).

All in all, this is a B-feature that is well worth a look.

they all come out

[mossgrymk · 8/10 · 4 December 2021]

B pictures don't come more B than this offering from Jacques Tourneur, but despite the usual flaws that come from a limited budget, most notably less than stellar acting (Rita Johnson and Bernard Nedell partially excepted) and extremely primitive sets and outdoor locations, this fine director in his first feature already shows the pacing and tonal skills that would render "Out Of The Past" one of the five best noirs and "Cat People" the best of the Lewton creep fests. In just under seventy five minutes Tourneur manages not only to bring to life five gangsters but also to follow them through the prison system with forays into the various gradations of incarceration, ranging from corrupt local jail with its inmates kangaroo court, to grim, federal maximum security (with a brilliant brief glance at bleak Alcatraz), to the relatively lenient honor farms ,with side excursions into a prison psychiatric facility, as well as a womans prison (which I noted with amusement in 1939 resembled an Ethan Allen Furniture showroom). So even though the film at times resembles an infomercial for Penal Rehabilitation (I sure as hell didn't believe that the anti woman psycho inmate would be magically cured by a work stint in the fresh air!) it's an impressive debut for its director. Give it...natch...a B.

PS...Dumb title. Sounds like a slogan for spot remover.