THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND

USA | 1936 | 35mm | 95 min.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Warner Baxter, Gloria Stuart, John Carradine
After unknowingly aiding Lincoln’s assassin, Dr. Samuel Mudd is condemned to the remote and menacing Ft. Jefferson, a prison surrounded by shark-filled waters. Isolated and under the watch of cruel guards, he must survive a brutal environment while clinging to hope for justice. This terrific entertainment was the first 20th Century Fox collaboration between director Ford and production head Darryl F. Zanuck. The movie still stands as a shining example of how “the care and attention Zanuck devoted to script development was, to some extent, in the service of pitching balls that Ford could hit out of the park” (Lea Jacobs, John Ford at Work).