SunnyHello Nice effects though.

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

jarrodmcdonald-1 I was surprised how many positive reviews I found online about this film. Not because it isn't good mind you; on the contrary, it is very good-- in fact it may almost be too good for a "B" crime flick of this type. Usually a prison drama that clocks in at 60 minutes about a man who has been unjustly framed is no frills. It is often a poverty row product made with a low budget. But here, it's an MGM production with handsome production values and a lot more attention to detail than we might expect to see.Walter Pidgeon is cast as a ruthless attorney whose tough views on crime come back to haunt him when he's framed by a gangster and sent to the clink for something he didn't do. When he gets there, he is befriended by a doctor (Paul Kelly, who had a real-life prison term) and must deal with other inmates who have it out for him. Many of the situations are not too original, and the characters are glorified stereotypes at best, but Pidgeon and most of the cast do a credible job with the material. Meanwhile, Rita Johnson plays a female inmate with her own simultaneous false conviction; and chances are, she will end up as Pidgeon's wife before the final fadeout. She does a nice job portraying the anguish that her character experiences.What I like about 6,000 ENEMIES is that it gives the lead actor something tougher to play than MGM usually assigned him. Normally, Walter Pidgeon played Greer Garson's suave husband, or he had an honorable role in support of other stars in lavish studio productions. But in this film, he gets a chance to be a bit less than debonair and a lot more rough around the edges. I thought he was very much up to the challenge, especially in a boxing match where his character is pummeled by an opponent (Nat Pendleton). In a way, it's a shame Pidgeon didn't get more of these parts at MGM or other studios. Another thing I like about 6,000 ENEMIES is the way the editor advances the story by literally speeding up the film during some scenes. Also, chunks of material have been spliced together as montages that quickly and efficiently show us key plot points and get us on to the next piece of business. As a result, we have an action-packed film and something that seems to imprint its own style as it goes.

utgard14 Relentless prosecutor (Walter Pidgeon) is framed for bribery and sent to prison. Once there, he is faced with thousands (!) of criminals he put away. He finds unlikely help from a woman (Rita Johnson) he prosecuted. Pidgeon discovers she, too, was framed and has to face that the justice system is more flawed than he originally believed.Excellent 'B' movie from MGM. A fast-paced, tough crime drama with a colorful cast backing up Pidgeon that includes Grant Mitchell, Nat Pendleton, Harold Huber, Guinn Williams, and Paul Kelly (no stranger to prison). Arthur Aylesworth is fun as a creepy old lunatic Pidegon is forced to sleep next to. It's one of those movies where convicts are mostly an alright bunch of guys and, even if they hate your guts, they will learn to respect you if you show how tough you are. Yeah, it's far-fetched but still entertaining. It's barely over an hour so there's no excuse not to check it out.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** With him targeting top New York City mobster Joe Silenus, Harold Huber, the hard hitting just elected city District Attorney Steve Donegan, Walter Pidgeon, gets framed in an elaborate scheme involving his horse playing assistant Don Barrett, J.M Kerrigan who's in hock to Silenus for $3,000.00.Found guilty and sent to Sing Sing Prison on a 1 to 10 year sentence Donegan is determined to get the evidence, even behind bars, to prove his innocence. Silenus knowing how far Donegan is willing to go to get him puts a hit out on him with 6,000 more then willing inmates, many that Donegan sent there, to take up Silenus' offer.The movie has Donegan become a marked man with everyone there trying to take a crack shot at him with the harebrained prison Warden Alvin Parkhust, Grant Mitchell, more interested in the freshness of his delivered , by the inmates, fruits & vegetables then the safety and welfare of the inmates he's in charge of. It's when Donegan is attacked from behind that his life is saved when woman inmate Anne Barry, Rita Johnson, screamed alerting him and a prison guard who gunned down his attacker. As it turned out Barry was sent up the river, like almost everyone else in Sing Sing, by District Attorney Donegan in him not believing her that she was framed! Now with him behind bars for a crime he didn't commit Donegan could see just how right she was! Even more telling it was non other then mob boss Silenus who,like he did to him, framed her!Lots of action with a wild food fight in the prison mess-hall as well as a massive prison break to keep the audience entertained but the highlight of the movie was a boxing match between former prize fighter Donegan and Sing Sing heavyweight champ Socks Martin, Nat Pendleton. Socks together with all the other prison inmates gains Donegan's respect in him being able to stand up to his wild and mostly illegal,like rabbit and kidney, punches for 10 long and grueling rounds.****SPOILERS**** It's when Donegan's kid brother Phil, John Arledge, who came to visit him with evidence of his innocence was gunned down by Silenus' hoods right outside of Sing Sing Prison that the prison break that was put on hold swung into action. Donegan trying to get the inmates back in their cells in order to prevent them from being gunned down is helped by Anne in backing them off with a spray of live steam from the laundry room's plumbing system. With everything now under control it's found out, from his dead brother's stack of evidence, who was responsible for framing Donegan and Anne Barry as well as murdering Phil mob Boss Joe Silenus! Indited convicted and sentenced Silenus ends up getting everything that's coming to him: A one way ticket to the Sing Sing hot seat! Freed and now engaged both Donegan & Anne check out their new house in the country and make sure that it doesn't have, after what they've been through in their stay in prison, a laundry room!P.S Two actors in this prison movie Paul Kelly as as prison doctor Malcolm Scott and prison inmate Ransom played by Tom Neal actually served time behind bars, Kelly before and Neal after they were in the film, for manslaughter!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre I'm intrigued that Paul Kelly and Tom Neal are both in the cast of '6000 Enemies'. Kelly and Neal both had prolific careers in tough-guy roles, but they are now remembered largely for the fact that, in real life, both of them (separately) did prison time for manslaughter. The fact that '6000 Enemies' is a prison movie lends an air of irony to Kelly's and Neal's presence in this film. As it happens, though, they have no scenes together.'6000 Enemies' has a premise fairly similar to that of the Howard Hawks film 'The Criminal Code', but it takes that premise in a different direction. Steven Donegan (Walter Pidgeon) is a tough D.A. who has shown no mercy to the thousands of criminals he has sent to prison. Racketeer Joe Silenus (Harold Huber) frames Donegan on a bribery charge; for good measure, Silenus has also framed pretty Anne (Rita Johnson) on an embezzlement charge. Donegan has urged no mercy for convicted criminals, so now that he is (falsely) convicted he finds himself on the receiving end of the same tough sentencing policy. Donegan and Anne are sent to the respective his'n'her hoosegows, but it's clear they're going to end up as each other's ball-and-chain.Disbarred D.A. Donegan finds himself doing hard time in a penitentiary where all the other convicts want to kill him. (Hence the film's title.) The scenes of prison life are even less realistic than usual for prison movies from this period. The movie climaxes with a prison break (I shan't tell you if it's successful), but at this point all credibility has long since gone over the wall. In a small role as a petty thug, Frank Lackteen briefly displays his famous cheekbones and swarthy complexion. Esther Dale gives her usual "I've seen it all, dearie" performance. I'm always glad to see Nat Pendleton, Grant Mitchell and Raymond Hatton, but their performances here are more lacklustre than usual for these fine character actors. Paul Kelly has very little to do here, and Tom Neal even less: the irony of their presence in this prison flick far outweighs their actual performances. I'll rate '6000 Enemies' only 3 points out of 10. Better make that 6,001 enemies...