They All Come Out

With an introduction by actual officials with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, They All Come Out was the accidental first feature film of Jacques Tourneur, evolved from a series of documentary shorts on the American prison system commissioned by MGM. The result is a narrative film that takes subtle and not-so-subtle detours to educate viewers about the social causes of incarceration, and indeed the perks, such as free medical and psychiatric care, development of a trade, and “promotion” to a cell-free environment that looks more like a hotel. Tom Neal, who would achieve noir icon status six years later as Al in Edgar Ulmer’s Detour (1945), stars as young drifter Joe Cameron, who stirs such pity in fellow diner patron Kitty (Rita Johnson) that she offers him an opportunity for “easy money” by driving the getaway car for her gang of thieves. It’s not long before Joe, Kitty, and the gang are caught, convicted, and sent to prison where some of them find redemption while others — especially Reno (Bernard Nedell) — do not. Johnson is wonderfully appealing, and even contemporary, and her soft spot for Joe early on is beautifully rendered. Tourneur builds in a few acts of violence (a motorcycle cop is violently sideswiped during a chase, Kitty is knocked out with a punch to the head), but, for better or worse, love wins in the end.