Prison Nurse

Raging floodwaters and violent prisoners greet young nurse Judy when she and two co-workers pull up to the prison gate. The flood has caused a deadly typhoid outbreak that is overwhelming the elderly prison physician. He had called in the nurses after trying and failing earlier to enlist help from a prisoner named Dale, an ex-doctor with a troubled past. After the old doctor collapses from exhaustion, Dale's innate decency and his growing attraction to Judy cause a change of heart. His duties in the prison hospital work right into the desperate escape plans of boss con "Jackpot" and soon Dale is an unwilling pawn in a bloody prison break.

Prison Nurse is one of three B movies that director James Cruze made for Republic Pictures before retiring from film. One of the most popular and well-paid directors in the late twenties, his career faltered with the advent of sound. With the notable exception of I Covered the Waterfront (1933), his later efforts never quite matched his superior silent works. However, with its flood-drenched opening sequences and competent performances, Prison Nurse still has its share of satisfyingly gritty, gun-blazing moments.

Though James Cruze (I COVER THE WATERFRONT, IF I HAD A MILLION) is remembered as one of the top directors of the silent era, the strong performances and the gritty nature of this prison drama distinguish it from the rest of its post-sound B-movie ilk. Young Nurse Judy (Marian Marsh) has accepted a job to help battle a typhoid outbreak in a maximum-security prison. The institution is located in flood country, and a particularly bad flood has submerged much of the prison and spread disease, overwhelming the institution's elderly doctor. Dale (Henry Wilcoxon, DRAGNET), an inmate with a mysterious history as a doctor, reluctantly agrees to help the operation when the old man collapses from exhaustion, and as the criminal with a heart of gold works alongside our tireless heroine, love blossoms. But Dales's newfound position in the prison just might unwittingly aid the plans of the prison kingpin, Jackpot, who is determined to break out of jail at any cost.