Prison movies have been a staple on the Hollywood scene since the earliest days of the silent cinema. Theres something both fascinating and abhorrent about men and women behind bars, with the movies providing plenty of drama for that unique setting. Here are 10 prison movies that are sure to excite the cinematic jailbird in all of us, along with a discussion of the classic memorabilia they produced for todays captive collectors. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Burt Lancaster has the title role in this riveting prison drama, playing convicted murderer Robert Stroud, who was incarcerated on The Rock as inmate #594 from 1942 to 1959. Stroud became a world-renowned ornithologist while previously doing time at Leavenworth Penitentiary, where he kept his birds and studied avian diseases, eventually publishing the book, Diseases of Canaries, in 1933. Although highly dramatized (Stroud never actually kept his birds while doing time at Alcatraz), The Birdman of Alcatraz was a hit with movie audiences, earning Burt Lancaster a Best Actor Oscar nomination and Telly Savalas and Thelma Ritter Best Supporting Actor and Actress Oscar nominations, respectively. Nothing fascinates the general public and prison movie memorabilia collectors in particular like Alcatraz, the infamous island penitentiary located in San Francisco Bay that closed its iron doors for good in 1963. For Birdman of Alcatraz aficionados, theres the stellar eight-card movie theater lobby set, which depicts important scenes from the film. One example in fine/very fine condition sold at auction for $51. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932). The movies title certainly grabs your attention, with Paul Muni starring as James Allen, a returning World War I veteran who is caught up in a robbery gone awry and winds up doing a 10-year stretch on a southern chain gang. Allen escapes his brutal captors and heads to Chicago, where he becomes a big success in the construction business, only to be betrayed by his blackmailing wife (Glenda Farrell). I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang is very big with collectors. One of the more attractive items is the French Grande stone litho movie poster (47-by-63 inches) titled Je Suis Un Evade, which features stunning artwork by Joseph Koutachy. One example in restored condition on preservative linen brought a top bid of $717 at auction. The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Based on the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, this celebrated film stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, a young banker who is wrongly convicted of murdering his cheating wife and her golf pro lover. Incarcerated at infamous Shawshank Prison for life, Andy eventually tunnels his way out after serving 19 years, making his way to freedom in Mexico, where he is eventually joined by his paroled prison buddy Ellis Boyd Red Redding (Morgan Freeman). Written and directed by Frank Darabont with near perfection, The Shawshank Redemption harbors a special place for movie lovers and collectors. The films standard one-sheet advance poster (27-by-41 inches), which depicts Tim Robbins as Andy standing in a cleansing rain following his miraculous prison escape via a sewer pipe, is a beauty. One example in rolled, near mint condition hit a high bid of $388.38 at auction. Cool Hand Luke (1967). Paul Newman has the title role of hell-raiser Luke Jackson, who is sentenced to two years hard labor at a Georgia penal farm for decapitating parking meters during a drunken bender. The prison camp is run by the brutal Captain (Strother Martin), who famously tells young Cool Hand Luke: What we got here isfailure to communicate. Some men you just cant reach. George Kennedy won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the big, bruising convict Dragline. For collectors with a hefty bank account, look for the rare set of four door panel posters (20-by-60 inches) from Cool Hand Luke. One example, still in its original Warner Bros. studio envelope in folded, very fine/near mint condition, sold at auction for $9,000. Papillon (1973). Based on the improbable memoir by Henri Papillon Charriere, Papillon stars Steve McQueen in the title role. Wrongly convicted of murdering a pimp in Paris, Papillon is sentenced to life at the notorious penal system in French Guiana, also known as Devils Island. Here, the irrepressible Papillon mounts multiple escape attempts in his quest for freedom and revenge. The standard one-sheet poster (27-by-41 inches) for Papillon features co-stars Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman (as forger Louis Dega) along with the blurb, The Greatest Adventure of Escape! Expertly rendered by artist Tom Jung, one example in folded, fine/very fine condition hit a top bid of $150 at auction. The Big House (1930). The MGM movies title is derived from American slang for prison and stars Wallace Beery as Machine Gun Butch Schmidt, a brutal, menacing con who rules his cellblock with an iron hand. Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Robert Montgomery and Leila Hyams appear in support. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times (6/25/30) gave the movie a thumbs-up, writing: Inspired by the recent accounts of prison riots, there came to the Astor Theatre last night a trenchant, realistic and often bitter talking picture called The Big House, which has for its climax thrilling scenes of an attempted jail-break, The half-sheet poster (22-by-28 inches) for The Big House is a real riot, featuring armed convicts in their cells shooting it out with a charging army tank! One example in restored, fine/very fine condition on paper bulled its way to a winning bid of $430.20 at auction. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932). Warner Bros. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (love that title) features Hollywood titan Spencer Tracy as Tommy Connors, who winds up in notorious Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York. Directed with gusto by Michael Curtiz, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing was filmed on location in the prison itself. For sheer beauty, look to Scandinavia for the films Swedish one-sheet stone litho poster (27-by-39 inches) with blazing artwork by Walter Fuchs. One example in folded, very fine+ condition brought $475.61 at auction. Escape From Alcatraz (1979). Clint Eastwood stars as real-life convict Frank Morris, who in June 1962 busts out of Alcatraz along with the Anglin brothers, Clarence (Jack Thibeau) and John (Fred Ward), never to be seen again. Did Morris and his cohorts make it to freedom, or were they merely swallowed up by the treacherous currents of San Francisco Bay? Patrick McGoohan plays the warden of The Rock, telling new inmates upon their arrival: No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz. And no one ever will. Directed by Clint Eastwoods favorite director, Don Siegel, Escape From Alcatraz offers a number of interesting items for todays collectors. The eight-card movie theater lobby set is a real winner, with one card picturing Eastwood in a mug shot as Frank Morris, Alcatraz inmate #1441. One set in very fine/near mint condition sold at auction for a reasonable $57. San Quentin (1937). Along with Alcatraz, San Quentin, Californias oldest prison, immediately grabs your attention. No less a persona than Humphrey Bogart wound up in notorious San Quentin in 1937 as Joe Red Kennedy, who is sent to the Golden States big house following a robbery conviction. Also along for the stretch are Pat OBrien as Stephen Jameson, the captain of the prison guards, along with Ann Sheridan, Barton MacLane, Joe Sawyer and the lovely Veda Ann Borg in strong support. The movie was shot on location at San Quentin State Prison. The standard one-sheet poster (27-by-41 inches) for San Quentin features strong graphics and the tantalizing blurb, Amazing Drama of Desperate Men Behind the Walls! Since this film is classic Bogie, expect to pay a premium for the one-sheet. One example in restored, very fine- condition on linen hit a top bid of $1,314.50 at auction. The Green Mile (1999). Based on the 1996 novel by Stephen King, The Green Mile stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb, a prison guard at Cold Mountain Penitentiary who supervises Death Row in 1935. This is a Stephen King-based film, so expect a wild series of strange and violent happenings, including one gruesome scene where inmate Eduard Del Delacroix (Michael Jeter) is literally fried to death in the electric chair after a guard deliberately omits soaking a vital sponge used to conduct electricity during the execution. The double-sided advance one-sheet poster (27-by-41 inches) for The Green Mile is haunting, featuring a condemned inmate and his guard walking down the infamous Green Mile a stretch of faded green linoleum that convicts traversed while on their way to the electric chair. One example in rolled, near mint+ condition sold at auction for $54. Auction results and images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. William J. Felchner is a graduate of Illinois State University. His work has appeared in a number of periodicals, including True West, Hot Rod, Sports Collectors Digest, Corvette Quarterly, Old West, Movie Collectors World, Goldmine and Pennsylvania Magazine.