The Criminal Code

The Criminal Code 1931 is an American PreCode Hollywood crime film, directed by Howard Hawks starring Walter Huston and Phillips Holmes. The film is the first of three Columbia Pictures film adaptations of the stage play of the same name by Martin Flavin.

Meanwhile, one of Grahams cellmates tries to escape at night with two other prisoners. One turns out to be a stool pigeon, breaking the Prisoners Code of silence and lures the men into a death trap. The guards brutally shoot down and kill Grahams cellmate. Ned Galloway, Grahams other cellmate, vows to avenge this death and, more importantly, punish the violator of the unwritten code. He develops an elaborate plan secretly to murder the culprit and carefully warns Graham to stay away from the man. Illfated Graham, of course, walks in on the crime no one was supposed to witness.Upon finding Graham with the dead body, the perspicacious warden again knows that Graham is not the murderer. He does however clearly see that Graham knows who committed the crime. Promising him a speedy parole, though his sincerity is somewhat doubtful, the warden pushes Graham to reveal the name of the killer. He is morally torn. Still an inmate, Graham cannot bring himself to go against the Prisoners Code and remains loyal to Galloway and the other inmates, who in this case represent the Hawksian group, an everpresent theme in the directors films. The situation also deeply troubles Brady, who feels impelled to send Graham to the hole, hoping it will change his mind. ........

Source: Wikipedia