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IMDb > Penitentiary (1979)

Penitentiary (1979) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
5.4/10   200 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 18% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jamaa Fanaka
Writer:
Jamaa Fanaka (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Penitentiary on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
December 1979 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Tagline:
All that stands between him and freedom is the ring. more
NewsDesk:
Penitentiary Comes To UK DVD 09 March 2009
 (From LateFilmFull. 11 February 2009, 7:10 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Rowdy prison film offers more strange attitude than drama. more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Leon Isaac Kennedy ... Martel 'Too Sweet' Cordone
Thommy Pollard ... Eugene T. Lawson
Hazel Spears ... Linda (as Hazel Spear)
Donovan Womack ... Jesse Amos
Floyd 'Wildcat' Chatman ... Seldon Seen Jackson
Gloria Delaney ... Peaches
Ian Foxx ... Pretty Red
Badja Djola ... 'Half Dead' Johnson
Chuck Mitchell ... Lieutenant Arnsworth
Cepheus Jaxon ... Poindexter
Dwaine Fobbs ... Lying Latney Winborn
Ernest Wilson ... Cheese
Wilbur 'Hi-Fi' White ... Sweet Pea
Will Richardson ... Magilla Gorilla
Elijah Mitchell ... Nut #1
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Additional Details

Runtime:
99 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:MA (2007) | UK:18 | UK:15 (DVD re-rating) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2009) | Norway:18 | USA:R

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
Featured in "TCM Underground: Emma Mae/Penitentiary (#1.35)" (2008) more

FAQ

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful:-
Rowdy prison film offers more strange attitude than drama., 3 February 1999
5/10
Author: Jason C. Atwood from Suffolk, Virginia

Xenon deserves a big nod for releasing these long lost 70s blaxploitation movies on home video. PENITENTIARY does have some enjoyable moments, including the wild boxing matches. This one obviously takes the sleaze-o route than being a fulfilling and motivating drama about prison life, something this really should've been meant for. A good story, but it drags miserably in acting performances and a sense of weirdness. If you want to see how cheap production values do exist, then don't blink when a close-up view of an inmate actually isn't holding the knife to thrust the guy's chest in. Good fun for "blaxplo" fans, but the majority of us would pass this up and stick to the ROCKY movies.

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