Murder in the First

Murder in the First is a 1995 American legal drama film, directed by Marc Rocco, written by Dan Gordon, and starring Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, Brad Dourif, William H. Macy, and R. Lee Ermey. It tells the alternate history of a petty criminal named Henri Young who is sent to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary and later put on trial for murder in the first degree as the lawyer representing him recounts Henri's life and when he represented Henri. This film was described on the movie poster as "the case that took down Alcatraz". The film received a mixed critical response, although Bacon's performance was praised by critics. Plot As a 17-year-old orphan, Henri Young went into a grocery story where he was denied work. This leads him to steal $5.00 from a grocery store to feed himself and his little sister Rosetta, both of whom are destitute. He is apprehended by the shopkeeper and arrested by the police while Rosetta is sent to an orphanage. Because that grocery store also housed a U.S. Post Office, his crime is upgraded to a federal offense. Young never sees Rosetta again and is sentenced to Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas. Years later, Henri was transferred to Alcatraz. He gets oppressed by associate prison warden Milton Glenn. Henri participates in an escape attempt with two other prisoners Rufus McCain and Arthur Barker. The escape plan fails due to the betrayal of McCain. Barker is killed by the guards and Glenn punishes Young by having him sent to "the hole", which is in Alcatraz's dungeons as he and Warden James Humson do a press conference proving that Alcatraz is inescapable. Glenn also had Henri tortured where he was struck in the back with a club, thrown down the stairs at one point, striking his face with a blackjack, and left naked in the hole at one point. Glenn even used a straight razor on his ankle to induce a hobble on Henri. Except for 30 minutes on Christmas Day in 1940, he is left in there for three years. The solitary confinement causes Young to lose his sanity.