When you look through the list of great prisoner characters in movies at TVOM, you might be surprised by how many movies you’ve enjoyed that involve convicts, prisoners-of-war, or otherwise involuntarily institutionalized men. And they’re all men, because women-in-prison movies are rare and mostly exploitive. Some of the characters are horrible, some heroic, and some are just plain unlucky, but they were all fascinating.
Can't disagree too much with the choices - I've seen them all except for Il Duce, but the list needs expanding! Near the top of my list would be Louis "Papillon" Dega and Louis Dega (Steve McQeen and Dustin Hoffman respectively) in Papillon, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guiness) in Bridge on the River Kwai and both Billy Hayes and Max (Brad Davis and John Hurt respectively) in Midnight Express.
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