Ten movies which start with a guy leaving prison

I was watching The Yards (2000) the other night—with the remarkably young-looking Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron—having watched London Boulevard (2010)—with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley—just a few days earlier, when I wondered how many movies I could think of that opened with a guy leaving prison.

I thought I'd go for a list of the best ten. See if you agree with this: 

10. High Sierra (1941)  -  Humphrey Bogart

9. London Boulevard (2010)  -  Colin Farrell

8. The Brink's Job (1978)  -  Peter Falk

7. The Getaway (1972)  -  Steve McQueen

6. The Blues Brothers (1980)  -  John Belushi

5. The Italian Job (1969)  -  Michael Caine

4. Carlito's Way (1993)  -  Al Pacino

3. Hudson Hawk (1991)  -  Bruce Willis

2. The Asphalt Jungle (1950)  -  Sterling Hayden

1. Rififi (1955)  -  Jean Servais

Honorable mentions to:

Le Cercle Rouge (1970) - Alain Delon
The Hot Rock (1972) - Robert Redford
The Outfit (1973) - Robert Duvall
Tough Guys (1986) - Burt Lancaster & Kirk Douglas
Rounders (1988) - Matt Damon
South Central (1992) - Glenn Plummer
Palmetto (1998) - Woody Harrelson
The Yards (2000) - Mark Wahlberg
Reindeer Games (2000) - Ben Affleck
10th & Wolf (2006) - James Marsden
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) - Michael Douglas
Welcome to Collinwood (2002), which is a George Clooney remake of:
I Soliti Ignolti (1958). As usual, the original is the best, by a long way, and deserves a place in the top ten. Probably right after Rififi and Asphalt Jungle, the movies which inspired it in the first place.

I Soliti Ignolti (1958)

Welcome to Collinwood (2002)

And just for heartfelt expression, there's Bird on a Wire (1990) - David Carradine.

First posted: 22 June 2014