I have always know that movies about prison life been out there, hey I was one of those glued to the TV watching OZ and Prison Break, but until I started researching this topic I had no idea how extensive the draw of prison life was for people. A blog, using wordpress.com http://www.prisonflicks.com/ reviews prison movies, many of them from the 70s and 80s, and the earliest one I found Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) starring William Holden. This site has managed to place each movie in a category, such as drama, comedies, musicals, and women in prison. Each listing provides a synospis of the movie and even gives it a rating. For Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 5 manacles, the only one on this site to get such a high rating. Some of them are the fairly well known by the movie going public, such as Shawshank Redemption (4.5 manacles) and American History X (2 manacles) and others are b-rated movies that most people have never seen before. The site makes no bones about why it is there, for entertainment value and because everything is more fascinating when the setting is a prison. Prison life can be romantized and brutalized in movies, giving an account that is not completly accurate, although many have a grain of truth in them, which keeps many coming back for more. That being said don't believe everything your see.