Skip to content
HOLLYWOOD METRICS
HomeAboutCraftNewsAnalyticsScriptsBooksPricingAPIMCP
Catalog/Crime/Penitentiary
Penitentiary poster
B
Strong
MASTER SCORE 56.2 / 100
1979·Crime / Drama / Sport·1h 39m

PENITENTIARY

“There's only one way out, and 100 fools stand in the way!”

A hitchhiker named Martel Gordone gets in a fight with two bikers over a prostitute, and one of the bikers is killed. Gordone is arrested and sent to prison, where he joins the prison's boxing team in an effort to secure an early parole and to establish his dominance over the prison's toughest gang.

Above the Line
Jamaa Fanaka·DirectorJamaa Fanaka·WriterMarty Ollstein·Director of PhotographyWilliam Anderson·Original Music ComposerBetsy Blankett Milicevic·Editor
Cast
Leon Isaac Kennedy·Martel 'Too Sweet' GordoneThommy Pollard ·Eugene T. LawsonHazel Spears ·Linda (as Hazel Spear)Donovan Womack ·Jesse AmosFloyd 'Wildcat' Chatman ·Hezzikia 'Seldom Seen' Jackson (as Floyd Chatman)Chuck Mitchell·Lieutenant ArnsworthGloria Delaney·PeachesWilbur 'Hi-Fi' White·Sweet PeaBadja Djola·'Half Dead' JohnsonCepheus Jaxon ·Poindexter
Full Crew
(7 credits)
Directing· 1
Jamaa Fanaka·Director
Writing· 1
Jamaa Fanaka·Writer
Camera· 1
Marty Ollstein·Director of Photography
Editing· 1
Betsy Blankett Milicevic·Editor
Sound & Music· 1
William Anderson·Original Music Composer
Production· 1
Jamaa Fanaka·Producer
Other Departments· 1
Richard Epper·Stunts
By the Numbers
56.2
OF 100
Master Score
5.7
OF 10
IMDb
—
CRITICS
Rotten Tomatoes
—
Worldwide Gross
0
Oscar Wins
Where to Watch

THE AVAILABILITY MAP

The canonical record of where this film lives across the streaming map.

Provider Index In Progress

Streaming, rental, and purchase availability for this title is being ingested from the TMDB watch-providers feed and will appear here once the next catalog refresh runs. Until then, the canonical source links below remain the fastest route.

Find on TMDB
Poster DNA

THE VISUAL DECONSTRUCTION

A bespoke vision agent's reading of the design language behind Penitentiary's key art.

Dominant Palette
3 colors
#000000
#FFFFFF
#8B4513
Mood
Intense, Dramatic
Composition
Layered
Era
1970s
Visual Style
Mixed Media

“The poster features a large image of a shirtless Black man with an afro, wearing red boxing gloves, punching through metal prison bars. Below this main image, t”

dramaactionsports
Key Elements
Red Boxing GlovesMetal Prison BarsMotorcyclesPrison Gates
Atmosphere
Gritty
Color Mood
Mixed
Setting
Mixed
Design Score
7/10
More Like This

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Neighboring films in the catalog's similarity graph.

Keep Going

THREE WAYS DEEPER

Auteur
AUT
MORE BY JAMAA FANAKA

Every catalog entry where Jamaa Fanaka is credited as director.

Open
Family
GEN
MORE CRIME

Top-ranked films inside crime, sorted by master score.

Open
Era
DEC
MORE FROM THE 1970S

The best films of the 1970s, ranked across every available metric.

Open
View on IMDbView on TMDBCatalog
HOLLYWOOD METRICS

The definitive mathematical oracle for cinematic success and creative script intelligence.

74,000+ Films100 Years1.1M+ Reviews
PRODUCT
  • Dashboard
  • Pricing
  • Script Analysis
  • Watch the Demo
  • The Red List
  • News
  • Analytics
  • API
  • MCP Connector
COMPANY
  • About
  • Track Record
  • Trust & Script Privacy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
CONNECT
  • ▶YouTube
  • ◉Instagram
  • ♪TikTok
  • @Threads
  • fFacebook
Get Started Free →
© 2026 Hollywood Metrics. All rights reserved.Powered by bespoke agents and autonomous agentic workflows