Wonderful character development!

Good concept, poorly executed.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

44 year-old James Stewart plays a man in his early 20's through his mid-40's (and beyond?), something he was asked to do quite often throughout his career. His characterization is good, though he is clearly not youthful enough physically to play the title character in the first third of the film. Chameleon actress Jean Hagan, on the other hand, ages much more believably (perhaps because she was only 30 at the time;-)In any case, the film is about a young man, "Marsh" Williams, who returns home after two "hitches" in the Navy to find that he must earn his eighth of the family farm by working it for two years, before his father (Carl Benton Reid) will give him the deed to it. That's what his other seven brothers, including the oldest (James Arness), are doing, or plan to do when they're old enough. Marsh isn't interested, though, because he's impatient to marry his childhood sweetheart Maggie (Hagan). So, he gets a job laying track for the railroad that pays him 40 cents an hour for a 10 hour day. However, wanting to have "more" sooner, he decides to join a couple of still makers (one of which is the recognizable character actor Porter Hall) and creates a growing business making moonshine, all without his wife's knowledge. When his operation is raided, a man is killed and Williams is sentenced to 30 years of hard labor (the good old days;-)In prison, he becomes associated with "Dutch" Kruger (Paul Stewart) which leads to trouble when Kruger and some other inmates knife a squealer. Even though Williams didn't participate, he's caught with a knife in his possession and gets sent to work on the chain gang with the other perpetrators. After a while of this arduous work, and having to spend some time in the infirmary when his appendix burst, he and his "group" are transferred to another prison run by Warden Peoples (Wendell Corey). Peoples discovers Williams is a hard case with a strong will who won't even read his wife's, let alone write her or his family back, because he wants them to forget about him. But he gains some respect for him when Williams kills a rattlesnake that might have bitten the warden. However, when Williams shows disrespect to him before the rest of the inmates, Peoples decides that he'll break Williams' will by putting him in "the box". But the warden must release Williams after a record 30 days, no one else had ever lasted more than a week, at the prison doctor's insistence.It turns out that Williams was able to withstand eating no more than bread & water while sitting in a dark crate for a month by thinking of a new way to design guns, ones which are lightweight and can fire multiple rounds before having to be reloaded.The rest of this most interesting story is about how this man came to earn his name, which is the title of the film, while he was a prisoner that was allowed to make a gun!

I saw this movie when I was 15 and just saw it again tonight on TV. In the Army I used the M-1 Carbine, won a rapid fire competition with 7 our of 8 bulls eyes at 200 yards, and was given the Expert Marksman medal. I was so impressed with the Carbine I own one now with a 30 round clip.James Stewart is one of my favorite movie stars and did a great job in this movie. Marsh Williams made a significant contributions to our war efforts and probably was responsible for helping to save thousands of American soldiers. He surely earned his forgiveness for the situation that put him in prison. This was a true American story and I am happy I got to see it again after 56 years.

As other reviewers mention, this is a very good portrayal of one of the most interesting and talented men to ever serve time for murder. Unlike "Birdman of Alcatraz," which portrayed one of the most revolting murderers in history as some sort of a saintly scientist, this film accurately describes Carbine Williams' transformation from a rebellious moonshiner (who may or may not have killed a Fed in self-defense) into an admirable and very valuable citizen.Williams' brilliant innovations in weapons design made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in WW2. I carried an M-1 carbine (essentially his design) in the Army and still own several of them -- perhaps the best all-purpose firearm in history.This movie isn't shown often and most people are unaware of it, but it deserves a wider audience.

"Graceful" is not a word one would use in the same sentence with "Jimmy Stewart." Gangly, awkward, and with a reedy, high-pitched voice, he seems to have none of the things that we think an actor should have, and yet he was truly one of the great ones. His presence in this true story of David Marshall Williams, designer of the M-1 rifle, lifts what is a fascinating human story to begin with by a quantum notch. Stewart's portrayal of the character transformation of this angry, troubled man is one of the finest things I have seen from him. Abetted by Wendell Corey in the essential role of his prison warden and an excellent script, this movie is truly an underrated gem. They just don't make 'em like Jimmy anymore.