A Night in Sing Sing Prison

The sign above this secured entrance says- Visitor Entrance-Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York

Something is not level here…

Director Robert Wise scouting his rigged set. A British Flag and a oil burning light fixture sit below a rooftop of Studio Lighting equipment.

The Real Sing Sing Prison in New York.

A typical cell block.In 1891, with the advent of ‘The Electric Chair,” Sing Sing became notorious for executions continuing into 1963. The death chair nicknamed “Old Sparky” outlasted the New York Prison. It was moved where it now “pulsates” at Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky.

Those not faced with execution “relaxed” this way.

A photo of a prisoners last moments at Sing Sing. This is an ancient version of Death by Electrocution.The water bucket above this soon to be executed prisoner is used to provide conductivity of electric current. This increases the chances of execution in a timely manner. A drain for the water lies below the chair. In 1976, J. Edgar Hoover was filmed on the MGM Backlot. One scene on New York Street had a notorious gangster “Lepke” surrender to Mr. Hoover on conditions he would receive a light sentence. After Lepke is lead away in handcuffs. J. Edgar– played by Broderick Crawford, says , with a smirk,”His ass is going to burn in Sing Sing!”…Really cool moment on Brownstone Street, Lot 2.

ATTENTION–DO NOT SIT… This is a more modern and successful version. The last thing you want to see in an execution is the culprit survive. That’s usually reserved for…The Twilight Zone.

My toy Tommy Gun fired sparks, it seemed so real, especially running around the Desilu Backlot-“Fighting Crime” This was when toys were designed for “young men with no fear”

This laundry facility just went out of business, J.B French, established in 1945. The studios patronized this establishment for costume cleaning. This blacktop area is where the police parked and turned their searchlights on Sing Sing Prison..The street out front is Jefferson Blvd. You may remember Barney and his sidecar motorcycle episode writing tickets on “ speeders.” That took place out front on this street.

On a typical Saturday afternoon…

We Begin: The Untouchables is one of my favorite T.V series. It reruns on Saturday evenings at 5 P.M. My friend Jimmy and I spend Saturdays watching Johnny Quest in the morning. We watch Combat in the afternoon. This follows a dose of Soul Train, hosted by Don Cornelius. Nothing like a “little funk” before an all-out war. Afterward, we usually head over to MGM Lot 2. We retrace the bootsteps of the battle we just watched on T.V. Many of these sets still have bullet holes in their exteriors. Shells remain inside below the windows where the fighting occurred.

If we time everything correctly, security won’t be an issue. It won’t tie us up. We return to my house for The Untouchables. Walter Winchell narrates as the background music plays. It means we’re home on time for an hour of rip roaring Tommy Guns and car crashes. Absolutely wonderful television. This series is Desilu’s version of Combat. Matching it shell casing for shell casing.

As Walter describes today’s episode, we are stunned to see a set used that we love and play at often. We have never seen it used on T.V, but here it is. Elliot Ness is standing at this front gate with the Sing Sing Prison sign above him. The iron prison bars were actually wood-painted black and several lay on the ground. We just played street hockey in this same Prison corridor entrance. Using prison bars and a rubber ball. You never know what will motivate you on this old backlot. Imagination and backlots go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Most of the episode that followed was anticlimactic. However, the images we saw inspired us. We took an early evening bike ride to Desilu. We wanted to follow up on what we just saw on television- frame by frame, step by step. This is how we live, amongst decaying sets and villages from ancient times. This set is hard to find on television and we feel blessed. What fascinates us the most is the administration behind the cell blocks. It is now slanting like The Leaning Tower of Pisa. The building is structurally sound, it’s the land that shifted a bit. We go up here at night. During daylight, people on Jefferson Blvd can see you. It is located just across the La Ballona Creek.

We arrive at dusk. We drag our bikes up a cement embankment. We leave them at the crest of the slope. This way, we can explore. We walk through a barren area of fox tail stickers and licorice plants. Those fox tails are murder when your socks rub against them. I’ve tossed a few pairs away on this backlot rather than “desticker.”

This set is isolated and is the very last set on the backlot, the farthest from the main gate. All the roads are dirt. Some familiar, this is the area where Andy leads a goat full of dynamite as Barney plays harmonica. A boat, the size of a sailboat but much sturdier, sits decaying and a favorite meal of termites. We climbed in it before and I got a nasty splinter in my finger. This full scale 30 foot boat would sink if it was put in water. So here it sits for decades and ions. There is no working clocks here, and the church bells stopped ringing long ago. This lot doesn’t have a lake or pond to float this old relic, so it sits in dry dock. Shrubs hide this ships whereabouts. This section is so obscure you never see security this far back.

The moonless sky begins to fade to black, with the only lights coming from cars on Jefferson Blvd. We begin our climb to the top of the administration building. It’s easy. Stairways take us upwards. We no longer need to worry about being seen since it’s pitch dark now. We are directly across from J.B French, a laundry company often used by this studio. Established in 1945, the laundries front door opens up to this backlot. We’re neighbors in the Grand Scheme of things.

It’s fun just sitting up here, and the buzz of this Untouchable episode hasn’t worn off.

In fact, it becomes much more real. The police have shown up across the street, at the for-mentioned laundry, which is closed. They are on the opposite side of the creek. We have no concern. Then two powerful searchlights from their backed in police cruiser start crisscrossing our building, which is very exposed. Jimmy and I hit the floor…face to face we lay on decades worth of dust. This is like the opening credits in Batman. We expect to see a Bat Signal next in their bag of tricks. From the lot that housed the Caped Crusaders, we remain calm. This isn’t our first backlot rodeo.

The searchlights go back and forth. They are blinding when viewed directly. These lights scour the landscape below and above. They often focus directly on the building we are occupying. We are difficult to see laying flat, but not impossible from a well focused, directional beam of light. This is like some…Prison Movie, and “we’re the bad guys.”

We will have to wait this scenario to play out. We don’t think there’s any way they saw us- or are bikes below. The police continue to illuminate our security blanket of darkness. Light beams swing back and forth like a clock pendulum.. “This must be like what an air raid feels like” I whisper. Random lights criss crossing everywhere. We lay in wait. “If the search light catches us,” we plan ahead on a filthy dirt floor. “Let’s run to our bikes and take off down the creek.”

As we plan our escape from Sing Sing Prison, the lights turn off. Just them and us, straight across from one another, now in darkness. Finally they exit and that’s are cue to leave as well. In separate directions from the Black and White…

Reruns were never quite like this!

Written and lived by…Donnie Norden.