I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Robert E. Burns (writer)
Howard J. Green (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

Six sticks of dynamite that blasted his way to freedom... and awoke America's conscience!

Plot:

Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.

Plot Keywords:

Chain Gang | Prison | Blackmail | Hamburger | Letter

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Paul Muni	...	James Allen
Glenda Farrell	...	Marie Woods
Helen Vinson	...	Helen
Noel Francis	...	Linda
Preston Foster	...	Pete
Allen Jenkins	...	Convict Barney Sykes
Berton Churchill	...	The Judge
Edward Ellis	...	Convict Bomber Wells
David Landau	...	The Warden
Hale Hamilton	...	Reverend Robert Allen
Sally Blane	...	Alice
Louise Carter	...	Mother Allen
Willard Robertson	...	Prison Board Chairman
Robert McWade	...	Attorney F.E. Ramsey
Robert Warwick	...	Fuller

Also Known As:

I Am a Fugitive
I Am a Fugitive from the Chain Gang

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate number not assigned at release) | Australia:PG | Norway:16 (1933) | Finland:K-16 (1946) | Finland:(Banned) (1933)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The final fade came as an accident. Director Mervyn LeRoy had planned to go to a blackout after the final line. During rehearsals, a light blew, taking the fuse with it. The resultant slow fade, starting just before the final line, was so powerful that Leroy decided to shoot the film exactly that way.

Goofs:

Continuity: After James Allen's second escape from the chain gang, the last newspaper article shown onscreen states that he escaped "A little more than a year ago...". In the (final) scene that follows, Helen says to him, "It's been almost a year since you escaped."

Quotes:

James Allen: Do you mind if we stay here awhile, or must you go home?
Helen: There are no musts in my life. I'm free, white and twenty-one.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Warner at War (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Semper Fidelis

A true classic AND a brave indictment. Excellent!!!

Without a doubt, this is one of the finest films I have seen. Paul Muni's performance is so good, it's practically indescribable. I thought he was extremely believable as the unduly accused and convicted James Allen. This story will rip your heart out, and rightly so. The film is very well done in every way, down to the smallest detail (best example of this: the disgusting looking prison food – if you can call it that). The use of newspaper headlines is extremely effective, as well as the very realistic scenes in the prison and work yard, and the whole environment in which Allen must live. The viewer can almost feel Allen's pain as the other inmate hammers away at his leg chains to give him a glimpse of hope toward freedom. However, even the scenes of Allen's life on the outside still evoke a sense of foreboding. This is a very powerful film.

I saw it as part of the Essentials series on Turner Classic Movies, and Robert Osborne said that the real-life protagonist on whom this film is based acted as a consultant. Since he was still on the run, however, he was not credited. The whole situation is so sad, and this sadness and feeling of oppression hang over the film with such realism, that sometimes it is as though you are watching Allen's life caught on videotape, instead of a motion picture. It is extremely gripping and downbeat, with a killer ending. The fact that it's a true story just adds to the pervasive feeling of doom. Way ahead of its time, and a brave picture to make in its indictment of the justice system. WOW.

TWO FAVORITE MOMENTS: 1) Allen looking directly at the policeman in the barbershop with a determined, steely glare, as if suddenly realizing that he will not be recognized, and simply defying the cop to recognize him. The barber doesn't recognize him either, even though the cop and barber have just been describing Allen. This scene, I am sure, meant to emphasize the incompetence of the police and justice system, without using any words to do so. Fantastically done. I am in awe.

2) Chain gang inmate Barney Sykes (played by supreme character actor Allen Jenkins), finally released from jail, is offered a ride from the prison staff, who are carting the coffin of a dead inmate off the grounds. Very matter-of-factly, as though he has done this before (and thus demonstrating the de-humanizing effects of prison life) Sykes hops up onto the back of the truck and sits right on the coffin. Upon seeing this out the window, the other inmates ruminate on the fact that there are only two ways to leave the chain gang – `get let out, or die out.'

I will not give the ending away, but if it doesn't move you to tears, I don't know what will. Haunting.

My ONLY (minor) problem with the film is that all of the ladies in Allen's life look so similar, I could barely tell them apart!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!! See it.