64. I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)

Directed By Mervyn LeRoy


Synopsis

Man comes back from WWI, he's convicted for a crime he didn't commit and ends up in an inhumane chain gang. After escaping he goes on to make a very successful life as an engineer until he is caught again. After escaping a second time he ends up stealing for a living.

Review

A very uncompromising, in a way that would end in the States in 1934 when the Hays Code started being implemented strongly. This is a film by Mervyn LeRoy of Little Caesar fame and starring Paul Muni who played Scarface this same year, and he is a truly great actor, you empathise with his terrible ordeal.

It is particularly impressive in the depiction of the chain gang system as akin to medieval torture, and the chains, the floggings and the general feel of the thing aren't very far off. Fortunately the film itself contributed to the ending of the chain gang and if for nothing else it makes it a worthy film.

There are many other things to love about this, however, from the two great chase sequences, including the much imitated escapee running away from bloodhounds in a swamp and the amazing car chase near the end when Muni blows up a bridge to stop a car from chasing him.

The whole film stands on Muni's performance, and he was justly nominated for an Academy Award for it. A great and important in more ways than one piece of work. Buy it from Amazon UK or US.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

No clips of the film, but here's a clip of a documentary on the reinstatement of chain gangs.. yes they're back:



From Wikipedia on Paul Muni:

Muni was 29 when he began acting on Broadway in 1924. His first role, that of an elderly Jewish man in the play We Americans, was written by playwright Sam Harris; it was also the first time that he ever acted in English.

He was signed by Fox three years later, in 1929, and received an Oscar nomination for his first film The Valiant. However, he was unhappy with the roles and decided to return to Broadway.

In 1932, Paul Muni returned to Hollywood to star in such harrowing pre-Code films as Scarface and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. He received a second Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for the latter film. Warner Brothers recognized his considerable talent and signed a long-term contract with him.

He went on to receive a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and to win the Academy Award for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936).

In the ensuing years until his retirement in 1959, he spent his time acting on film and stage. He was widely recognized as a talented if eccentric individual. He would go into a rage whenever anyone wore red, but at the same time he could often be found between sessions relaxing with his violin. Over the years, he also became increasingly dependent on his wife, Bella, who terrified directors by forcing them to redo scenes that did not meet her satisfaction.