I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Encyclopedia
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932
) is a Pre-Code
crime
/drama film
starring Paul Muni
as a wrongfully convicted convict on a chain gang
who escapes to Chicago. The film was written by Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes from Robert Elliott Burns
's autobiography, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang
that was serialised in True Detective
magazine. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy
.
In 1991, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
) returns to civilian life after World War I
but has a hard time finding work. He accidentally becomes caught up in a robbery and is sentenced to ten years on a brutal Southern chain gang.
He escapes and makes his way to Chicago
, where he becomes a success in the construction business. He becomes involved with the proprietor of his boardinghouse, Marie Woods (Glenda Farrell
), who discovers his secret and blackmail
s him into an unhappy marriage. He then meets and falls in love with Helen (Helen Vinson
). When he asks his wife for a divorce, she betrays him to the authorities. He is offered a pardon if he will turn himself in; Allen accepts, only to find that it was just a ruse. He escapes once again.
In the end, Allen visits Helen in the shadows on the street and tells her he is leaving forever. She asks, "Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money?" James repeatedly shakes his head in answer as he backs away. Finally Helen says, "But you must, Jim. How do you live?" In the film's final line and shot James, unseen in the darkness, replies, "I steal." The line is among the most famous closing lines in American film. LeRoy later claimed that the idea for James' retreat into darkness came to him when a fuse blew on the set, but in fact it was written into the script.
National Board Review Award:
Other Wins:
1932 in film
-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) is a Pre-Code
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
crime
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
/drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
as a wrongfully convicted convict on a chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
who escapes to Chicago. The film was written by Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes from Robert Elliott Burns
Robert Elliott Burns
Robert Elliott Burns was a World War I veteran who gained notoriety after escaping from a Georgia chain gang and writing his memoirs exposing the cruelty and injustice of the chain gang system.-Biography:...
's autobiography, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang
I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang
I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang is a book written by Robert Elliott Burns in 1932 and published by Grosset & Dunlap.The book tells the story of Burns' imprisonment on a chain gang in Georgia in the 1920s, his subsequent escape and the furor that developed...
that was serialised in True Detective
True Detective
True Detective has been the name of several different magazines.The first was an American true crime magazine featuring articles about crime and criminals, created by publisher Bernarr Macfadden in 1924; it's considered the first true crime magazine. Although generally lurid, True Detective did...
magazine. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
.
In 1991, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Sergeant James Allen (Paul MuniPaul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
) returns to civilian life after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
but has a hard time finding work. He accidentally becomes caught up in a robbery and is sentenced to ten years on a brutal Southern chain gang.
He escapes and makes his way to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he becomes a success in the construction business. He becomes involved with the proprietor of his boardinghouse, Marie Woods (Glenda Farrell
Glenda Farrell
-Career:Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin...
), who discovers his secret and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s him into an unhappy marriage. He then meets and falls in love with Helen (Helen Vinson
Helen Vinson
Helen Vinson was an American film actress, who appeared in 40 films between 1932 and 1945.-Early life:...
). When he asks his wife for a divorce, she betrays him to the authorities. He is offered a pardon if he will turn himself in; Allen accepts, only to find that it was just a ruse. He escapes once again.
In the end, Allen visits Helen in the shadows on the street and tells her he is leaving forever. She asks, "Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money?" James repeatedly shakes his head in answer as he backs away. Finally Helen says, "But you must, Jim. How do you live?" In the film's final line and shot James, unseen in the darkness, replies, "I steal." The line is among the most famous closing lines in American film. LeRoy later claimed that the idea for James' retreat into darkness came to him when a fuse blew on the set, but in fact it was written into the script.
Cast (in credits order)
- Paul MuniPaul MuniPaul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
as James Allen - Glenda FarrellGlenda Farrell-Career:Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin...
as Marie Woods - Helen VinsonHelen VinsonHelen Vinson was an American film actress, who appeared in 40 films between 1932 and 1945.-Early life:...
as Helen - Noel Francis as Linda
- Preston FosterPreston FosterPreston Foster was an American stage and film actor, and singer. Foster entered films in 1929 after appearing as a Broadway stage actor. He was appearing in Broadway plays as late as October 1931 when he acted in a play titled Two Seconds starring Edward J. Pawley...
as Pete - Allen JenkinsAllen JenkinsAllen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
as Convict Barney Sykes - Berton ChurchillBerton ChurchillBerton Churchill was a Canadian actor.Born in Toronto, Ontario. As a young man interested in the theater, he appeared in stock companies as early as 1903 and later headed to New York City where he began an acting career that soon put him on the Broadway stage...
as The Judge - Edward EllisEdward EllisEdward Ellis may refer to:*Edward Ellis , American actor*Edward Ellis , Roman Catholic bishop of Nottingham*Edward Robb Ellis , American diarist and journalist*Edward S...
as Convict Bomber Wells - David LandauDavid Landau (actor)David Landau was an American film actor who appeared in 33 films between 1931 and 1935.He appeared on Broadway in 12 plays from 1919 to 1929....
as The Warden - Hale Hamilton as Reverend Robert Allen
- Sally BlaneSally BlaneSally Blane was an American actress. Blane was the sister of actresses Polly Ann and Loretta Young, and half-sister to actress Georgiana Young, the wife of actor Ricardo Montalban...
as Alice - Louise Carter as Mother Allen
- Willard RobertsonWillard RobertsonWillard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
as Prison Board Chairman - Robert McWadeRobert McWadeRobert McWade , was an American stage and film actor. From 1903-1927, he appeared in at least 38 Broadway productions, his last being The Devil In The Cheese, with Bela Lugosi and Fredric March...
as Attorney F.E. Ramsey - Robert Warwick as Fuller
- William Le Maire as The Texan
Impact on American society
Audiences in the United States who saw the film began to question the legitimacy of the United States legal system, and January 1933 the film's protagonist, Robert Elliot Burns, who was still imprisoned in New Jersey, and a number of different chain gang prisoners nationwide in the United States were able to appeal and were released. In January 1933, Georgia chain gang warden J. Harold Hardy, who was also made into a character in the film, sued the studio for displaying "vicious, brutal and false attacks" against him in the film.Awards and nominations
Academy Award Nominations:- Best Actor in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
- Paul Muni - Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
- Best Sound, RecordingAcademy Award for SoundThe Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. Compare this award to the Academy Award for Sound Editing...
- Nathan LevinsonNathan LevinsonNathan Levinson was an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award in the category Sound Recording for the film Yankee Doodle Dandy and was nominated for 16 more in the same category...
(sound director)
National Board Review Award:
- 1932 - Best PictureNational Board of Review Award for Best FilmThe National Board of Review Award for Best Film is one of the awards given to either the director or producer of a film by the American National Board of Review.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
Other Wins:
- 1991 - National Film RegistryNational Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...