Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

It is the rare film indeed that is so hard hitting that it actually creates a sea change in real life--be it in social mores, politics or the law--but such a film indeed was 1932's "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang," a picture that has been a Top 10 favorite of this viewer ever since I first saw it on television around 40 years ago. Since that time, I have seen it well over a dozen times, including theatrically, and it never fails to wow and impress. Based on the autobiography of Robert Elliott Burns, entitled "I Am a Fugitive From a Georgia Chain Gang," the film changes the lead character's name but otherwise hews fairly closely to the facts of the case.In the film, Paul Muni stars as James Allen, a WW1 vet who, back in civilian life, aspires to become a civil engineer. He tramps around looking for work until he is innocently duped into participating in a robbery at a roadside hamburger stand. After a railroaded kangaroo trial, Allen is sentenced to a 10-year stretch in a Southern chain gang, where he gets to witness firsthand the abominable treatment that the prisoners there are subjected to at the hands of the warden and the sadistic guards. After months of sledgehammer toil under the hot sun, Allen makes his escape and hightails it to Chicago, where he eventually becomes a successful and productive member of society, working as a respected engineer. But trouble soon looms, when his secret is found out by the manipulative Marie (played by the great '30s actress Glenda Farrell), who blackmails him into marriage. That marriage is as happy as might be imagined, until Allen cannot stand it anymore, and after meeting the sweet and kindly Helen (Helen Vinson), demands his freedom from the shrewish Marie, who promptly turns him in to the authorities. Allen, now an undeniably reformed citizen, is given an offer by those authorities: go back to the chain gang and serve out a token term in exchange for a full pardon. But once back on the brutal chain gang, Allen learns that he might just be back there for good, and realizes that another escape might be his only way out....A bit of personal history here: It has been a good 20 years since I have seen this particular film, the earliest film on my Top 10 list, chronologically, and I DO need to see it again, and soon. But the last time I saw it, back in the mid-'90s, was a memorable viewing. At the time, I was working at a NYC ad agency and was kind of sweet on a fellow coworker there, a very pretty lady named Cynthia. Cynthia, by the way, was a lesbian who happened to have a boyfriend; a very tough nut to crack, I'm sure you will agree. (Boy, do I know how to pick 'em!) After work one night, I took her to a viewing of "I Am a Fugitive" at one of NYC's many revival houses; if memory serves, it was the (now long defunct) Thalia Soho. Cynthia was not overly enthused with my choice of film for the evening, but as the picture progressed, I could tell that she was really getting into it; indeed, by the film's end, she was literally on the edge of her seat. And who could blame her? The film is as tense, as brutal, as exciting and, often, as thrilling as can be, and Allen's two escape attempts from the chain gang constitute some of the most gripping moments in 1930s cinema."I Am a Fugitive" was directed by Mervyn Le Roy, shortly before he went on to helm the truly wonderful '30s musical "Gold Diggers of '33," and his work here, as might be expected, is just terrific. And that Paul Muni! My goodness, what a fantastic bit of thesping he offers to his audience in this film! Muni, it seems, met and discussed the role of James Allen with Robert Elliott Burns prior to the film's shooting, in an effort to re-create the real-life man as closely as possible, and his work here is simply aces. Deservedly nominated for an Academy Award that year, Muni ultimately "lost" to Charles Laughton for his work in "The Private Lives of Henry VIII," and I for one think that Muni was robbed (he WOULD get that Oscar three years later for his work in "The Story of Louis Pasteur"). As mentioned above, after the November 10, 1932 release of "I Am a Fugitive," the public was awakened to the full horror of the chain-gang system, and reforms were called for and later implemented. There would be an endless number of films to come that decade depicting convicts and their life in various penitentiaries and criminal institutions, but few films before or since were as scathing in their indictment of the modern-day penal system as Le Roy's was in 1932. Capped by one of the most famous lines in cinema history, "I Am a Fugitive" is doubtless as powerful a cinema experience today as when it was first released 85 years ago. And, oh...trust me: You will never get that haunting chain-gang work song out of your head!

An excellent drama from director Mervyn LeRoy - a film that allegedly led to changes in the inhumane conditions on chain gangs in the South. An excellent Academy Award nominated Best Actor performance by Paul Muni too. The movie was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and was added to the National Film Registry in 1991.Muni plays a wrongly accused man who is convicted and imprisoned; he then has to work on a chain gang in Georgia. When he escapes, he changes his identity enabling him to live as a free and successful man in Chicago.However, he meets a woman (Glenda Farrell) who discovers his secret; she blackmails him into marrying her so that she can live off his largess. He then meets and falls in love with Helen (Helen Vinson), which upsets his wife.When he wants to leave his wife to marry Helen, his spouse exposes him. He then must decide whether to stay and fight it, or voluntarily return to Georgia to serve 90 days followed by a full pardon. Should he trust them?Allen Jenkins also appears.

I am a fugitive from a chain gang is a classic and not just in the sense that its old. this film follows a charismatic man come home from war and slowly loss his mind. when it starts of hes a perfectly fine adult, and that is saying something since his first scene is literally on a returning war ship. soon enough what change the military had on him takes its toll. it really doesn't take long to see where countless nights in a trench and a shine chunk of metal gets our main character. one could say that the following events save him. his following arrest and escape, as the title gives away, reinvigorate is once crushed dreams. it is only when thirsty tart stirs trouble for the escape does his mind take a swan dive below the bedrock. this movie isn't just a commentary on the issues of its time but a timeless reminder of the human condition.

This film does an incredible job of shining a light on a serious issue facing the United States at the time. The cinematography and talent of all actors and actresses involved really helped to solidify the point that this film was trying to make (exposing the fraud happening without the country's knowledge in the chain gang system). Paul Muni does a fantastic job as James Allen. When watching him play this major role, I had trouble remembering that he was only an actor and was not actually in this situation. I also found the special effects, especially when it comes to the mistreatment of chain gang workers, to be an incredible asset to the film.