I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 American pre-Code crime-drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni as a wrongfully convicted man on a chain gang who escapes to Chicago. It was released on November 10, 1932. The film received positive reviews and three Academy Award nominations.

The film was written by Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes from Robert Elliott Burns's 1932 autobiography of a similar name I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! originally serialized in the True Detective magazine.

Plot:

American sergeant James Allen returns to civilian life after World War I. He has served with distinction, earning a medal from Allied governments for his bravery, but his war experience has made him restless. His mother and minister brother feel that he should be grateful for a tedious job as an office clerk. When he announces that he wants to enter the construction industry and improve society as an engineer, his brother reacts with outrage, but his mother regretfully accepts his ambitions. He leaves home to find work on any sort of project, but unskilled labor is plentiful and it is hard for him to find a job. Wandering across the eastern half of the country, Allen sinks slowly into poverty. In an unnamed Southern state (the events upon which the film was based took place in Georgia), Allen visits a diner with an acquaintance, who forces him at gunpoint to participate in a robbery. The police arrive and shoot and kill his friend. Allen panics and attempts to flee, but is caught immediately.

Allen is tried and sentenced to prison at hard labor. He is quickly exposed to the brutal conditions of life on a chain gang. The work is agonizingly difficult and the guards are cruel and sadistically whip prisoners for poor performance. Allen makes friends among the members of the gang, most notably Bomber Wells, an older murderer and veteran of many chain gangs. The two conspire to stage a breakout. While working on a railroad, Allen receives assistance from Sebastian T. Yale, a powerfully built black prisoner who damages Allen's shackles by hammering them with Allen's ankles still inside. The next day, while on a bathroom break, Allen slips out of his chains and runs. Armed guards and bloodhounds give chase, but Allen evades them by changing clothes and hiding at the bottom of a river. He makes it to a nearby town, where he is given money for a train ticket and a room for the night by a friend of Bomber's.

Allen makes his way to Chicago, where he obtains a job as a manual laborer and uses his knowledge of engineering and construction to rise to a position of importance within a construction company. Along the way, he becomes romantically involved with his landlord, Marie Woods. Allen grows to loathe Marie, but she discovers his secret and blackmails him into an unhappy marriage within which she spends extravagantly and carelessly cheats on him. Trying to forget his troubles, he attends a high society party at the invitation of his superiors and meets and falls in love with a younger woman named Helen. When he asks his wife for a divorce, she betrays him to the authorities. Allen describes the inhumane conditions of the chain gangs to the press and his plight becomes nationwide news. Many common citizens express their disgust with the chain gangs and their sympathy for a reformed man such as Allen, while editorials written by Southerners describe his continued freedom as a violation of "state's rights." The governor of Illinois refuses to release Allen to the custody of the Southern state, so its officials offer Allen a deal: return voluntarily and receive a pardon after 90 days of easy clerical labor. Allen accepts, only to find that the state's proposals were a ruse; he is sent to a chain gang, where he languishes for another year after he is denied a pardon.

Reunited with Bomber, Allen decides to escape once more. The two steal a dump truck loaded with dynamite from a work site. While leaning out of his seat to taunt pursuing guards, Bomber is shot and gravely wounded. He takes some of the dynamite, lights it, and throws it at a police car, causing a small landslide. Shortly afterwards, Bomber falls from the truck and dies, causing Allen to stop the truck. Allen then uses more of the dynamite to blow up a bridge that he has just crossed, allowing him to make a close escape from the police. Allen once again makes his way north, evading a massive and relentless manhunt.

Months later, he visits Helen in the shadows of a Chicago street to wish her a permanent goodbye. Tearfully, she asks, "Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money?" Allen repeatedly shakes his head as he backs away. Finally, Helen says, "But you must, Jim. How do you live?" Allen's face is barely visible in the surrounding gloom as he replies, "I steal," disappearing into the darkness.

Cast:

Paul Muni as James Allen

Glenda Farrell as Marie

Helen Vinson as Helen

Noel Francis as Linda

Preston Foster as Pete

Allen Jenkins as Barney Sykes

Berton Churchill as the Judge

Edward Ellis as Bomber Wells

Sally Blane as Alice

Louise Carter as Mrs. Allen

Hale Hamilton as Rev. Allen

David Landau as the Warden

Jack LaRue as Ackerman (uncredited)

Walter Long as Blacksmith (uncredited).