Film review: I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG

Mervyn LeRoy's I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG is a 1930s classic, a politically-minded film noir in which a World War I veteran and hero, James Allen (Paul Muni), is wrongfully accused of a crime and sent to work on a prison chain gang. There he encounters barbaric violence against the prisoners, who are made to work relentlessly and beaten if they take a break to wipe the sweat off their face, and are lashed and whipped at night if the guards and warden are unhappy with their work. Allen manages to escape, and makes his way out of the state and to Chicago, where he starts life anew in construction, working his way from the bottom to planner and surveyor. But the law is still on his trail, and his new wife (Glenda Farrell) is threatening to give him up if he doesn't keep on paying out...

Social commentary wasn't done much in 1930s studio pictures, and Warner Bros. took a huge chance on the film, based on a true story, which ended up being a huge success both commercially and critically. It was nominated for three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and even today stands up as a brave, intelligent film, a kind of SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION for the Depression era.

There is the odd moment of exaggerated melodrama, and many of the characters (including Allen's brother the reverend, and everyone involved in the chain-gang prison system) feel like arguments on feet rather than people, but they help move the story along in a moving way. Despite clocking in at only 93 minutes, the film also has its moments of sluggishness, especially during Allen's first few days on the chain gang.

But the film is generally powerful and efficient, well directed by LeRoy who cleverly keeps the social commentary running through as a general theme of the little-man-pushed-down-in-hard-times even before Allen encounters the chain gang, as he returns from WWI unable to find any work despite his ethic, reliability, and war hero background. LeRoy, who also directed LITTLE CAESAR, is at his best with the twists, turns, and action scenes, and the movie is rarely less than entertaining.

It's also carried by an oft-talked about Paul Muni, who unfortunately, to the modern eye, is one of the weak links in the film. Muni was a great actor, and in most of his scenes here he carries himself wonderfully, in a way that's almost ahead of its time. He's also great casting in that he doesn't have the lightness of a James Cagney, or the weariness of a Humphrey Bogart, and so you're not always liking him - he's sometimes cruel, sometimes mocking, and his smile often comes off as a smirk, and it's those shadings that make James Allen feel like a real person rather than a simple martyr. But in many of the most important scenes to the story, Muni just plain tries too hard, and you can see himself taking the part too seriously, working in too many grimaces and tears and tragedy in moments that would have been best served underplayed (or at least not so obviously overplayed).

Still, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG is a powerful, intelligent movie, in many ways ahead of its time, and it's worth seeing if only for the brilliant last scene and last line, which are now part of famous Hollywood canon, but best enjoyed if you don't see them coming.

***1/2