Cheap I Am a Fugitive from A Chain Gang (Video) (Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell) (Mervyn LeRoy) Price

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Customer Reviews of I Am a Fugitive from A Chain Gang

Tough Social Drama
Paul Muni is terrific in this story of a returned WWI soldier unable to find the kind of work he wants to do. When he is accidentally mixed up in a hold-up, he ends up being sentenced to ten years in a brutal chain gang. He escapes and starts a new life for himself, but can the hunted man ever really escape his past? There are a number of reasons for recommending this fine film. Muni, not always the most subtle of actors, really delivers with this performance. His wordless response to finding out he will not be pardoned is unforgettable. The story and dialogue are presented in a very frank way, not attempting to gloss over anything. The scenes in the chain gang and prison camp are riveting and disturbing. This is not a feel-good movie, but a tough social drama and character study that will involve you every step of the way. Muni is an Everyman, trapped by circumstance and driven by necessity, and his struggle is not one you will soon forget.

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STILL POTENT TODAY
I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG says something-something about a human being being foiled in finding his own expression, trying to go straight when fell circumstance says "You have gone wrong", trying to remain human in a world that has turned inhuman, and in the end being overcome, as human beings are, by a nemisis-which in this case is only another name for a man's ignorance, trickery and failure to save members of his own tribe form distress when he finds himself organised into a society whose tragedy it still is not to be able, while seeking the path to righteousness and justice, to pull up its roots from the swamp of man's old primitive intolerances and brutalities. I saw this movie many years ago while a teenager, and I just saw two nights ago and I was surprised by just how astonishingly realistic the film still is for it's age. Most films made during the Depression alleviated audiences into happy escapism, but this clearly confronted them with some hard truths (it happens today, in all actuality). Muni gives an impressive and inspired performance as the unfortunate James Allen, and that chilling scene at the end of the movie still haunts viewers; Helen asks James Allen how he lives: His haunted reply? "I STEAL!".

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An incredible film!
I considered Paul Muni amazing in Scarface (and consider that one of the best gangster films ever), but he knocked me on my ... with this performance. I was mesmorized from his speech to his father at the dinner table--explaining his dreams and desires, his frustrations at his mundane life. It's an absolutely incredible film. I'm not sure what I expected, I knew it was a film that was often banned for it's less than glowing portrayal of the chain gang system and especially the unfair justice system.
The Cinematography was especially compelling, it was so incredible to look it that I could care less if they reused the chain gang sets and guards. I loved the passage of time, with the calenders falling away to the beat of sledgehammers. And the final shot elevated the film to an even higher plane of achievment. Extremely gutsy to end the film on the line it ends on as Paul Muni backs into shadow, beautifully done, a perfect ending.