# I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

### reviewed by
Brian Koller

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

    Grade: 61

"I Am a Fugitive" is an action-packed, sensationalist film that succeeds in conveying a mood of urgency and desperation. While entertaining, and effective at depicting the terror of (some) prison work camps, the direction is too campy and excited, and the film loses credibility along the way.

Paul Muni is a war hero and factory laborer who quits his dull job to seek construction work. Unable to get another job, he becomes a flophouse bum. Forced into participating in a holdup, he is captured and sentenced to ten years in a Georgia chain gang. The inmates are given bad food, beaten cruelly, and forced to labor throughout the day without breaks.

Muni manages to escape, flees to Chicago, and builds a new life for himself. However, he is blackmailed into marriage by a good-for-nothing (Glenda Farrell) who knows his secret. When he decides to dump Farrell for perfect woman Helen Vinson, Farrell informs. Rather than fighting extradition, Muni stupidly agrees to return to Georgia, and is again put to work in a miserable prison camp.

"I Am a Fugitive" was based on the 1932 novel by Robert E. Burns, apparently rushed to the screen. Director Mervyn LeRoy could crank them out in a hurry. The IMDB credits him with 22 films during the years 1930 through 1933, most notably "Little Caesar" from 1930.

"I Am a Fugitive" drew nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor (Muni). Muni's gives a hammy and excited performance, undoubtedly prompted by the director. Muni's closing line, "I steal!", intended to shock the audience, is actually humorous instead.

kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews