Watch I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang For Free

Wonderful Movie

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The first must-see film of the year.

Early on while watching 'I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang', you feel it will have real substance and a meaning not often seen in movies from this time period. It starts with a vet returning from WWI disillusioned with the prospect of being a factory worker for the rest of his life, and his mother supporting him in his vision to become an engineer (quipping he needs to 'find himself', which I found to be about 30 years ahead of its time). The movie transitions into a harsh prison film after the man unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a holdup, and in exposing the cruelty of the chain gang system, it gained great notoriety. Director Mervyn LeRoy tells the story with a perfect sense of pace, as well as balance – the film is tough and gritty, but never gratuitous. When the man escapes prison, it's clear he has physical relations with a couple of women, but in what must have shocked conservatives at the time, appears honorable in being honest and telling one of them that they both know "it wasn't love". And in the larger sense, this is what the film turns on its head – conventional notions of honor, and justice. The main point made is that those who run a prison system which metes out cruel and unusual punishment are indeed as bad as those they imprison (or worse!). We hear the age-old argument for harsh punishment from a prison official at a parole hearing – that it not only serves justice, but deters crime and also helps reform prisoners – and this argument is not challenged, at least verbally, by any other character – and yet while watching, we feel and know it to be wrong. Modern studies have shown it to be wrong, and yet the argument persists. LeRoy doesn't hit us over the head with this though, he just shows us the truth – and it was very interesting to find out afterwards that the film was quite true to a real-life story, and banned in the state of Georgia. I also found it refreshing that the African-American convicts are shown as strong and dignified, at one point segregated and looking into the camera with somber, intelligent eyes.I have to also say that Paul Muni is fantastic in the lead role, and more than worthy of his Academy Award nomination. He seems to me to be an early form of James Dean or Marlon Brando, and delivers a great performance. His last line in the film is haunting, and reminds us that we should be asking, what are the ultimate goals of the prison system? Pretty impressive for 1932, and without a doubt, a landmark film.

I love movies and TV shows that have to do with run away criminals and jail. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) really satisfied my interests in that. As one of the earlier films with sound, it was done very well. I think the explosions that James Allen hears from the factory were well done in a sense that after he hears it, he looks so disappointed and the audience can see how much he rather work on bridges than be at the shoe factory. My favorite scene was when he was running away and had to hide underneath the pond water while the guards were standing in the water looking around for him. In that scene the movie did a great job with the sound by having it be silent when they showed James under the water and then having it be noisy when they switched to showing the guards looking for him, it successfully created an intense moment for the viewers. At the end of the movie when he escapes for a second time and runs into his wife Linda, the lighting when they show James' face when he tells his wife that he is going to steal to survive, really shows how his character changed from being a good person to a bad person.

Coming from WW1 and needing to become something. Paul did not want to do the normal factory job. So going out and becoming something had to have been a relief for viewers in the early 30. Knowing the risks and troubles that can come with doing something out of your normalcy yet still doing it no matter the cost can be a great underlining storyline. As the actual filming and acting go. For the most part, very solid. I believe that Paul Muni played by James Allen was a fabulous lead acting role. Real emotion and passion stuck out. As well as Marie Woods as Glenda Farrell. Really having almost solid technical ability when acting is not celebrated enough. Also very abstract camera work for the time of the filming. All in all a very solid project with little to complain about. And for a 21st-century child to enjoy it, that speaks highly of it.

This film has many different aspects about it that make it well worth the watch. The acting was well done, their wasn't a single boring character throughout the movie, each one as engaging as the next. It's story went far beyond my expectations and also shined light on a very serious problem at the time this movie was filmed, chain gangs. While I wasn't alive to fell the full impact of the effect the movie had, it is easy to see its social message of disbanding chain gangs from prisons. The cinematography was beautifully executed with beautiful camera work as well as the use of lights in certain scenes. All of these elements combined into a beautiful film that was able to reach out to a lot of people in its time period as well as the people of today. Paul Muni and company helped to make the film feel real and because of this it has helped to create social change as well as achieve its timeless status.