Fury (1936)

Directed by Fritz Lang, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bartlett Cormack that was based on Norman Krasna's story, this essential drama, an indictment of "mob rule", features Spencer Tracy, Sylvia Sidney, and Walter Brennan (among others). Krasna received an Academy Award nomination for his Original Story. The film was added to the National Film Registry in 1995.Tracy, with fiancée Sidney, is suspected of kidnapping and arrested by Brennan. An angry mob, led by Bruce Cabot, is incensed and storms the jail where Brennan can't stop them from burning it down. Sidney and the others assume Tracy was killed in the fire, but he wasn't. He shows up at his brother's (Frank Albertson) and learns that the real kidnappers have been caught. So, he wants the mob prosecuted for "lynching" him. Walter Abel is the DA who pursues a conviction against a couple of dozen from the crowd.The problem is, of course, Tracy wasn't actually killed, even though everyone (save his brother) thinks he is. Can he be convinced not to go through with his revenge which may mean the execution for murder of many people?

Fritz Lang's first Hollywood movie is an indictment of mob justice and vengeance that might've seemed out of place at MGM, known for their polished melodramas and musicals. This was the type of movie one might expect from Warner Bros, known for their movies about crime and social issues. The film stars Spencer Tracy as a man wrongly accused of kidnapping while passing through a small town. Soon a lynch mob is formed and they attempt to kill Tracy by burning down the jail with him inside. Unknown to them, he manages to escape and plot his revenge.It's a powerful film, particularly for the era, with excellent direction from Fritz Lang and dynamite performances from Spencer Tracy and Sylvia Sidney. This was Sidney's only film for MGM. The supporting cast includes solid players like Bruce Cabot, Walter Abel, Edward Ellis, Frank Albertson, and Walter Brennan. Oh and Tracy's dog in this is played by the same dog that played Toto in the Wizard of Oz, which is a bit of cuteness in an otherwise somber film. The ending isn't perfect but it's not the studio-imposed cop-out some reviewers make it out to be. This is a real classic and one of Lang's best American films.

Words can't describe how powerful this film is. Spencer Tracy is so far above any actor today with this film alone that it's just sad....and this film was made over 75 years ago.A guy sends his future bride off to her parents so he can earn enough money so they can get married and start a life together. After he get's the money, he heads off to his bride but is derailed in a small town where they think he's a kidnapper in a recent case. He had salted peanuts in his pocket along with 1 $5 bill that was from the bank so they jail him and await the D.A. to question him. It never gets to that point. An angry mob, spurred on by a local punk trouble maker, decides to take law into their own hands. They attack the jail, beat the sheriff and his deputies, set it on fire and blow it up with dynamite. A trial ensues to try the 22 main members of the mob for murder. Problem is...he's not dead. He survived. After this you'll get drama and rage you can't believe. You'll wanna reach into the TV and punch all the liars of this supposed god fearing town.These types of films were made to make people think...not entertain. You won't be entertained by this film in any way, you'll be enraged. Like all mob mentality you get stupid, moronic, trouble-making idiots who don't see Justice the way this country intended it to be. Mob mentality rarely ever gets anything accomplished except in the short term. These townspeople use mob justice to condemn this guy who did nothing at all. Watching this you might get an idea of what it was like from the late 1800's to the 1950's when lynching was prominent. It's sad to see these uneducated dimwits take law into their own hands and dish out the wrong kind of justice.The court room scenes are just dead poetic. Watching these townspeople squirm after they get caught lying is just a pleasure to see. The build up from this is very tense right up until the end.What you'll come away with from this film is if you do exactly what others have done to you, you're no better than them.

There is no other actor who can portray Joe Wilson like Spencer Tracy. This film is so powerful, so intriguing, and so wonderful, I've never seen any movie like it.Spencer Tracy stars as Joseph Wilson, an innocent man who was supposedly killed by a group of blood-thirsty vigilantes. Now, the tables have been turned because 22 members of the vigilantes are standing trial for Joseph Wilson's "death" and Joe is itching to get even with the same people who not only did him wrong, but also killed his beloved dog, Rainbow. Will Joe's conscious make him reveal to the members of the trial and the 22 defendants that he is alive or will he let his 22 "murderers" die? There is no other film that can depict a story about vigilantism gone wrong like Fury. Spencer Tracy and everyone else in the movie has put effort into their acting and the story is phenomenal. Also starring Sylvia Sidney as Katherine Grant, Walter Abel as the district attorney, Bruce Cabot as Kirby Dawson, Edward Ellis as the Sheriff, Walter Brennan as "Bugs" Meyers, Leila Bennett as Edna Hooper, Frank Albertson as Charlie, Helen Flint as Franchette, George Walcott as Tom, and Terry(the dog who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz) as Rainbow.