I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

I am a fugitive from a chain gang is a classic and not just in the sense that its old. this film follows a charismatic man come home from war and slowly loss his mind. when it starts of hes a perfectly fine adult, and that is saying something since his first scene is literally on a returning war ship. soon enough what change the military had on him takes its toll. it really doesn't take long to see where countless nights in a trench and a shine chunk of metal gets our main character. one could say that the following events save him. his following arrest and escape, as the title gives away, reinvigorate is once crushed dreams. it is only when thirsty tart stirs trouble for the escape does his mind take a swan dive below the bedrock. this movie isn't just a commentary on the issues of its time but a timeless reminder of the human condition.

Paul Muni's performance in this is incredible. He carries himself with such pride and grace and keeps it together through everything he goes through in this movie, but still conveys that tortured under layer. I think its great when a movie can take a political stance and have a role in the changing of politics. Paul Muni's tortured performance is what really makes an audience feel for this character that was innocent and forced to make deals to try to get out from under the justice system. I also loved the story and development, the rise and fall of Paul Muni's character and the range of experiences he has creates an interesting movie that is able to captivate and keep you entertained and invested throughout the entire film. I fully enjoyed this movie and would definitely recommend.

This movie was very well made and was surprisingly enjoyable for me to watch a second time. Both the first and the second time this movie gave me emotions all throw out it. There was tons of times that the movie had my heart racing wondering if the main character would be alright in the end or not. This movies main character played by Paul Muni was a very likable and well acted character who always had me rooting for him to be happy in the end. Most of the characters in this movie were likable or not likable depending on what kinda character they were trying to portray and well acted except for one in particular that I hated in this movie.Rev. Robert Allen played by Hale Hamilton was my least favorite character and thats saying it in a nice way. Every time this character was oh screen I cringed from the moment he started talking. The way Hamilton portrays this character is terrible in my option and I'm not sure if that is the way the film makers wanted him to be like but I absolutely hate it. It just takes me out of the movie and over all brings this movie down a little bit in quality in my option. Now I'm not saying I can do it any better because I am terrible at acting but if I was the director or the casting director I would have either told him to act differently or just casted someone else. I also do not know whether or not Hamilton was like this in all of his movie or if they picked him because they liked that character portrayed that way or not. I don't know if that is the case or not but regardless it is my only really major complaint about the movie. It has a very interesting way the story is told and a interesting ending. Over all I would definitely recommend this movie.

This film does an incredible job of shining a light on a serious issue facing the United States at the time. The cinematography and talent of all actors and actresses involved really helped to solidify the point that this film was trying to make (exposing the fraud happening without the country's knowledge in the chain gang system). Paul Muni does a fantastic job as James Allen. When watching him play this major role, I had trouble remembering that he was only an actor and was not actually in this situation. I also found the special effects, especially when it comes to the mistreatment of chain gang workers, to be an incredible asset to the film.