We Who Are About to Die (1937)

"We Who Are About to Die" is a 1937 film starring John Beal, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, and J. Carrol Naish.John Beal plays John Thompson, an engineer who quits his job at an airplane plant in New Mexico after an argument with his boss. He and his fiancée Connie want to move to California. En route to get his paycheck, some criminals kidnap him and take his car. They go to John's old job in his car, and one of them is wearing his coat, and enter the payroll office. The paymaster is killed, and a child is run over as the gang escapes. They dump the car. John is released, but he doesn't stay released for long. The police arrest him for murder and robbery. He is found guilty and winds up on Death Row.Connie convinces a detective (Preston Foster) who actually helped put John away that he didn't do it, and begs him to try to dig up more evidence. As he starts to go over it, he finds discrepancies.This is a good pre-noir from RKO. There is a harrowing scene where the prisoners act up and the guards use tear gas on them. There is also a beautiful scene where a priest promises a Chinese man about to be hanged that he will see that his body is sent home to his ancestors.Some of the detection methods used were brand new at the time.Beal was a stage actor who appeared in many films, and did lots of TV and stage in his sixty-year career. I met him about 30 years ago - a very nice man.Thanks to TCM, Ann Dvorak is getting probably more attention than she did during her career. She does an earnest job here as a young woman desperate to free her fiancé. Foster is authoritative and tough as the detective.This film had its gritty moments and lacked the usual stereotypes and clichés. Some melodramatic moments, as was the style at the time. IF you see this on TCM's schedule, check it out.

Wow,...this movie stars mostly second or third-tier actors but manages to be better than most of the prison films out there. Ann Devorak and Preston Foster (hardly household names) get top billing in this wonderful and intelligently written film about a guy who is set up for a murder he didn't commit. Relative unknown, John Beal, however is clearly the star of this film even though he got third billing! He was wonderful in the film BECAUSE he was not an obvious star and looked a lot like a common ordinary mug--a major plus for the film.How Beal got set up for the robbery and multiple murder is pretty convincing and believable. You could really see how this poor sap got convicted and sent to Death Row based on the evidence at hand. And how this is all eventually unraveled is once again well-written and intelligent. Along the way, how uncaring and rigid the legal system is was revealed as well. In other words, after being convicted, new evidence that at least threw the original verdict into doubt was brought to light but no one along the chain of command would consider a reprieve or at least a delay! Again and again, evidence seemed to indicate there MIGHT be a conspiracy that sent him to prison but the governor, warden, police and the guards had many excuses why they did nothing. A pretty strong indictment of the system, but not so much that the film seems preachy or contrived.Excellent acting, writing, direction and the avoidance of many of the standard prison movie clichés of the 1930s is why this film excels. A perfect example of a lower budget film that succeeds on every level.

This is one of those 1930s that feel almost like film noir. The prison scenes are very powerful, and the men-with-men aspect of prison life is highly accented. Ann Dvorak is good, as she always was. Always. The scene in which the prison chaplain says he will pay for the body of a Chinese man about to be executed to be buried with his ancestors is particularly moving.

Have always enjoyed prison films during the 30's and 40's, this film gave a very clear picture about Death Row in the early days. The detective work of Preston Foster(Matthews),"Law & Order", '53, who started his own DNA in the 1930's, trying to get fingerprints off of a piece of cloth and fabric fibers from a bullet shot from a man's suit jacket were new methods of crime detection. The prison guards using tear gas on inmates and the crude methods and sounds of hanging prisoners and their last meal requests made you wonder what really went on in prison's years ago. I was surprised to see a very young J. Carrol Nash (Nick),"Black Hand",'50, playing his favorite role, as a gangster. Nick tried to give his partner in crime a Mickey in his drink but it seemed to back fire on him! Max Steiner, the famous film composer of music even contributed to this film, but was uncredited. Ann Dvorak (Connie), "Blind Alley",'39, was a faithful wife to her wrongfully accused husband and almost fell in love with Preston Foster.