Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

  • 19321932
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 32m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
13K
YOUR RATING
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
Trailer for this classic action drama
Play trailer2:33
1 Video
78 Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Film-Noir
Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.Wrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him.
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
13K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Writers
    • Robert E. Burns(by)
    • Howard J. Green(screen play)
    • Brown Holmes(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Paul Muni
    • Glenda Farrell
    • Helen Vinson
Top credits
  • Director
    • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Writers
    • Robert E. Burns(by)
    • Howard J. Green(screen play)
    • Brown Holmes(screen play)
  • Stars
    • Paul Muni
    • Glenda Farrell
    • Helen Vinson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 449User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 3 Oscars
      • 3 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
    Trailer 2:33
    I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang

    Photos78

    Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Paul Muni and Harry Woods in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Paul Muni and Harry Woods in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Edward Ellis and Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Noel Francis and Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" Paul Muni 1932 Warner Bros. **I.V.
    "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" Paul Muni 1932 Warner Bros. **I.V.
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Edward Ellis and Paul Muni in I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Paul Muni
    Paul Muni
    • James Allenas James Allen
    Glenda Farrell
    Glenda Farrell
    • Marieas Marie
    Helen Vinson
    Helen Vinson
    • Helenas Helen
    Noel Francis
    Noel Francis
    • Lindaas Linda
    Preston Foster
    Preston Foster
    • Peteas Pete
    Allen Jenkins
    Allen Jenkins
    • Barney Sykesas Barney Sykes
    Berton Churchill
    Berton Churchill
    • The Judgeas The Judge
    Edward Ellis
    Edward Ellis
    • Bomber Wellsas Bomber Wells
    David Landau
    David Landau
    • The Wardenas The Warden
    Hale Hamilton
    Hale Hamilton
    • Rev. Allenas Rev. Allen
    Sally Blane
    Sally Blane
    • Aliceas Alice
    Louise Carter
    Louise Carter
    • Motheras Mother
    Willard Robertson
    Willard Robertson
    • Prison Board Chairmanas Prison Board Chairman
    Robert McWade
    Robert McWade
    • Attorneyas Attorney
    Robert Warwick
    Robert Warwick
    • Fulleras Fuller
    William Le Maire
    • A Texanas A Texan
    • (as William LeMaire)
    Erville Alderson
    Erville Alderson
    • Police Chiefas Police Chief
    • (uncredited)
    Irving Bacon
    Irving Bacon
    • Bill - Barberas Bill - Barber
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Mervyn LeRoy
    • Writers
      • Robert E. Burns(by)
      • Howard J. Green(screen play)
      • Brown Holmes(screen play)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Scarface
    7.7
    Scarface
    Little Caesar
    7.2
    Little Caesar
    Trouble in Paradise
    8.0
    Trouble in Paradise
    Fury
    7.9
    Fury
    The Roaring Twenties
    7.9
    The Roaring Twenties
    The Public Enemy
    7.6
    The Public Enemy
    Angels with Dirty Faces
    7.9
    Angels with Dirty Faces
    White Heat
    8.1
    White Heat
    The Story of Louis Pasteur
    7.3
    The Story of Louis Pasteur
    The Life of Emile Zola
    7.2
    The Life of Emile Zola
    Shanghai Express
    7.3
    Shanghai Express
    42nd Street
    7.3
    42nd Street

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film caused a lot of controversy, actually leading to the pardon of its main character, Robert E. Burns, who was still on the lam when it first hit theaters.
    • Goofs
      When the fugitive is getting a shave, a policeman comes in and is reading a magazine. Even though the time in the movie is 1926, the policeman is reading Liberty Magazine with a cover date of November 14, 1931.
    • Quotes

      [last lines]

      Helen: How do you live?

      James Allen: I steal.

    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood and the Stars: The Angry Screen (1964)
    • Soundtracks
      Smiles
      (1917) (uncredited)

      Music by Lee S. Roberts

      Lyrics by J. Will Callahan

      Sung by soldiers during crap game

    User reviews449

    Review
    Top review
    Gutsy, and hard to forget
    It took some courage to make this movie, and Warner Brothers was up to it. This is one of four such productions on the early 1930s that dealt with crime naturalistically. But the others -- "Public Enemy," "Little Caesar," and "Scarface" -- although investing the protagonists with recognizably human traits like jealousy or male bonding -- were nevertheless on the side of the state. Okay, he might love his Mamma, but he's still a menace to society. They all died violently in the end. Here, on the other hand, is a story in which the protagonist is completely innocent, guilty of nothing more than wanting to strike out on his own and accomplish something constructive after having been through hell in the army in World War I.

    The state -- Georgia -- convicts him in error. He was forced into participating in the crime by a stranger, although to be sure he acted guilty enough. And, what with the real James Allen acting as consultant, and the film being based on his autobiographical book, who can really tell how unwilling a participant he was?

    Still, the point of the movie is that even if were guilty of robbery, the punishment imposed by the state, the conditions at the chain gang, were inhuman. Let's say many sensible people would consider it "cruel and unusual." So Allen escapes the first time, just as Cool Hand Luke did. According to the movie he rises to prominence as a self-taught engineer, although, again, the point would remain the same even if he never rose above the station of busboy. Coerced into marriage by a domineering, greedy, and self-indulgent wife (whose autobiographical novel should have been a companion piece to Allen's), he finds himself falling for a "nice girl".

    But his past catches up with him. His wife betrays him out of spite. The governor of Illinois is understandably reluctant to extradite a prominent citizen who has shown how socially valuable he is, but the representatives of Georgia insist on a symbolic retribution. Return to Georgia voluntarily, says the soothing, expensive Georgian. There'll be only a token service of, say, 90 days in a cushy job, then you'll be pardoned. Alas, he's thrown into an even more horrific penal servitude and his hearing is suspended indefinitely. So he pulls Cool Hand Luke's Excape Number Two, right down to the admiring companion who jumps aboard the truck with him.

    This time there is no going back, at least not according to the movie. The final shot is heartbreaking. I don't know how much of this story can be believed insofar as Allen's character is concerned. Suppose you were to write an autobiography. Might you not come out looking a little better than you actually are? Oh, that God the giftie gie' us/ to see ourselves as others see us. But I believe the chain gang sequences allright. If Allen is fibbing about that, he's still done a good job of convincing me that these conditions were real. I've worked with Corrections Officers and while they might be tough and contemptuous towards inmates, they treated them fairly. But I can believe things were quite different in 1925 in Georgia. The South has an interesting way of dealing with deviance. Southerners tend to be polite, compassionate, and helpful. They go out of their way to be friendly -- until you break an important rule. Then you forfeit any claim to humane treatment. (You want to be executed? Murder somebody in Texas or Florida.)

    In the course of the 1960s, the state became as much of an enemy as the criminal himself -- maybe moreso. But this movie was released in 1932, a time at which it still took guts to depict a social system so thoroughly corrupt and sadistict.

    Catch this one, if you can.
    helpful•50
    7
    • rmax304823
    • Mar 14, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 19, 1932 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Večiti begunac
    • Filming locations
      • Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Warner Bros.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $195,845 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 32 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono(original release)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
    Top Gap
    By what name was I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies Coming This Summer
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:02
    LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.