I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang



"I steal!"

Hailed as one of the most influential films of the 20th century, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 drama/crime film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni.

Muni plays Sergeant James Allen, who on his return home from World War I knows he is now a changed man, and leaves home to go work in construction. However, along the way, he manages to talk to the wrong man at the wrong time, and on a trip to go get a bite to eat he is caught up in a robbery. Held at gunpoint, Allen is forced to steal 5 dollars from the restaurant (that's about 150-200 dollars today,) and when the man holding the gun at him dies, he takes the money and runs. He is soon caught, and sentenced to serve ten years in a Deep South chain gang.

Allen decides he's had enough, and with the help of two other men he is able to escape to Chicago. He becomes a success in the construction business under the name Allen James, but when femme fatale Marie Woods discovers he is an escapee, she blackmails him into marriage for his money. However, it's clear that they are not in love in the slightest, 'Allen' cheats on her for the beautiful and kind Helen. When Allen asks Marie for a divorce, she is so outraged she tells the authorities that Allen James is James Allen, and he is caught once more.

Allen is told that if he turns himself in, he will be out of the chain gang in 90 days, but after the 90 days he learns  Brutally upset, he manages to escape once more, and is able to find Helen again in the shadows before he tells her he can never see her again, and will be on the run for the rest of his life.

Based on the true story of Robert Elliott Burns, and with the help of this movie Burns (who was still on the run at the time this was made) was pardoned in 1945, and lived free until his death ten years later.

This film contains the following tropes: "Helen: Oh, Jim. It was all going to be so different.
 * All Crimes Are Equal: Allen is staying the same amount of time, doing the same labor, and living in the same conditions as people who murdered (most notably mentioned is a man who killed his mother, wife, and sister-in-law, which makes Allen reasonably unwilling to say he's only in for stealing five dollars at gunpoint).
 * Artistic License Law: Averted - the practices you see in this movie were lawful until the 1950's. This movie helped it stop.
 * Based on a True Story: The only two big differences are that in the film, Robert Burns was changed to James Allen, and in real life Burns stole the money on his own, he wasn't held at gunpoint.
 * Clear My Name
 * Downer Ending
 * Fade to Black: Happens in the final scene. During filming a lightbulb on the set blew out, and director LeRoy liked the look of Muni creeping into the shadows so much, he decided to Throw It In, so by the end of the movie the quote at the top of the page is said in utter darkness.
 * The Film of the Book
 * Had to Come To Prison To Be A Crook: This is the point of the novel AND the movie. After escaping — twice — he is forced into hiding, and in the film's memorable final scene, bids farewell to his former fiancee.

Jim: It is different. They've made it different. I've gotta go.

Helen: I can't let you go like this!

Jim: I've got to.

Helen: Can't you tell me where you're going? [Jim shakes his head] Will you write? [Jim shakes his head again] Do you need any money? [Jim shakes his head again] But you must, Jim. How will you live?

Jim: [whispers] "


 * Nice Hat: Why the hell did they let James keep his hat, anyway?
 * Rich Bitch: Marie Woods.
 * Shadow Discretion Shot: The warden's whipping the prisoners' backs is depicted in shadow on a wall.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: James and Helen.
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield?: While Robert Elliott Burns' real-life incarceration took place in Georgia, the state is never named in the film. This did not stop numerous lawsuits being filed against the filmmakers by various Georgia prison officials, the film being banned in Georgia, or the studio head and the director of the film being threatened with firsthand experience on a chain gang if they ever set foot in Georgia.
 * Working On the Chain Gang: Well, duh.