I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) - Systemic injustice bared in LeRoy's crackerjack crime drama

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A dangerous holdup in what appears a criminal underworld environment is presented on this murky poster for Mervyn LeRoy's I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

After having served military duty in WWI, James Allen returns to civilian status but does not want factory work; he wants to build something new up as an engineer! But following an unfortunate arrest, he is sentenced to 10 years in a chain gang. - He manages to escape! - But his past finds him ...

 

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is written by Howard J. Green (The Millionaire (1957, TV-series)) and Brown Holmes (Castle on the Hudson (1940)), with Sheridan Gibney (The Locket (1946)) contributing uncredited work, adapting the autobiographical I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! (1932) by Robert Elliott Burns, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Mervyn LeRoy (No Place to Go (1927)).

Thoroughly suspenseful, fast-paced, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang relies on a thrilling story for its success. The woman, who forces a lucrative marriage through by blackmailing our protagonist, is one of the film's exciting, credibly played (by Glenda Farrell (Bonanza (1964, TV-series))), memorable characters. All of it rings 100 % true. 

SPOILER A very exciting climax ends up in a shockingly tragic, stirring ending: 'The system can crush a good man' is the icy lesson here. Paul Muni (Hudson's Bay (1940)) is beautiful and outstanding as the hero in this electrical, indignant film.

 

Related post:

 

Mervyn LeRoy: The Green Berets (1968) - Wayne's gung ho pretty picture of the Vietnam War clashes with reality (co-director)

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 228k $

Box office: 1.599 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.01 times the cost)

[I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang premiered 9 November (Washington D.C.) and runs 93 minutes. LeRoy was paid 13.2k $ for his direction of the film. Shooting took place from July - September 1932 in California, including in Los Angeles, with stock footage of Chicago, Illinois also used. The film grossed 650k $ in North America, 40.7 % of the total gross. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actor (Muni) to Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Picture to Cavalcade and Sound to A Farewell to Arms. The film also won 2 National Board of Review awards. It was instrumental in the appeal and release of Burns and "several other chain gang prisoners nationwide in the U.S." in 1933. LeRoy returned with Hard to Handle (1933). Muni returned in The World Changes (1933). I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is fresh at 96 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

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The splashy, busy poster for Frank Tashlin's The Disorderly Orderly

QUICK REVIEW:

Jerry Lewis (The Errand Boy (1961)) is presented to us as Napoleon, a mountain climber and a medic (all equally ridiculous identities for him), before we get to see him as the latter: In an exclusive hospital, he goofs and tumbles around for the duration of the film.

Disorderly Orderly might appeal more to American taste than Scandinavian. I saw most of it mostly as a curiosity of its time period, a pretty bizarre curiosity, I might add. Lewis grimaces, screams, tumbles, yell, tumbles again and then screams some more. His brand of slapstick comedy is often nearly cringe-worthy, and to me it's a far cry from the disciplines' masters like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
But Disorderly Orderly is also an exuberant, colorful and highly energetic work, (even if its plot could fit in a teaspoon.)
It is written by writer-director Frank Tashlin (Son of Paleface (1952)), based on a story by Norm Liebmann (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1977-79)) and Ed Haas (The Jerry Lewis Show (1967-68)).

 Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown
[The Disorderly Orderly was released December 16 and runs 89 minutes. It was filmed at Greystone Park and Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA. Sammy Davis Jr. sings the opening song. Besides the above number, the film drew 1.4+ mil. admissions in France, but those are the only numbers I have found on its release. I suspect it was a box office success. The Disorderly Orderly has been given a 3.5/5 rating by 2,214 users on Rotten Tomatoes.]

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