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I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang

1932

Mervyn LeRoy

Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Preston Foster ...

8.0

2,465

Film noir. Drama James Allen (Paul Muni), just back from World War I, is unjustly convicted of a crime and sentenced to 10 years of bruisingly unfair treatment on a chain gang. He escapes and goes to Chicago where he becomes a success in the construction business and meets Marie Woods (Glenda Farrell).

	Author	Review
United States	Jeremiah Kipp Slant	"Paul Muni plays a character so single-minded in his pursuit of freedom, so damned anxious for even the smallest victory, that he makes 'Fugitive' absolutely riveting (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Kim Newman Empire	"The most powerful of Warner Brothers' early 1930s 'social problem' films, this indictment of organised cruelty remains potent, hard-hitting melodrama (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Mordaunt Hall The New York Times	"A stirring picture (...) Paul Muni plays the leading rôle, giving a convincing and earnest performance (...) There is a touch of genuine romance"	POS
United States	Variety	"A picture with guts. It grips with its stark realism and packs lots of punch"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"The film features one of the most nerve-wracking escape sequences in movie history, but it's just as impressive how the filmmakers connect a pressing social issue with more universal problems."	POS
United States	Don Druker Chicago Reader	"[It] still packs a wallop with its bleak and frightening climax (...) Paul Muni gives a classic performance (...) its style is simple, direct, forceful"	POS
United Kingdom	Nigel Floyd Time Out	"Muni gives a brilliant performance (...) The details of chain gang life are tough and harrowing"	POS

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