Underplayed Gems

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang poster
Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy
Genre
drama film, prison film, crime film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 33m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.8 of 10 from 234 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A World War I veteran is wrongly convicted and sent to a brutal chain gang in the American South. He escapes and tries to build a new life in Chicago but cannot fully leave his past behind.

tensebleakgrittysuspensefulurgentclaustrophobicdour

What happens

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 American pre-Code crime tragedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni as a convicted man on a chain gang who escapes to Chicago. It was released on November 10, 1932. The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Muni. The film was written by Howard J. Green and Brown Holmes from Robert Elliott Burns's 1932 autobiography of a similar name I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! originally serialized in the True Detective magazine. The true life story was later the basis for the television movie The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains (1987) starring Val Kilmer. In 1991, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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