USA 93m Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Key Cast: Paul Muni
This was the first of a run of big studio films in the 1930s with a social conscience, although Warner Bros were somewhat reluctant to make the film. Based on a true story, it sees James Allen (Paul Muni) return from fighting in the First World War and attempt to get an engineering job. He is forced at gunpoint to participate in a robbery but is caught and sentenced to twelve years hard labour in a chain gang.
The chain gang sequences are brilliantly well done. I was aware of the term 'chain gang' but I didn't really know what it referred to. The film excellently depicts the brutal conditions of having your feet chained together and spend every single day outside doing hard labour, watched by wardens who force you to work harder even if you can barely stand. It's helped by Muni's fantastic performance- the actor met with the real fugitive and others with experience and read as much as he possibly could about the subject meaning he really understood what life was like in these conditions and could bring it onto the screen really effectively.
Allen manages to escape and builds up a respectable new life in the construction business in Chicago but is eventually caught once more. There's public discussion about his case and how the punishment is absurdly harsh for a well-respected man. The state offers him an easy office job and a pardon in ninety days so Allen agrees to return to the chain gang only to find himself forced to see out his sentence.
I thought this film was just utterly superb. The story is bleak and unsettling to watch and this is amplified by Muni's superb performance as he becomes an increasingly broken man as his horrific experiences continue.
The film had real-world consequences which is always a sign of a quality film- a number of chain gang prisoners across the US were able to appeal and be released and US legal system faced greater scrutiny than it had before. It took until 1955 until Georgia phased out chain gangs but faced a short revival in some states in the 1990s and there have been regular attempts since to reintroduce them.
It feels dated in some ways but the fact the idea of chain gangs remains prominent in right-wing politics shows it's still important. A really effective criticism of the system and Muni gives the best acting performance I've seen in a 30s film so far.
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