I love movies and TV shows that have to do with run away criminals and jail. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) really satisfied my interests in that. As one of the earlier films with sound, it was done very well. I think the explosions that James Allen hears from the factory were well done in a sense that after he hears it, he looks so disappointed and the audience can see how much he rather work on bridges than be at the shoe factory. My favorite scene was when he was running away and had to hide underneath the pond water while the guards were standing in the water looking around for him. In that scene the movie did a great job with the sound by having it be silent when they showed James under the water and then having it be noisy when they switched to showing the guards looking for him, it successfully created an intense moment for the viewers. At the end of the movie when he escapes for a second time and runs into his wife Linda, the lighting when they show James' face when he tells his wife that he is going to steal to survive, really shows how his character changed from being a good person to a bad person.

I am a fugitive from a chain gang, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, is a look at how corrupt, and barbaric chain gangs were back then, during world war I. Godfrey was an innocent man and was unjustly thrown into the chain gang as a criminal. So he escapes and creates quit a life for himself in Chicago and becomes a very great architect, that when they find out who he is and that he escaped the chain gang, people fight for him to stay. Godfrey willingly goes back to the chain gang because he is assured that he will be released after a certain time. When he is not he escapes again. So even when Godfrey does the right thing time and time again, the chain gang basically forced Godfrey to turn into a criminal, because he had to escape again. I think this is an issue we still have in jails today. Sometimes the criminal justice system turns you into a criminal before you do anything wrong. It was filmed very well, and was made shortly after sound came out in films, and so the producer added many different sounds you hear throughout the film.

This movie was very well made and was surprisingly enjoyable for me to watch a second time. Both the first and the second time this movie gave me emotions all throw out it. There was tons of times that the movie had my heart racing wondering if the main character would be alright in the end or not. This movies main character played by Paul Muni was a very likable and well acted character who always had me rooting for him to be happy in the end. Most of the characters in this movie were likable or not likable depending on what kinda character they were trying to portray and well acted except for one in particular that I hated in this movie.Rev. Robert Allen played by Hale Hamilton was my least favorite character and thats saying it in a nice way. Every time this character was oh screen I cringed from the moment he started talking. The way Hamilton portrays this character is terrible in my option and I'm not sure if that is the way the film makers wanted him to be like but I absolutely hate it. It just takes me out of the movie and over all brings this movie down a little bit in quality in my option. Now I'm not saying I can do it any better because I am terrible at acting but if I was the director or the casting director I would have either told him to act differently or just casted someone else. I also do not know whether or not Hamilton was like this in all of his movie or if they picked him because they liked that character portrayed that way or not. I don't know if that is the case or not but regardless it is my only really major complaint about the movie. It has a very interesting way the story is told and a interesting ending. Over all I would definitely recommend this movie.

"I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" is a culturally and historically significant piece of film that highlighted the problem of injustice in its time. It also projects the story of James Allen in a relatable way that can be gauged to modern day. The "American Dream" of Allen's rise to prestige from nothing is conveyed as well as other lesser themes that can go unnoticed such as the struggles for returning veterans then and still today. The struggle to find a job and cope with the new world that a veteran returns too is briefly presented through James Allen's job hunt that only produces low paying odd jobs here and there across the country. Another relatable theme, or even cliché, that is often seen in even today's cinema is the main characters strive to do something more with their lives rather than fall into the familiar role of a cookie cutter pencil pusher that outside influences pressure the protagonist to become. Our protagonist James Allen eventually reaches the Chain Gang system in the south which is where the movies main overarching theme is realized. The corruption, misconduct, and legitimacy within the system at the time was brilliantly questioned and exuded within the film to give the audience an overall sense of what the chain gang was like. Paul Muni was brilliant in his role and i found many of the other in-depth characters to be likable as well. The film is a great work of film that i found enjoyable in each and every scene, especially the scene with the chain gang singing while they work as well as the poignant scene at the end which encompasses the overall message or lesson and provides cinema with one of its famous closers "I Steal."