THE FILM & WATER PODCAST
Episode 54 – I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG
Rob welcomes blogger Martin Gray (Too Dangerous For A Girl) to discuss the groundbreaking 1932 Warner Bros. crime drama I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, starring Paul Muni!
Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?
- MARTIN GRAY: http://dangermart.blogspot.com/
- E-MAIL: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net
- Follow THE FILM & WATER PODCAST on Twitter: @FilmAndWaterPod
Subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-film-and-water-podcast/id1077572484
This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:
- Visit the Fire & Water WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com
- Follow Fire & Water on TWITTER – https://twitter.com/FWPodcasts
- Like our Fire & Water FACEBOOK page – https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork
- Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts
Thanks for listening! That’s A Wrap!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Warner Bros. was known for its “social message” films as much as they were for their gangster movies of the 1930s. I’ve always been especially interested in the Pre-Code movies (pre-1934). Where MGM was known for emphasizing glamour and “more stars than there are in the heavens,” WB movies had a grit that reflected Depression-era America. Even 42nd Street, the classic showbiz musical, showcases the stress and desperation of the Broadway world.
The Pre-Code movies had a rawness and touched on subjects (poverty, homosexuality, drug abuse, child neglect, etc) that were wiped off the screen just a few years later. Two of my favorites from this era are Baby Face (1933) & Wild Boys of the Road (1933). In the former, Barbara Stanwyck is a young woman literally pimped out by her father. She later travels to NYC and uses body to rise in the corporate world. Wild Boys tells of the plight of kids who are forced into hobo life hopping trains from town to town during the Depression. The violence is still shocking. One character’s leg is amputated after a horrific accident and one girl riding the rails is raped. TCM has several DVD sets highlighting these Pre-Code movies and I believe “Fugitive” is among them. I have to think that Siegel & Shuster must have been inspired by these movies as the earliest Superman stories have the hero very much as a New Deal Democrat fighting social ills.
I wasn’t really aware of this film, but it sounds like a very strong film. I’ll keep my eye out on TCM for it.
I know my Dad has told me he still recalled seeing prison workers as a kid in the mid to late 40s. Not sure if they were quite a chain gang, but I believe he said some were German war prisoners! He used to watch them from the school bus, and a few would even wave at the kids. How they ended up doing road work in Kentucky, I’m not sure.
Great to hear Martin on the show!
Chris
My favorite prison movies (in no particular order):
1. Brubaker (Robert Redford; 1980)
2. Gideon’s Trumpet (Henry Fonda; 1980)
3. White Heat (Jimmy Cagney; 1949)
4. The Longest Yard (Burt Reynolds; 1974)
5. The Big House (Robert Montgomery; 1930)
6. Shawshank Redemption (Tim Robbins; 1994)
7. Sullivan’s Travels (Joel McRae; 1941)
8. I Want to Live (Susan Hayward; 1958)
9. Cool Hand Luke (Paul Newman; 1967)
10. Going in Style (George Burns; 1979) : Not all prisons have bars
Great list, Chuck. I don’t suppose I could use the jail scene from the musical version of The Producers to justify it being on a favourite prison movies list 🙂 ‘Prisoners of love…’
Thanks to Rob for having me on the show, and I loved hearing ‘Remember My Forgtotten Man at the end!
Thinking on, the Diana Dors film Yield to the Night/Blonde Sinner is very affecting.
You’re welcome back anytime Martin. And yeah once you mentioned The Forgotten Man song I knew what I would use as the closing bit.
No Escape From Alcatraz??
“Back then Warner Bros. was very into this grim and gritty style.”
Which is of course TOTALLY different from how WB makes movies today. Just night and day. It’s crazy.