A Fugitive from a Chain Gang - Book vs. Memoir

 As shown by the analysis below, the movie makes the memoir more dramatic, violent, and sexy. Further, Burns is whitewashed and turned into a heroic "everyman", while his wife is made into a villainess. The dramatic ending " I steal" is complete invention. 

Fugitive from a Chain Gang  – The Film	The Memoir by Robert E. Burns
November 1918.  We join a bunch of “Doughboys” discussing what they’ll do when they get home.  James Allen (Muni) states he’ll put Army Engineering knowledge to work and start a successful career. Later. we see Muni reunite with his Mother and Brother, and go back to his old job as a shipping clerk.	The book is more or less the same. But there’s no evidence that Burns was a “war hero” or ever in combat. Burns says his primary reason for drifting was his recurrent “shell shock” but gives no details.
A dissatisfied Muni quits his job and tells his family the Army has changed him.  The movies shows Muni traveling the country, becoming destitute,  and pawning his Army medals for money.	Again, almost the same. The Pawning of the medals is the screenwriter’s invention. Burns received no medals for Combat heroism.
Muni meets a man, actually a criminal, who promises him a good paying job, and takes him to a local diner for lunch.  Once there, the armed robber forces Muni – at gunpoint – to empty the cash register. The Robber is then killed by police. Scared, Muni makes a break for it, and is arrested as an accomplice. A Judge sentences to him to a chain-gang for 6-10 years	Wrong. Burns was guilty. He voluntarily went with 2 other men and robbed a store owner. Burns only says he did so reluctantly. Also, nobody was killed and there was no gunplay. And while he got 6-10 years, Convicts could “buy their way out” after 1 year.
Muni arrive at the Chain Gang. He’s put in chains, and forced to break rocks in the hot sun. His dinner is so horrible, it makes him nauseous. Later, he is accused of “slacking off” and beaten with a leather strap.	Right out of the memoir, although Burns was never whipped. Burns doesn’t emphasize that convicts could receive $2/week (equal to $100 today) to buy outside food.  Or that the work/diet of the chain gang wasn’t much worse than that of many Georgia sharecroppers.
Realizing he can’t make it six years, Muni gets his friend “bomber” to loan him six dollars and a black convict to loosen his shackles with a sledgehammer.  Muni makes a break for it, and escapes by hiding in the swamp and breathing through a straw.	Burns escape was more mundane. The $6 came from his family. And he escaped by simply running into the woods. The Guards and dogs never found his trail.
Buying a new set of clothes, Muni arrives at a speakeasy run by an ex-convict.  After a meal, and some female companionship, Muni goes to Chicago, and works as a manual laborer.  He meets a local landlady, the beautiful, blond, Glenda Farrell. She makes it clear she wants him be more than a tenant, and gives him a special monthly rate.	Burns did end up at a speakeasy, and he befriended one of the “working girls” who assisted him. But there was no sex. And while Burns did become involved with a Chicago Land-lady, she was a short, plain, 40 year old divorcee.
Time passes. Before long Muni is a well-paid Construction executive. However, Farrell is upset that Muni doesn’t love her, and has lost interest.  When she opens a letter reveling Muni is an escaped convict, she blackmails him into marriage.	Burns was never in Construction. He helped his wife-to-be invest in real estate, and they soon owned a string of Apartment buildings.  Using the real estate proceeds Burns started a successful Chicago news magazine. She did blackmail him into marriage – after 3 years of living together.
Farrell cheats on him and spends Muni’s money like water. When Muni objects, Farrell threatens him with jail. After falling in love with someone he met at  a party, Muni asks for a divorce. Farrell calls the police and Muni is arrested.	Wrong. Burn’s wife was faithful, had her own money, and was deeply in love with Burns. However, Burns had fallen for his young secretary and demanded a divorce. After Burns refused to provide enough alimony, the wife wrote a letter to the Chicago police
Muni works out a deal with State Lawyers. After paying a large “fee” Muni will return to the Southern Chain gang, serve 90 days and then be released. Once back in the Chain Gang, Muni is double-crossed and must serve his entire time.	The Memoir and the film agree.
Muni  is put on the worst chain-gang, and serves some hard time. Finally, Muni escapes by stealing a dump truck.  In a thrilling  car chase, Bomber is killed and Muni dynamites a bridge to lose the pursuing police.	The truth is much duller. Burns escaped by bribing a local man to pick him up and drive him to a bus station 50 miles away.
Muni’s escape generates headlines.  Time Passes. Muni’s girlfriend is accosted by Muni who comes out of the shadows. Haggard and destitute, he’s a hunted criminal. How do you live, she asks? “I Steal” The END.	Burns made his way back to New Jersey where his family was. He lived on their money and after a year, wrote his best-selling memoir. The NJ Governor refused to extricate him back to GA and Burns had no trouble making a living for the rest of his life.

 

I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)

 Based on the true story by Robert Elliot Burns, the title tells the story.  A war veteran down on his luck gets unjustly convicted and sentenced to 6 years on a Georgia Chain Gang. He finds the beatings and conditions intolerable and escapes to Freedom.  Although Warner Brothers won Liberal plaudits for attacking the Chain Gang system, the movie is really an exciting prison picture, with fictitious shootings, car chases, beautiful woman, and savage beatings replacing mundane real life facts.

Given the same story has been done 20 times since (cf: Cool Hand Luke), the movie is surprisingly entertaining and only bogs down when Muni and his lawyers fight extradition back to Georgia.

Acting

Paul Muni - This, along with Scarface, was Muni’s big hit of 1932, and it’s his best performance.  For once, Muni plays it straight and eschews overly broad gestures or phony accents.

Others – Glenda Farrell is a hoot as the adulterous, blackmailing wife and Hale is annoying and overly pompous (no doubt deliberately) as the  Protestant Minister.  Everyone else is adequate.

 Pre-Code Behaviors:   The camera lovingly lingers over a prostitute’s body and makes it clear Muni goes to bed with her.  Later, Farrell isn’t punished for her blackmailing adulterous behavior.   

 Best Lines and Scene (SPOILERS):

Muni:  But I haven't escaped. They're still after me. They'll always be after me. I've had jobs, but I can't keep them. Something happens, someone turns up. I hide in rooms all day and travel by night. No friends, no rest, no peace. Keep moving, that's all that's left for me. Forgive me, Helen. I had to take a chance to see you tonight. Just to say goodbye.

Helen: It was all going to be so different.
Muni: It is different. They've made it different. I've got to go.

Helen: I can't let you go like this. Can't you tell me where you're going? Will you write? Do you need any money? But you must, Jim. How do you live?
Muni: I steal.

THE END.

Summary:  An excellent prison/escape picture, it  starts slow but gets better as it goes along.  Not bad for 1932.  Rating ***

Angel on My Shoulder (1945)

 This is a riff off Here Comes Mr. Jordon (its written by the same man) only this one has a Gangster (Paul Muni) returning to earth from Hades not  Heaven. And Clause Rains isn't an angel - he's the Devil. So, why return to earth?  Simple, the Gangster wants revenge, and the Devil wants to destroy Goody-Goody Judge Parker who's body the dead Gangster will inhabit.  Of course, there's a girl (Ann Baxter) who gets in the way of both plans.  

For the first 30-40 minutes this is a well done, entertaining film.  The "Rub out" is excellent, and both Rains and Hades are humorously fascinating.  Unfortunately, the movie dies once Muni returns to earth and becomes the Judge. He has no chemistry with Baxter, and doesn't have the star power or comic timing necessary for the part. And script doesn't really add much either.  

Paul Muni

I hate to always bash Paul Muni because he was actually a good (not great) actor.  But  he didn't have the charisma to be leading man. In Angel on my Shoulder, he's a believable Brooklyn Gangster. So believable,  I didn't recognize him at the start.  But that's makes him an actor with good range, not a good leading man - which is what the part requires. Unsurprisingly, the film did poor business in 1945, and Muni thereafter confined himself to supporting roles or "actor roles".

Summary:  A lost opportunity. An excellent set-up, but poor execution and casting dooms Angel on My Shoulder to mediocrity.  Too bad   Rating **

Scarface (1932)

Directed by Howard Hawks, this is the original Gangster classic that set the template for many films to come. Based on the Al Capone story, we follow Tony Camonte as he blasts his way to the top of the Chicago rackets before meeting a bloody end. It’s a familiar tale, which has been done better, but Hawks did it first. And his direction is the high-point of the movie. Hawks keeps things moving along and his shoot-outs and “Gangland Hits” are so well done they’ve been copied in numerous films. The script by Hecht has some funny “comic relief” and interesting dialogue, along with a strange relationship between the Tony and his “Kid Sister.” 

Negatives

Paul Muni is borderline adequate in the lead role, lacking the star power of Cagney or the intensity of E.G. Robinson. Muni compounds the lack of Charisma with a Dodgy Italian accent (it fades in and out) and overly broad and weird facial expressions. I found them distracting, and couldn’t figure out what emotions Muni was trying to express. Charm? Lust? Toughness? Who knows? The supporting cast ranges from Strong (Raft as Muni’s sidekick/Karen Morley as the Gangster Moll) to weak Inez Palange (Tony’s Mother). 

Best Lines:

Poppy: Kind of gaudy, isn't it? 

Tony: Ain't it though? Glad you like it. 

Best Scene: 

Tony sets a trap, and goes to Lovo’s office to determine if Lovo has tried to “Rub him out” 

Summary: Well-done if overly familiar Gangster tale, with great direction and a mediocre lead. A milestone film, but only moderately entertaining. Rating **1/2