James Allen returns from the war wanting to be a construction engineer. Instead, he takes a job from his old boss to satisfy his family. He leaves home for construction work across America. Down on his luck, he befriends another hobo who drags him into a robbery. He is arrested and sentenced to hard labor. It is a brutal existence. He manages to escape. With a new identity, he becomes a successful builder and blackmailed into marrying Marie Woods.

I really like most of the first half. James should probably run from his steady job for a better reason. He should be suffering from PTSD and finds comfort on the road. The chain gang is very effective. Those parts of the movie are the most compelling. The premise of his ascension is a bit far-fetched. It also slows down the pacing and lowers the tension. I do see the need to heighten the unreasonable situation. It just goes the long way around.

Paul Muni's performance in Scarface led him to a long term contract with Warner Brothers and his first film with them was another classic. Unlike Scarface where Muni becomes a gangland boss, he's led almost by accident into a life of crime.

Restless since his service in the World War, Muni leaves his factory job to see the world. On the bum, he gets accidentally drawn into a holdup of a greasy spoon diner by another tramp, Preston Foster. Foster is killed and Muni is left with the rap for a grand total of about $5.00 and change. Today that would be about $35.00 to $40.00 all told.

No first offender status in this state and no one to speak earnestly for him, he gets a 10 year stretch for that holdup. Here's where the themes of I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang come into play. The brutal and callous treatment of the prisoners had never been shown so graphically on the screen before, although at RKO they were doing a film with the same themes in Hell's Highway at the same time.

Muni got an Oscar nomination for playing James Allen in this film, but lost to Charles Laughton for The Private Lives of Henry VIII. Still he gives a riveting performance as a man truly a victim of forces he cannot comprehend.

Overshadowed by Muni and sometimes overlooked unfortunately is Glenda Farrell. She plays a trampy dame with a heart of pure brass who latches on to Muni who marries her when she discovers he's a fugitive, then turns him in when he tries to throw her out. Her part as Muni's unfaithful wife may just have been her career role.

Even though the film is black and white, the fashions are old, prison themes whether it's this one, Brubaker, or The Shawshank Redemption usually have a lot of the same themes and are eternal. This one is a deserved classic and should never be missed when televised.

This is a wonderful film, though I've gotta admit that occasionally, the acting seems a bit over-the-top and a little campy. However, as it was meant to expose, excite and inspire the masses about the real-life case that inspired the movie, it does a wonderful job. Paul Muni is practically a one man show playing the lead character who is wrongly convicted and then repeatedly brutalized by a sick system. On top of that, there is lots of action and the movie is well-paced and difficult to ignore. I think that an excellent idea would be to watch this movie and then watch one of the documentaries on the real case. I know the History Channel has run it a few times and it gave me a lot of insight into the man.