Watch
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Your probable score
?

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

1932
Drama, Crime
1h 32m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 75.24% from 538 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(538)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 03 Aug 2009
94
95th
This film gave me non stop entertainment, and some incredibly good messages. Paul Muni gives a wonderful performances, changing from war hero, to prisoner, to fugitive, to a successful worker, and finally, what he never was, a criminal. I found myself deeply sympathetic of Paul Muni's chracter, and all his troubles. I am deeply greatful for watching this film, for I have not been moved like that in a very long time.
Rated 18 Jul 2009
88
85th
Excellent film, especially during the chain gang scenes. It's seminal qualities are evident in these scenes, especially the prisoner fleeing from the bloodhounds and social conscience angle that the film takes (a fact made more poignant when we realize it had political ramifications in Georgia). Muni's performance was excellent as always, making him maybe the most underrated star of the 30s. LeRoy's camera is especially good in the prison house, and of course, in that final, creepy scene.
Rated 02 Nov 2011
75
77th
Fairly entertaining, and a good deal less dated than one would have expected. Many a prison movie trope is founded here. The pacing is fast, and Muni gives it his all. What really sells it - it being a message movie, after all - is the strong end scene.
Rated 14 Mar 2012
85
94th
Governments are quite good at creating criminals.
Rated 15 Dec 2006
72
41st
Not very distinctive in terms of acting or directing or cinematography, but a solid story that exposes some serious social ills. The final exchange of dialogue is a real gem.
Rated 18 Mar 2011
85
78th
One of the most impressive films I have ever seen. It is utterly incredible that this was made around the same time as Tod Browning's Dracula and James Whale's Frankenstein. A timeless classic.
Rated 11 Jun 2012
79
67th
Mostly solid except for several fantastic scenes, the ending being the best part. The pacing is great, and it delivers an unfortunately still relevant message without any bullshit.
Rated 24 Jan 2013
90
99th
The fact that I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is based on a true story only helps make the story even more devastating. It's really a provocative and heartbreaking film about law and punishment. Mervyn LeRoy really directs an amazing piece of work here and Paul Muni does an equal great job in the lead as he did in Scarface the same year. What a year he had starring in two of the most important movies to come out of 1932!
Rated 22 Feb 2018
4
74th
An essential precursor to film noir: the transformative experience of war, the pathology of crime, filmed with ingenuity in low light and hard edges. The social commentary borders on didactic: sympathy for the cast-out and scorn for judicial corruption are quaint but not disagreeable tenets. Posterity now benefits this anti-establishment attitude as being radical, particularly in light of the coming wave of censorship. An elegant and thoughtful piece, the type which would soon be snuffed out.
Rated 09 Nov 2018
74
82nd
A powerful story with strong performances and an even stronger message.
Rated 06 Aug 2015
80
80th
A strong early crime drama, the film successfully conveys its message on how corrupt systems breed lawlessness, notably with its memorable ending. The escape scenes are both heart-pounding sequences, and even though the rest of the running time is slow by comparison, it remains engaging throughout. Muni is solid as the wrongly convicted war hero.
Rated 12 Dec 2006
93
98th
An incredibly compelling film about the rural prison system. Muni creates a really sympathetic character which makes the film very effective in delivering its message.
Rated 02 Mar 2008
63
40th
# 737
Rated 01 Feb 2012
85
96th
Surprisingly enough, this one's just as brutal and entertaining as Cool Hand Luke. Muni is fantastic and the last scene is a real killer.
Rated 26 Dec 2011
90
91st
Incredible movie that's entertaining and thought-provoking. It also stood the test of time really well. The film shows how horrific it was to be in a chain gang and it raises many questions about justice. It also contains many suspenseful scenes, like the escape attempts. The film is very fast-paced, Paul Muni's acting is great, and there are some neat editing tricks. The ending will probably haunt me for a long time. I really enjoyed this film and I was glued to the screen the entire time.
Rated 16 Jul 2012
82
95th
disturbingly perfect. what a finale!
Rated 15 Oct 2017
75
69th
The mixture of heartfelt message film and crime film clichées, the short introduction of a prototype femme fatale in particular, doesn't always work well. But a powerhouse performance by the great Paul Muni holds the fast-paced film together. And the ending is great!
Rated 30 Apr 2012
84
89th
Felt pretty well ahead of its time. Had some surprisingly suspenseful action scenes, and an ending that was pretty dark and unexpected at the same time. Two words can say an awful lot, I guess.
Rated 31 Aug 2013
7
68th
So depressing
Rated 01 Jan 2014
80
63rd
The deviations from the actual story to the movie make the main character look like a complete buffoon.
Rated 28 Sep 2014
78
88th
While not exceptionally naturalistic, it's a gritty and captivating film that deals thoughtfully with some difficult issues. It surely deserves its status as a classic.
Rated 19 Dec 2008
61
22nd
773
Rated 22 Jan 2011
30
78th
"The prison scenes are blatantly manipulative-and effective-but Fugitive really takes off during an intense escape sequence." - Jeremiah Kipp
Rated 18 Mar 2010
40
37th
Not much impact nowadays, worth watching for Paul Muni though.
Rated 30 Jul 2012
35
79th
Great stuff. Technically really impressive for a '32 film.
Rated 11 Jun 2008
75
89th
Excellent.
Rated 19 Nov 2008
75
65th
Echoes of this movie can be heard in dozens of prison pictures that have been made down the years.
Rated 02 May 2007
90
86th
One of the best of the "social conscience" movies made in this era. Fast-paced, exciting, grim, and great performance by Paul Muni
Rated 07 Apr 2015
90
96th
Disturbing and unfortunately still not outdated film from the Pre-Code Hollywood era.
Rated 20 Feb 2012
100
97th
Great early crime masterpiece about an innocent man's wrongful conviction, escape, and building of a new life.
Rated 09 Apr 2009
100
93rd
Horrifying story in the semi-documentary manner; a milestone in Hollywood history and still a fairly compelling piece of shock entertainment.
Rated 10 Jul 2013
70
67th
It was pretty good. It's not one of the best prison films I've seen, but it clearly influences those that are. It was a sad and frustrating tale, and had some interesting messages and themes about the prison and legal systems. The ending was particularly brilliant.
Rated 11 Aug 2015
90
80th
In a brisk 92 minutes, this film presents a surreal and horrifying depiction of our justice system at its absolute worst. Filled with sweltering images of cruelty, kept together by a superb lead performance from Paul Muni, and concluding on a hauntingly ambiguous note, it's one of the greatest pictures of the early sound era.
Rated 21 Nov 2015
85
86th
LeRoy avoids all the cheesy melodrama and poor-writing of his previous works to deliver a suspensefully dark, hard-hitting and gritty social commentary made all the more powerful by the fact that it's an essentially true story. LeRoy's camerawork and pacing is great and Muni's performance is impeccable.
Rated 23 Dec 2011
50
34th
I'm getting to the age where I really hate violence and cruelty in movies, but this was more focused on the problems caused by violent treatment of inmates rather than the violence itself.
Rated 18 Mar 2019
75
88th
All around a great piece of early Hollywood storytelling with a strong message of individual's unjust suffering when left at the hands of corrupt authorities. A story of love, honesty, integrity and duty played magnificently by the matured great Paul Muni, with superb artistic camera movements and zoom ins in ways that are unforgettable with the strong emotional punch that they give complemented by Muni's solid, raw and aching performance. Got goosebumps at the end. A great cinematic experience.
Rated 18 Sep 2019
80
81st
dönemin toplumcu filmleri düşünülürse didaktizmi abartılı olmadığı gibi bugün dahi sert sayılacak, mutlaka bir köşesinden yumuşulatılacak bir dertle hareket ediyor. zaman zaman -doğal olarak- göze batan kesmeler olsa bile kurgusu da hem tempo hem anlatım açısından çok başarılı. dönemsel özelliklerini gösteriyor elbette ama şaşırtıcı biçimde *eskidiğini* söylemek zor.
Rated 10 Feb 2021
80
68th
I'm not much of a fan of Muni's wigs & fake beards style of acting, but he's pretty damn good here, turning in a really naturalistic performance in a film that's really tough and gritty. He's got an everyman, hang dog persona going here that really fits the material. This isn't the first prison film, but it's the origin of the prison work camp genre, and you can feel it's imprint on every film that follows it from "Cool Hand Luke" to "Brubaker".
Rated 02 Jul 2021
80
78th
A strong message movie questioning the punishment or rehabilitative nature of chain gangs. Although the first few minutes are a little dull, and the parole scene gets a little preachy, it's otherwise solid, with Muni carrying the whole movie (most of the other characters are generally interchangeable.) Certainly one of the best non-traditional endings in film history.
Rated 09 Aug 2021
75
64th
Some great stuff, like the track along the beds of men raptly watching Muni's whipping, ending on the bloodied back of the guy before him. Except they can't actually see anything. And isn't this business as usual? Must be the same magnetism that causes a beautiful woman to blackmail him into marriage after he says he'll never love her. Of course, things were different then. Without a husband her earthly body would've been broken down to its constituent particles and banished to the shadowrealm.
Rated 02 May 2023
76
86th
This ninety year old film is still entertaining today, and it's a short ass movie.
Rated 13 Sep 2022
76
62nd
This is very solid but perhaps a bit overrated. Extremely economical filmmaking with interesting transitions and use of montages to move things along and it made a real world difference. The ending is great and the escape sequences are very well done. It holds up extremely well and the message is still relevant. Muni gives a good performance, even if he chews a little scenery occasionally.
Rated 11 Nov 2022
90
87th
O Fugitivo estreava há 90 anos nos EUA. 1932 foi um senhor ano para o Paul Muni, esse e Scarface renderam o lugar dele num alto patamar da história de Hollywood, sobretudo como grandes obras pre code, pois eles só poderiam ter sido feitos nesse período. BlurayRip RARBG.

Collections

(53)
Compact view
Showing 1 - 24 of 53 results

Similar Titles

Loading ...

Statistics

Loading ...

Trailer

No Trailer