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From : foxter65
Added: Apr 30, 2009
Warner Bros.' hard-hitting chain-gang movie was a faithful adaptation of the similarly titled autobiography of Robert Elliot Burns. Paul Muni plays World War I veteran James Allen, whose plans of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Flat broke, Allen is forced to pawn his war medals, which have become a glut on the market. When Allen is innocently involved in a restaurant holdup, the police don't buy his story that the robber (Preston S. Foster) had forced him to clean out the cash register, and Allen is sentenced to ten years on a chain gang. The brutal scenes that follow make the later chain-gang movie Cool Hand Luke (1967) look like a picnic in the country. Unable to stand any more, Allen escapes and heads to Chicago. Using an alias, he builds a new life for himself and within five years is the respected president of a bridge-building firm. His landlady (Glenda Farrell), learning about his past, forces Allen to marry her. When he falls in love with another girl (Helen Vinson) and asks for a divorce, his wife turns him over to the authorities. The real-life Robert Elliot Burns was still a fugitive when he wrote his exposé of the chain-gang system; the publication of Burns' book led to the abolishment of that system and an erasure of Burns' sentence. Paul Muni - James Allen Glenda Farrell - Marie Woods Helen Vinson - Helen Noel Francis - Linda Preston S. Foster - Pete Edward McNamara - Second Warden Allen Jenkins - Barney Sykes Sheila Terry - Allen's Secretary Sally Blane - Alice David Landau - Warden James Bell - Red John Wray - Nordine Hale Hamilton - Rev. Robert Clinton Allen Robert Warwick - Fuller Louise Carter - Mrs. Allen Robert McWade - Ramsey Everett Brown - Sebastian T. Yale William Le Maire - Texas Edward Arnold - Lawyer Erville Alderson - Chief of Police Irving Bacon - Barber Bill Reginald Barlow - Parker Frederick Burton - Georgia Prison Official Berton Churchill - Judge Wallis Clark - Lawyer George Pat Collins - Wilson of Commerce George Cooper - Vaudevillian Douglas Dumbrille - District Attorney Edward Ellis - Bomber Wells J. Frank Glendon - Arresting Officer Lew Kelly - Man Jack LaRue - Ackerman Edward J. Le Saint - Chairman, Chamber of Commerce Walter Long - Blacksmith Charles B. Middleton - Train Conductor Dennis O'Keefe - Dance Extra William Pawley - Doggy Willard Robertson - Prison Commissioner Charles Sellon - Hot Dog Stand Owner Lee Shumway - Arresting Officer Harry Woods - Guard
Category : Film

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