Brother, can you spare some popcorn? Nov 12, 2008
Contrast that to gritty 1930s hits like I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and Public Enemy, which wallowed in social realism and ripped-from-the-headlines issues. The difference between now and then, of course, is television; if youve watched bombings and mournful Wall Street types on cable news all day, why pay another 10 bucks to see them on the big screen. (MSNBC -- Politics)
Shedding light on dark times Oct 23, 2008
The last time there was such a Depression, the place once known as Hollywood produced I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, Footlight Parade, My Man Godfrey, Man's Castle, Mr Deeds Goes To Town, The Grapes Of Wrath, Dead End, Our Daily Bread and City Lights. There's no need to argue whether all of those films are great, but they all confront the fact that millions of people in the 1930s were facing the hardships of poverty. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
"YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS" Sep 7, 2008
Unlike, say, Paramount movies, which had a Park Avenue drawing-room feel, or MGM's epics and musicals, the classic Warners productions had dirt under their fingernails, and you can draw a line, as Schickel and Perry do, from "Little Ceasar" to "I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" to "Casablanca" to "Mildred Pierce" to "Rebel Without a Cause" to "Cool Hand Luke" to "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Dog Day Afternoon" to "GoodFellas." Even Hitchcock, when he was working for Warners, made films "about plain,... (New York Post -- Opinions)
The Escapist UK Review Jun 26, 2008
UK, June 24, 2008 - The world of prison has been a fertile breeding ground for some great cinema down the years; the socially conscious '30s classic I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang; the stylish '70s star-drive escape-fests Cool Hand Luke and Escape from Alcatraz and seminal '90s buddy movie The Shawshank Redemption all used the setting to craft thrilling drama. The wealth of cracking jail flicks however means it has been difficult for filmmakers to approach the subject and a) say anything new... (IGN FilmForce)
Pre-code Hollywood Mar 8, 2008
This resulted in the production of hugely popular, and violent, gangster movies like 1931's ''Little Caesar'' and ''The Public Enemy'' and socially conscious films depicting prison brutality, such as 1932's ''I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang. . (Pocatello Idaho State Journal, ID)
"Michael Clayton," Oct 6, 2007
The muckraking social drama has a long, proud tradition in American movies, from "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" to "Norma Rae" to The pleasures of movies like these are simple and straightforward: When we know we're on the right side of the argument, it's deliciously gratifying to see the bad guys get it. That's the essential appeal of Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton." Although Gilroy isn't new to filmmaking -- he wrote or co-wrote the scripts for all three Bourne films, "The Bourne... (Salon)
