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I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
Mervyn LeRoy | USA | 1932 | 72 min.

Based on a true story, this powerful Depression-era drama follows returning WWI veteran James Allen (Paul Muni) into a brutal Southern prison, after he's falsely accused of theft. Warner Brothers won box office success and a reputation for hard-hitting social commentary: Allen's prison life was so harrowingly realistic that massive chain gang reforms were instituted as a result and the character upon whom Allen was based was eventually pardoned. Now, 60 years later, chain gangs are being reintroduced. Alabama, Arizona and Florida are now using chain gangs, ignoring international human rights norms which prohibit degrading treatment of prisoners. Many other states around the country are seriously considering their reintroduction.

Shown at the 1996 Human Rights Watch Festival. Distributed by MGM Classics, Jim Jenegi, 1111 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, Tel: (310) 444-1545 Fax: (310) 312-3372.

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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL