Road Gang

This is a great little film. I found it to be heartbreaking to watch, because things like this did happen in the South in the past. Donald Woods and Carlyle Moore, Jr.(one of my favorite unsung actors) are excellent in this film. This film is always compared to "I Was A Fugitive From A Chain Gang" and although the comparison is unfair, it is still a great film to watch.

This is a pretty rough, tough, gritty drama exposing the road gang conditions. Of course, the movie buffs will compare it with Mervyn Le Roy's I WAS A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG; not exactly the same story but at least the same realistic depiction of what prison camps were in those times. Louis King was a pretty good director but maybe lacked ambition to be the the equal of his brother Henry. This is not a crime film, despite the prison, road gang scheme, but a solid drama that should not be despised, because of being a B movie. This is a pure little gem, don't make the mistake to underestimate it.

The was one of many Warner Bros. movies of the 30's about abysmal prison conditions and social injustice due to political corruption. It's a B picture without any big stars, but easy to watch, with Donald Woods as the reporter framed by Joe King and Henry O'Neill for trying to expose their corruption. I had a hard time accepting O'Neill as a baddie since he almost always plays a congenial sort. The prison scenes were excellent, especially with Harry Cording (the guard with the whip) making a terrific heavy. I also enjoyed seeing Marc Lawrence uncharacteristically playing a friendly convict.

Since I'm interested in credits, there were two items I noted. First, Joe King's character name is listed as Moett, but the AFI Catalogue mentioned that contemporary reviews listed his name as Metcalfe. His name is altered in the soundtrack at least a dozen times, where the "calfe" is blanked out, and it is very noticeable. Why the change was made is not known. Second, when the police radio dispatcher Frank Faylen reports about jailer Tom Manning's death, he says his name is "Bill Huber." But when you see the name in the newspaper, it is "W.B. Hefflin." Our forgetful filmmakers strike again!

Framed for crimes they did not commit, two young men are sentenced to five years at hard labor on a Southern prison's brutal ROAD GANG.

Here is a fine example of the type of crime film which Warner Bros. produced so well. Although there are no big stars in the film, the acting is generally good, the stifling atmosphere is well maintained and the production values - especially in the prison camp/mine sequences - are of a high standard.

Donald Woods makes a sturdy, stalwart hero; made to endure various humiliations & punishments, he never wavers in his fight for justice. This is quite typical of the fine performances Woods gave during his career. Kay Linaker is enjoyable as his courageous fiancée.

The film is sparked by a handful of noteworthy performances among the large cast: Carlyle Moore Jr. as Woods faithful, tragic buddy; Henry O'Neill as a slick, utterly corrupt politician; Edward Van Sloan as a shyster lawyer; Olin Howlin as the lethargic prison doctor; and Charles Middleton as the Blackfoot Mine's vile warden.

ROAD GANG was a partial re-make of Warner's' hit film from four years earlier, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932), starring Paul Muni. In the days of the studio factory system, when churning out one picture after another in an almost endless supply was vitally important, it was not at all unusual to recycle the plots of successful A movies. The B pictures department would change elements here & there (ROAD GANG has a much happier ending than the Muni film), and release an entirely new picture, hoping for another winner. This was the first film scripted by the young Dalton Trumbo, destined to be famous for more than just his celebrated screenwriting abilities.

A reporter uncovers a network of corruption that extends to the penthouses and prisons of a southern state.

MGM may have gussied up the Depression era with glamorous escapism, but not so Warner Bros. WB liked to say their stories were ripped from the headlines of the day. Their writers operated from street level and not the penthouse top, as this programmer clearly shows. Prison conditions could be abominable at a time when tax monies had dried up along with businesses. Thus prison movies like the best known one, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (932), were popular with straitened audiences of the day.

There are many good touches in Road Gang—the pin-pricked message, the tumbling coal stope, the artful safe-cracker. Note too, how the scheme reporter Larrabee (Woods) uncovers goes all the way to the top. I'm sure audiences of the day enjoyed indicting the rich and powerful. Nonetheless, the movie lacks the fire needed to lift it from the merely routine. Woods is sturdy and likable, but lacks the intensity needed to drive the plot in a memorable way. Also, that superb villain Charles Middleton (mine boss) curiously underplays his key role, such that no sparks are lit there, either. My guess is that director King was not much engaged with the material. His story direction is competent, but nothing more. Thus the narrative unfolds in interesting but not gripping fashion, which I suspect is why it's omitted from Maltin's film guide. Too bad WB didn't get Cagney for the lead role or Mike Curtiz to direct it.