Road Gang

Donald Woods and Carlyle Moor, Jr. get railroaded into prison after being taken along on a jail break and being held hostage by the man really escaping. They get five years for the crime.

The film was done by Warner Brotherrs which did that best of all prison films, I Was Fugitive From, A Chain Gang. Road Gang is a smaller more compact version of the classic. It truly delivers the goods.

It's also set in a northern state. I guess that's to sooth any feathers ruffled by the former film showing the north could have brutal prisons also.

Woods who is sometimes bland on the screen is pretty powerful here. Check this one out.

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.

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.

This is one of those "B" films that doesn't get much airplay but show up periodically to my delight as an avid aficionado of "B" movies. A solid cast of second leads and character actors....Donald Woods, Henry O'Neil, Charles Middleton and a very young Marc Lawrence. It mirrors "I Was A Fugitive From a Chain Gang", the Paul Muni "A" list movie of that time in that it deals with the conditions of southern prisons in the 20's and 30's An interesting sidelight to this movie which was mentioned by the preceding reviewer....the post-dubbing of the character Moett's name. In the film,it is obviously "Metcalf" but has been post-dubbed to "Moett". I have searched extensively for the reason but can't find out why this was done. I would recommend it to anyone who loves the "B" movies....low budget, hackneyed dialogue and last minute reprieves....it's the stuff "B"'s were made of!

This film was made by the B-movie unit at First National/Warner Brothers. Because it's a B, it only lasts about an hour and stars a relative unknown, Donald Woods. However, although many folks normally assume that a B-movie is synonymous with a 'bad movie', this is DEFINITELY not the case with this movie. Thanks to exceptional writing and direction, the film sure satisfies.

This film is from the social reform era in Hollywood. Many films were made by this studio which questioned the penal system--such as "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang", "Mayor of Hell", "20,000 Years in Sing Sing" and "Angels With Dirty Faces". In this same tradition is "Road Gang"--a film not just about government corruption but corruption in the chain gang system.

A crusading reporter has gotten on the wrong side of a bunch of crooked politicians. They try to bribe him to keep his mouth shut but he vows to bring down the corrupt officials. So, shortly after this meeting with the crooks, this reporter (Woods) is convicted on trumped up charges along with his friend. They are sent to a brutal chain gang--one that is run by people working for the same crooked machine. The plan is to work the two to death so that they never can have a chance to publish anything. And, when the newspaper man tries to smuggle out a story about the brutality, he's sent to an even worse place--a place where they have no intention of allowing anyone to see him again. What's next? See the film.

This film works on so many levels. The dialog is great, the plot works very well and the film really gets its point across. On top of that, it has a really good ending. This film has it all--and is better than you'd ever expect from a tiny-budgeted movie.