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.

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.

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.

Road Gang (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

"B" picture from Warner about a reporter (Donald Woods) trying to bring down a dirty politician but before he can he along with a friend and set-up and thrown into a corrupt prison system. Once there the reporter sees the abuse that prisoners are receiving so he sets out to do something about it. This here is obviously just a low-budget rip on I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG and while it's nowhere nearly as great as that film, on its own this here remains mildly entertaining. The best thing is that it barely clocks in at a hour, which means were just given a bunch of fast-paced action. The film really doesn't have too much to say as it just goes through the motions and delivers the action. A lot of credit has to go to Woods who manages to keep the viewer interested in his character and this here helps keeps us entertained in the film. The supporting cast also features Kay Linaker as the girlfriend, Carlyle Moore, Jr. as the best friend and small roles from Henry O'Neill, Joe King and Edward Van Sloan. At just over a hour there's really not too much "story" here but that's pretty much what you'd expect from a film like this. It's main purpose was to entertain and it does a good job at that. One strange thing is that there's some editing to the soundtrack because one character is being addressed by a certain name (Moett) and this character is listen in the credits under this name. However, it's clear that the other characters are calling him by a different name (Metcalf) so why the edited soundtrack appears to be a mystery.

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!