Director Mervyn LeRoy was Warner Bros. Studios' most prolific filmmaker, having directed three of the studio's top films in the 1930s, including Little Caesar (1930), I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, and They Won't Forget (1937).

Take a look at the actor playing Bomber Wells, the old-timer who helps Muni escape the second time. His name is Edward Ellis, and in 1934, his thin frame would help christen a beloved detective series, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. Ellis plays the title character in The Thin Man (1934), the subject of William Powell's murder investigation.

The book on which I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang is based was ghostwritten by Robert Burns' brother, the Reverend Vincent G. Burns, an Episcopal priest in New Jersey. In 1938, Reverend Burns, sued his fugitive sibling for claiming all the money received from the original story of the production.

I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang was not Paul Muni's screen debut. He was nominated for an Oscar for his very first role in The Valiant (1929).

Which cast member in I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang had the most unusual background? Try Preston Foster; he plays the crook who implicates Muni in the diner robbery. Foster dabbled in professional wrestling before breaking into show business as a singer with the Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company in Philadelphia.

The actress who plays the role of Alice is Sally Blane. Born Elizabeth Jane Young, Blane is sister to movie star Loretta Young.

For his part in the making of I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, production chief Jack Warner said the film's social message was "the first sermon I had ever put on film."

by Scott McGee

Memorable Quotes From I AM A FUGITIVE ON A CHAIN GANG

Pete: I'm hungry. What would you say to a hamburger?
James Allen: What would I say to a hamburger? Boy. I'd take Mr. Hamburger by the hand and say, "Pal, I haven't seen you for a long, long time."

James Allen: Do you mind if we stay here awhile, or must you go home?
Helen: There are no musts in my life. I'm free, white and twenty-one.

James Allen: You see, the army changes a fellow. Kinda makes you think different. I don't want to be spending the rest of my life answering a factory whistler instead of a bugle call. I'll be couped up in a shipping room all day. I want to do something worthwhile.

James: I've been through hell. Folks here are concerned with my uniform. How I dance. I'm out of step with everybody.

James: I've learned that life is more important than a medal on my chest or a stupid, insignificant job.

The Bomber (to James): Grease, fried dough, pig fat and sorghum...and you better get to like it cause you're gonna get the same thing every morning, every year.

James (after being slugged by a guard for pausing during his rock quarry detail): "I was just wiping the sweat off my face.
Guard: Well, ya got it knocked off.

James: Doesn't a man ever break loose?
Prisoner: You mean hang it on a limb? There's too many breaks against you. Ya gotta beat the chains, the bloodhounds and guards who'd just as soon bring you back dead.

Linda (to James): A guy with your nerves has got the breaks coming to him.

James: Marie, I appreciate all you've done for me but I couldn't love you. I can't change my feelings toward you any more than I can change the color of my eyes.

Helen: You're a strange, moody person. You need somebody to pull you out of those doldrums.
James: Are you applying for that job?
Helen: I might consider it.
James: You're hired.

Marie: You're gonna be a big shot someday with plenty of sugar and I'm gonna ride along. Got that? I'm no fool. I'd be a sucker to let you go now.

The Bomber (to James): Boy, if you think those other chain gangs are tough, wait'll you get a load of this joint. These were the guys that were too tough for the chain gang.

James: I'll be a model prisoner if it kills me.

Helen: How do you live?
James Allen: I steal.