Chain Gang (1950 film)

Last updated
Chain Gang
Chain Gang (1950 film).jpg
Titular screenshot
Directed by Lew Landers
Written by Howard J. Green
Produced by Sam Katzman
Starring Douglas Kennedy
Marjorie Lord
Cinematography Ira H. Morgan
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • September 1, 1950 (1950-09-01)(San Francisco) [1]
  • September 28, 1950 (1950-09-28)(Los Angeles/New York) [2]
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Chain Gang is a 1950 American drama film directed by Lew Landers, [3] written by Howard J. Green and starring Douglas Kennedy [4] as a newspaper reporter who works undercover to expose political corruption and the exploitation of chain-gang labor. [5]

Contents

Plot

After a state senator's bill to abolish chain gangs is rejected by the legislature, reporter Cliff Roberts goes undercover as a guard in a chain-gang prison. Equipped with false employment records and a tiny microfilm camera disguised as a cigarette lighter, he tells everyone, including his girlfriend Rita McKelvey, a reporter for a rival newspaper, [6] that he is leaving for a fishing trip. Actually, his destination is Cloverdale Prison Farm, where he secures a job as a guard in order to investigate the circumstances surroundng a series of incidents that have left three inmates dead.

Roberts eventually learns that a guard captain, Duncan, is supplying cheap labor to a local business concern. The prisoners, who are ostensibly used for state business only, are being exploited by Rita's stepfather, entrepreneur John McKelvey, for his own private construction projects. Moreover, Roberts secretly witnesses and photographs prison conditions, including the capture of an escaped inmate who is punished with an overnight stay in the sweatbox. When a convict named Snead is accused of a minor offense, Captain Duncan orders Roberts to flog Snead at the whipping post. Later that evening, however, Roberts smuggles in food for Snead. He apologizes for the whipping and, in doing so, gains Snead's trust.

Roberts' secret photographs are published in the newspaper, angering McKelvey. [7] But when an inmate sees Roberts' photograph in McKelvey's house, the reporter's cover is blown. Snead escapes and Roberts joins him. [8] They outrun the guards and their bloodhounds across wilderness, but Roberts is shot and left for dead by Captain Duncan, [9] who later pins the blame on Snead. The wounded Roberts conceals himself, eventually gaining freedom and reuniting with Rita. Unfortunately, Snead is killed while still on the run, but McKelvey is charged with exploitation of convict labor for personal gain.

Cast

Production

Lew Landers was announced as the film's director in early May 1950. [10]

Reception

The film was first screened in San Francisco on September 1, 1950 as a second feature to The Desert Hawk . [1]

In a contemporary review for the New York Daily News , critic Dorothy Masters wrote: "There seems to be an unnecessary emphasis on each of the melodramatic maneuvers, but it's fairly safe to predict that Douglas Kennedy, who plays the reporter, will survive the opus and go on to better things." [2]

Home video

The film was issued on DVD in 2012 as part of the Sony Choice Collection. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 "De Carlo in Star Role". San Francisco Examiner . 1950-09-01. p. 12.
  2. 1 2 Masters, Dorothy (1950-11-29). "'Chain Gang' Duals With Durango Kid". New York Daily News . p. 76.
  3. ↑ American Cinematographer. ASC Holding Corporation. 1949.
  4. ↑ Bowker (1 May 1989). Variety's Film Reviews: 1949–1953. Bowker. ISBN   978-0-8352-2786-5.
  5. ↑ James Robert Parish (1991). Prison Pictures from Hollywood: Plots, Critiques, Casts and Credits for 293 Theatrical and Made-For-Television Releases. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-89950-563-3.
  6. ↑ Alan G. Fetrow (1999). Feature Films, 1950–1959: A United States Filmography. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-0427-8.
  7. ↑ "Chain Gang (1950, USA)". Prison Movies.
  8. ↑ AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. 1971. pp. 398–. ISBN   978-0-520-21521-4.
  9. ↑ Larry Langman; David Ebner (2001). Hollywood's Image of the South: A Century of Southern Films. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 177–. ISBN   978-0-313-31886-3.
  10. ↑ "Lew Landers Will Direct 'Chain Gang'". Los Angeles Times . p. 3, Part IV.
  11. ↑ Mavis, Paul. "Chain Gang (Sony Choice Collection)". DVD Talk.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.