Each Dawn I Die

Nothing special about the story here. It had its suspenseful moments, but goofily whitewashed ones as well. Cagney and Raft are great and worth watching.

Pretty good melodrama about an innocent man who goes to prison and almost loses his mind while witnessing the treatment he and the other prisoners receive. James Cagney is decent but goes way over board in a couple scenes and the ending is kind of cool in a forced Hollywood happy ending kind of way.

Cagney and Raft have better romantic chemistry than most late 30s starlets could manage. Fun stuff, though pretty predictable thanks to the Production Code.

Prison didn't look so bad here, especially with the honorable guys in it. Cagney and Raft both put in strong performances and they have good chemistry. The whole setup is pretty conceited. It was really cheesy when Cagney groveled at the parole hearing. I didn't realize the National Guard deployed grenades and machine guns at a prison riot. Fav scenes: Raft's escape by jumping onto a truck and then the girlfriend convincing Raft that Cagney was loyal.

Cagney is wound up like a tight little spring in this one. He starts out scrappy and defiant, and as his chances of being exonerated start to fade, he becomes increasingly mean, spiteful and out of control. It's an awe-inspiring performance that has him bouncing between angry monologues and fits of crying. Still ... he's kind of the voice of reason in this film.

This contains some moralizing about the low road of crime and an improbably benevolent prison warden character - elements which make it pale in comparison to, say, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. But the fact that a film about municipal corruption and a fraudulent justice system was allowed at all under the Code is pretty amazing, and Cagney and Raft each do their thing and do it well.

Each Dawn I Die (1939) is a cleaned-up prison movie, but with an phenomenal cast totally brushing off any shortcomings in the script. Gives goosebumps watching James Cagney slow-burn breakdown behind bars. George Raft is pretty cool as well in his slick criminal way. And Warner Bros leave very little sympathy for the authority for their unjust treatment of prisoners, giving good reason for frustrations rising among the lost souls. Results in a very satisfying tragedy!

Classic prison yarn about a wrongly convicted inmate finding an unconventional way to prove his innocence.

Both James Cagney and George Raft are in fine form here. There are some great scenes in the prison. Cagney gets to go on an emotional roller coaster ride.

Cagney is at his brash energetic best, but Raft is also great. Every other part I've seen him in he's been his famously stonefaced self, but here he brings a whole hatful of pizzazz and style to the role.

Sappy and tedious prison drama.