The Making and Influence of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Author | : Scott Allen Nollen |
Publisher | : McFarland |
Total Pages | : 226 |
Release | : 2016-10-06 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780786466771 |
ISBN-13 | : 0786466774 |
Rating | : 4/5 (71 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Robert E. Burns, a World War I veteran coerced into taking part in a petty crime in Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to hard labor on a chain gang in 1922. Twice escaping and on the lam for decades, he was aided only by his minister-poet brother, Vincent G. Burns. Their collaborative work, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! was the basis for Darryl F. Zanuck's and Mervyn Leroy's hard-hitting 1932 film adaptation from Warner Bros. This book traces the making and influence of the film--which launched a string of imitators--and the Burns brothers' efforts to obtain a pardon for Robert, which never came.