Hell's Highway (1932)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Blistering performances.

One of only three films (all of them apparently very good) by Rowland Brown, who had more success as a screenwriter, this was released the same year as "I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang," and apparently its studio had to make some changes in order to avoid potential plagiarism litigation from Warner Brothers. But beyond also being set in a Southern prison work camp, it's very much its own distinctive film in story and style. The once highly popular, now largely forgotten Richard Dix is fine as the tough veteran convict dismayed when his hero-worshipping younger brother turns up as a fellow inmate, having glamorized his older sibling's outlaw machismo and severely under-estimating the potentially fatal hardships of being sentenced to such an establishment. Eventually there's an escape attempt, but that doesn't happen until late; most of "Hell's Highway" is concerned with everyday life in the prison camp, and despite its very economical running time, does an impressive job representing the diversity of personality/racial/et al. types amongst both convicts and staff. There's room for humor as well as blunt indictment (of an abusive for-profit prison labor system that's all too relevant today). It's one of those striking vintage movies that packs an unbelievable amount of well-thought-out ideas and drama into a compact package that seldom seems rushed or over-simplified. The only viewers who might be disappointed are those who are here for Rochelle Hudson--though second-billed, she only has one scene in a standard ingenue role, which makes sense this movie takes place in a brutal, self-contained world that has no use for women.

Burly bank robber Richard Dix (as Frank "Duke" Ellis) is about to proclaim "I am a fugitive from a chain gang!" when he sees little brother Tom Brown (as John "Johnny" Ellis) has been sentenced to a similar fate. In order to protect handsome young Mr. Brown from the abusive system, Mr. Dix elects to remain behind. Good thing, too, as his accomplices end up dead. Having witnessed John Arledge (as Joe Carter) die in the "Sweat-Box" makes Dix bargain with sadistic guards to keep Brown out of the death chamber.Brown, who received a relatively light sentence for confronting Dix' informer with a deadly weapon, is given a cushy office job. When he learns Dix is to be sent to prison for life, Brown decides to plan his brother's escape, putting both in danger... This RKO effort beat the similarly-themed Paul Muni picture to the box office punch, but eventually took second place on the "Chang Gang" circuit. "Hell's Highway" suffers in comparison, but holds up well on its own. Note, the studio altered the ending to leave their heroic star in a better place, after initial audiences balked at Dix' fate. But, some of the hard stuff remained. The wife of the "Pop-Eye" character played by Warner Richmond is likely whoring after several men. And, cook Eddie Hart (as Burgess) is obviously homosexual, and possibly servicing C. Henry Gordon (as "Blacksnake" Skinner).******* Hell's Highway (9/23/32) Rowland Brown ~ Richard Dix, Tom Brown, Charles Middleton, John Arledge

When viewing this film, you have to remember it was made in 1932, when Chain Gangs existed in the Southern section of our country. This is a very realistic depiction of what criminals had to face and the horrible treatment. Sing Sing is a picnic compared to what was portrayed in this film, and all the actors were great Classic performers on the Silver Sceen. Richard Dix,(Frank 'Duke' Ellis),"The Thirteenth Hour",'47, was a great star in the 1920's, 30's and 40's. Duke Ellis winds up with this chain gag and becomes the leader of the criminals. However, his son, Tom Brown,(John, Ellis),"The Choppers",'61 winds up in the same place as his father. The picture shows how the men are chained down at night and if they act up, they are put into a SWEAT BOX, which is something like what our Vetnam Vets had to endure. Great Classic film which is really hard to criticize, since it was made in 1932 !

This film isn't well known enough, and its reputation pales beside that of "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang." That being said, it should be noted that this film was released first and actually received fairly good notices. One can even speculate that Mervyn LeRoy may have seen it - there's one shot of chains being pulled through the shackles that is common to both films.Hell's Highway opens with newspaper stories depicting chain gang abuses - and unlike most films, it uses real newspapers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Richard Dix is "Duke" - a hardened criminal, not an innocent victim of injustice, but it's never mentioned if he's committed any crimes worse than bank robbery. Dix is better here than in some other films in which I've seen his over-emoting - such as "Cimarron" which I've found almost unwatchable. Early scenes in the film have Charles Middleton as Matthew - Ming the Merciless - as a character who seems to predate John Carradine's "Casey" in "The Grapes of Wrath" in being a rather touched preacher. He even resembles the lanky Carradine and coincidentally, Middleton also happens to appear in 1932's most famous chain gang film. Duke involves Matthew in a plan to aid his escape, but Duke turns back when he sees his younger brother Johnny (played by Tom Brown) has just arrived in the holding pen. While Duke tries to keep his sibling on the straight and narrow, he receives the wrath of his fellow prisoners who think that he's sold out to the screws. C. Henry Gordon, so memorable in a number of Charlie Chan films, is the primary villain, although Oscar Apfel's "Billings" - a contractor relying on convict labor is really the one setting policy. Wonder if he's the one who decided to have the prisoners wear large circular targets on their shirt backs, he's sure proud of his sweat box used for discipline.Although the story may now seem by-the-numbers, it must have been fresh in 1932 being the first film to depict the horrors of the chain gang. Although not as hard hitting as the Warner film, it's hardly as "viewer friendly" as the much later "Cool Hand Luke." RKO's film may not have broken a thousand chains as did the Warner classic, but it makes a great companion piece, and is one of the best examples of a rival studio attempting to tread on Warner territory. There are some quick cuts, which combined with the running time of only 62 minutes, that give the impression that the film may have been longer before release - Dix was too big a property for a programmer.