The chain gang was a great topic for classic-era US cinema -- think "I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang", "Sullivan's Travels", "The Defiant Ones", "Cool Hand Luke". But there seems to have been no genre that Sam Katzman couldn't make listless and un-fun. And this is a prime lesson in how to make a lousy movie out of material with so much potential.
The plot starts out OK. A crusading reporter sets out to prove that the states chain gangs are a scandal and a racket, and doesn't let the fact he's dating the head racketeer's daughter get in the way of his daring investigations. Indeed, the writers of the movie actually find a new angle -- the reporter gets a job as a guard in one of the camps, and actually, at one point, whips an inmate to keep up the disguise. But, even early on, we know we're in trouble -- because the acting is flat, the cinematography TV-like, and the characters behave without a lick of sense. Later, the stupid developments pile up -- my favorite being that the newspaper starts running the expose, along with pictures taken with his OSS style camera/cigarette lighter BEFORE our hero quits his job as guard.
Dumb plotting, monotone acting and uninspired camera-work are hardly unusual in the B-film. What makes this one (and many other Katzman films) stand out is how joyless an enterprise this is. Nobody in these movies shows a bit of inspiration, or even a deliriously wacko Ed Wood moment. Nor, frankly, in a movie featuring prisoner floggings, extensive government corruption, and attempted murder by government officials is there even really much outrage. The movie is all very assembly line, proudly worse than average, but certain of earning back its negative cost.
The plot starts out OK. A crusading reporter sets out to prove that the states chain gangs are a scandal and a racket, and doesn't let the fact he's dating the head racketeer's daughter get in the way of his daring investigations. Indeed, the writers of the movie actually find a new angle -- the reporter gets a job as a guard in one of the camps, and actually, at one point, whips an inmate to keep up the disguise. But, even early on, we know we're in trouble -- because the acting is flat, the cinematography TV-like, and the characters behave without a lick of sense. Later, the stupid developments pile up -- my favorite being that the newspaper starts running the expose, along with pictures taken with his OSS style camera/cigarette lighter BEFORE our hero quits his job as guard.
Dumb plotting, monotone acting and uninspired camera-work are hardly unusual in the B-film. What makes this one (and many other Katzman films) stand out is how joyless an enterprise this is. Nobody in these movies shows a bit of inspiration, or even a deliriously wacko Ed Wood moment. Nor, frankly, in a movie featuring prisoner floggings, extensive government corruption, and attempted murder by government officials is there even really much outrage. The movie is all very assembly line, proudly worse than average, but certain of earning back its negative cost.