Each Dawn I Die

Trailer—Each Dawn I Die

Folks, It doesn't get much better than "Each Dawn I Die" with James Cagney and George Raft... This is one of my top-5 all-time gangster / prison films from the golden era of Hollywood film-making... I thought James Cagney, George Raft, George Bancroft and Jane Bryan were just terrific in this film... I can watch this movie three or four times a year, depending on my mood and state of mind... I never seem to grow tired of this film... Probably never will, either.... I am much more into the tough guy and mobster roles' actors like Cagney, Bogie, Robinson & George Raft made in their peak years in Hollywood... I never was big on Musicals' or Song and Dance films..... The years between 1930 to 1950 are no doubt my favorite years of classic film-making..... "Gangster & Horror" were at their best.... MR.BILL Raleigh

William Keighley directed this memorable prison drama that stars Jimmy Cagney as newspaper investigative reporter Frank Ross, who was looking into political corruption and racketeering when he is knocked out, then framed for manslaughter after they make it look like he was a drunk driver. Frank at first handles this injustice with his head held high, but despite his paper's determination to prove his innocence, he grows increasingly bitter and despondent as time passes, and he is subjected to isolation. He does befriend gangster Stacy(played by George Raft) whom he helps escape to prove him innocent, but that help comes at a high price... Well-acted and compelling film may not be entirely realistic, but viewer will likely overlook that because of the storytelling skill on display here, and features one of Cagney's best performances.

Investigative reporter Frank Ross (James Cagney) writes a take down story on crooked D.A. Jesse Hanley who is running for governor. He gets kidnapped and framed by Hanley for a drunk driving incident which killed 3 people. He is sentenced to 20 years of hard labor but expects to be vindicated. He befriends lifer inmate Hood Stacey (George Raft). It's a long fight for freedom. There is great work from Cagney and Raft. It's a solid crime prison WB drama. It is plenty brutal but not always realistic. One could pull the little threads but that wouldn't be the point. It's a popcorn flick.

Raft and Cagney, in their only appearance together, doing what they did best. While the plot of this film noir is a little contrived, aren't they all, the pleasure watching true greats perform is a joy and a pleasure.

Prison classic. Even in 1939 this must have been predictable. But James Cagney and George Raft keep this prison yarn on its feet. A top notch newspaper reporter(Cagney)is railroaded into a prison sentence on a trumped up murder charge. Even with help on the inside from a slick convict(Raft)it is just too hard to prove his innocence to the warden(George Bancroft). This busy crime drama also features: Maxie Rosenbloom, Victor Jory, Emma Dunn, Stanley Ridges and John Wray. The melodrama is a little thick and most characters are over acted, but this is still too good of a flick to pass up.

Although innocent, reporter Frank Ross (James Cagney) is found guilty of murder and is sent to jail. While his friends at the newspaper try to find out who framed him, Frank gets hardened by prison life and his optimism turns into bitterness. He meets fellow-inmate Stacey (George Raft) and they decide to help each other. Rather than be the good guy ("G Men") or the bad guy ("Public Enemy"), here we have Cagney as an innocent newspaper reporter framed and then sent to prison, where he becomes a little bit hardened. Maybe not quite a bad guy, but not really the good guy, either. It is a nice transformation, and an interesting commentary on prison life. I am not very familiar with George Raft (I actually know him more from reading Mafia history than from film), but if he is like he is here in other films, I need to see more George Raft.