I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

Based on a true story, a Depression-era drama following the return of WWI veteran James Allen into a brutal Southern prison, after he's falsely accused of theft. Warner Brothers won box office success and a reputation for hard-hitting social commentary: Allen's prison life was so harrowingly realistic that massive chain gang reforms were instituted as a result and the character upon whom Allen was based was eventually pardoned. (official distributor synopsis)