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Which real-life account inspired I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang?
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The 1932 film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, was based on the autobiography of Robert E. Burns.1
Burns, who served as a consultant on the film, was a real-life fugitive who had been sentenced to a chain gang in Georgia. While the film depicts a tragic, ongoing struggle for the protagonist, the real-life Burns eventually found sanctuary in New Jersey. He later returned to Georgia after a reformist governor intervened, and his sentence was ultimately commuted in 1945.1