''Each Dawn I Die'' is a 1939

gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

directed by

William Keighley William Jackson Keighley (August 4, 1889 – June 24, 1984) was an American stage actor and Hollywood film director. Career After graduating from the Ludlum School of Dramatic Art, Keighley began acting at the age of 23. By the 1910s and 1920 ...

and starring

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

and

George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...

. The plot of ''Each Dawn I Die'' involves a crusading reporter who is unjustly thrown in jail and befriends a famous gangster. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Jerome Odlum and the supporting cast features

Jane Bryan Jane Bryan (born Jane O'Brien, June 11, 1918 – April 8, 2009) was an American actress groomed by Warner Bros. to become one of its leading ladies but she chose to retire from acting in 1940 at age 22, after which she became a philanthropist an ...

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

, and

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...

Plot summary

Frank Ross is a crusading reporter for a big-city newspaper on the trail of a crooked

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

, Jesse Hanley, who is running for election as governor of the state. At the Banton Construction Co., Ross sees Hanley and his accomplice Grayce burning books and ledgers to thwart a possible investigation brought about by the paper that Ross works for. His editor Patterson backs Ross in getting Hanley but the D.A. decides to get rid of him, so frames him. Knocked out and covered in whiskey, he is put in a runaway car which collides with another, killing 3 young people and is thrown in prison for one to twenty years on a charge of automotive manslaughter. He meets a gangster, Stacey, who, as there is no death penalty in that state, is in for 199 years. They work in the twine-making room together and Stacey falls into Ross's debt when Ross doesn't implicate Stacey for a fellow inmate's stabbing that he thinks Stacey committed. Meanwhile, Ross's reporter friends outside are trying to help him win vindication by finding the real culprits but they are having no success. Stacey agrees to help Ross prove that he was framed if Ross helps him escape from a courthouse. They arrange that Stacey be named by Ross as guilty for killing of Limpy, another inmate and hated stool pigeon. Ross goes along with the plot, including a promise to tell no one about it, but antagonizes Stacey by tipping off his old newspaper, so that the court room is full of reporters. Stacey escapes by leaping from a window but makes no effort to find the real culprits who were responsible for Ross's predicament. Ross, meanwhile, is implicated in the escape and after being beaten up by brutal guards, spends five months in "the hole" refusing to betray Stacey. This is solitary confinement where prisoners are handcuffed to the bars in the dark and fed bread and water once a day. Ross, who has become a bad character, is promised a chance at parole by the warden (Bancroft) if he reforms, but Hanley has become governor and appointed Grayce to head the parole board. Grayce turns Ross down, meaning he must wait another five years before he can try again for parole. Stacey is shamed by Ross's reporter girlfriend, Joyce, into carrying out his promise. He finds the man who identified Ross and gets from him the name of the man who framed him: "Polecat", who just happens to be a

jailhouse informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...

widely disliked in the same prison. Stacey, impressed with Ross being a "square guy," decides to go back to prison to force Polecat to confess. Stacey instigates a prison breakout as part of his plan and orders the prisoners to bring along Polecat. A vicious prison guard is killed and the warden and some of his men held as hostages, but the National Guard have been sent for and block the escape with machine guns, gas and hand grenades. Freed from the hole as part of the escape, Stacey forces Polecat to confess to framing Ross with the warden and his men as witnesses to vindicate Ross. All of the escaping convicts are killed, including the badly wounded Stacey, who forces Polecat to go with him and be killed so that he cannot recant his confession. Governor Hanley and Grayce are indicted for murder and Ross is freed.

Cast

as Frank Ross *

as "Hood" Stacey *

as Joyce Conover *

as Warden John Armstrong *

Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

as Convict Fargo Red *

Stanley Ridges Stanley Charles Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was an English-born, American actor who made more than 100 appearances in theatre and movies from 1917 to 1951. After his American film debut in '' Success'' (1923), he appeared in films ...

as Meuller * Alan Baxter as Carlisle *

as W.J. Grayce * John Wray as Pete Kassock *

Edward Pawley Edward Joel Pawley (March 16, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri – January 27, 1988 in Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley; he never ...

as Dale *

Willard Robertson Willard Robertson (January 1, 1886 – April 5, 1948) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas, and died in Hollywood, California. Biography Robertson first w ...

as Lang *

Emma Dunn Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions. Career Emma Dunn appeared onstage in ...

as Mrs. Ross *

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

as Garsky *

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sour ...

as Joe Lassiter *

Joe Downing Joe Downing (June 26, 1903 in New York City, New York – October 16, 1975 in Canoga Park, California) was an American stage, TV and B-movie actor who made more than 70 appearances. Downing's early acting experience included work with the Thea ...

as Limpy Julien *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as Jesse Hanley *

William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ...

as Bill Mason *

Clay Clement Clay Clement (May 19, 1888 – October 20, 1956) was an American stage, film, and TV actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1918 and 1947. Clement was one of the earliest members of the Screen Actors Guild.Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1915 and 1958. Biography Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the ...

as the Judge *

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

as Temple

Production

George Raft in Invisible Stripes trailer

The novel was published in 1938. Film rights were bought by Warners who announced it as a vehicle for James Cagney. Edward G. Robinson was discussed as a possible co-star. Robinson was then replaced by John Garfield and

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

was going to direct. Eventually Curtiz was replaced by William Keighley.

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

was going to replace Garfield - as the reporter with Cagney to play the gangster. MacMurray became unavailable so

Jeffrey Lynn Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. Thr ...

was tested. Eventually George Raft signed to make the movie. He swapped roles so he played the gangster and Cagney played the reporter. ''Each Dawn I Die'' costars Raft and Cagney in their only movie together as leads. Raft had made an unbilled but memorable appearance in a 1932 Cagney vehicle called ''

Taxi! ''Taxi!'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young. The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet: "Come ...

'' in which he won a dance contest against Cagney, after which he and Cagney brawl. Raft also very briefly "appeared" in Cagney's boxing drama '' Winner Take All'' (1932), in a flashback sequence culled from Raft's 1929 film debut ''

Queen of the Night Clubs ''Queen of the Night Clubs'' is a 1929 American Pre-Code musical drama film produced and directed by Bryan Foy, distributed by Warner Bros., and starred legendary nightclub hostess Texas Guinan. The picture, which featured appearances by Eddi ...

'' starring

Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933) was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a st ...

Reception

Critical

''Filmink'' magazine said "Raft's performance is electric – tightly wound, dialogue trimmed, using his eyes."

Box office

The film was one of Warner Bros most popular films in 1939. According to Warner Bros records it earned $1,111,000 domestically and $459,000 foreign. It led to George Raft being offered a long-term contract by Warner Bros.Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013 p 84

References

External links

*
''Each Dawn I Die''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

* *
Review of film
at Variety
The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:''..Each Dawn I Die''
{{William Keighley 1939 films 1939 crime films 1930s prison films American black-and-white films American crime films American prison films 1930s English-language films Films about journalists Films about organized crime in the United States Films directed by William Keighley Films scored by Max Steiner Warner Bros. films 1930s American films