Frank Ross (James Cagney), a newspaperman who vows to expose political corruption, breaks a story which reveals the great graft among the city's elected officials. Though Jesse Hanley, who is running for governor, insists that a retraction be printed, Ross refuses, an act for which the hoodlums intend to make him pay dearly. Knocking Frank unconscious, the thugs douse him in booze and then put him in a car, which they send careening into a high traffic area. Three people are killed, and though Frank insists he was framed and was neither drunk nor driving the car, he is found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 1-20 years in the penetentiary.
Entering prison, Frank is confident that his newspaper friends will be able to find evidence which proves his innocence; he is sure that his stay there won't be a long one. However, things don't go as planned, and when months go by and Frank is no closer to proving his innocence than on day one, he begins to change. Eventually, as he experiences the brutality of the guards, he begins to think and act like a convict. His only hope is to throw in his lot with hardened criminal, Stacey (George Raft), a repeat offender with connections on the outside.
With Frank's help, Stacey is sure he can bust out, and after he has done so, he promises to track down those responsible for framing Frank. But will Stacey, who doesn't care about or trust anyone, give a second thought to Frank's predicament after he has reached freedom? Will Frank ever be exonerated? Will those responsible for Frank's imprisonment ever be brought to justice? Those are the questions that play out in this exciting prison drama.
Each Dawn I Die is a bold and exciting film, and the performances of both James Cagney and George Raft are spectacular. I loved seeing these "bad boy gangster" actors together in a film; though Mr. Raft had appeared in a couple early 30's Cagney films, this one is the only one in which they shared the lead. And, wow, what a team they were!! Their brilliant performances are what take this film from 4 to 5 stars. Jane Bryan, who portrayed Frank Ross's girlfriend, was quite good in her role as well.
As an aside, I learned from watching a James Cagney biography, that gangster roles were not his favorites; far and away, he preferred his song and dance movies (Yankee Doodle Dandy, Something to Sing About, The West Point Story, etc.) and viewed gangster films as simply a way to pay the bills. Even though these roles weren't his favorite, though, he still gave them his all and was totally sensational in them.
Out on DVD, Each Dawn I Die should be very easy to track down. James Cagney and George Raft fans will love it, I'm sure.
Happy viewing!!