Each Dawn I Die

Plot summary

Frank Ross (Cagney) is a crusading reporter for a big-city newspaper on the trail of a crooked district attorney, Jesse Hanley, who is running for election as governor of the state. At the Banton Construction Co., Ross sees Hanley and his accomplice Grayce (Jory) 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 (Raft), 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 saves him from a knife thrown by another inmate. 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. He 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 (Jane Bryan), to carry out his promise. He finds the man who "fingered" Ross and gets from him the name of the man who framed him: "Polecat", who just happens to be a jailhouse informant 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.

Production

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 was going to direct.

Eventually Curtiz was replaced by William Keighley. Fred MacMurray was going to replace Garfield - as the reporter with Cagney to play the gangster. MacMurray became unavailable so Jeffrey Lynn was tested. Eventually George Raft signed to make the movie. He swapped roles so he played the gangster and Cagney played the reporter.

Reception

The film was one of Warner Bros most popular films in 1939. It led to George Raft being offered a long term contract by Warner Bros.