SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

classicsoncall Hmm... I seem to be detecting a pattern here. With over two hundred film shorts to his credit, it's not surprising that director Roy Mack would go to the well more than once for the same idea. Trouble is, I seem to be catching them all in a row. In this case, I'm referring to a gimmick in the story turning out to be nothing more than a dream sequence of one of the principal characters. Catching a whole slew of these film shorts on TCM the past week, I've already seen "Soft Drinks and Sweet Music" and "Good Morning, Eve", both of which also disclosed events as a dream at the finale. Oh well, let's just go with the flow.So what we have here is a quintet of prisoners making a break for it from a chain gang while the inept prison guards don't seem particularly interested in catching them. Almost every other reviewer here mentions the posse using poodles and a collie to track the bad guys, but having been a Maltese owner for quite a few years, those 'poodles' looked suspiciously like Maltese dogs, or perhaps their close cousins, Bichon Frise. I can pretty safely say those dogs wouldn't have tracked anyone other than their owners! After their escape, the story zeroes in on one of the convicts named Jerry (Jerry Bergen) who makes it home to his wife. But after spending some not-so quality time with the Mrs., the 'dirty little fugitive' (wife's description, not mine) high tails it back to the swamp to hook back up with his chain gang buddies, who presumably have the same idea - let's break back into the hoosegow! You see, the warden is making some adjustments in order to pass muster with a governor's representative who'll be arriving soon to report on prison conditions.For what it is, this short is an amusing but non-sensical tale at least made lively by a bevy of dance hall beauties near the finale. But it wouldn't be long before the inmates would have to trade in their striped tuxes for real life back on the chain gang. That's about the time Jerry woke up!

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . will strike many as being in poor taste. Some have said that the "Springtime for Hitler" portion of Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS crosses a line by indirectly lampooning SCHINDLER'S LIST. Since CHAIN GANG gave Adolf Eichmann and his Nazi cronies many tips from the government of Georgia (the U.S. Southern state--NOT the former part of the U.S.S.R.) for the planning of Auschwitz and the other Death Camps a few years later, this Vitaphone live action short--which segues from actual CHAIN GANG footage into the most gonzo-style mocking of America's Fascist Past--is akin to lampooning Kiddie Porn. Adults should be smart enough to know that you just don't do it! The only useful purpose to which 20,000 CHEERS FOR THE CHAIN GANG can be put in a 21st Century World is to help separate the sheep from the goats (as in the middle portion of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE). After suspects have had their eyes taped open, they would be forced to watch the Paul Muni feature first. That would be followed by this travesty of bad humor. Any suspect who emitted a single snicker, titter, or chuckle during CHEERS would then be locked up for life. Society must rid itself of such Sociopaths!

Michael_Elliott 20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang (1933)** (out of 4) During the 1930s Warner was known for their hard-hitting social dramas and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG was one of their greatest. This two-reeler is a spoof of that film and centers on a group of chain gang workers who grow tired of the horrid conditions so they decide to escape. Soon afterwards they get word that the prison has made some terrific changes so the men decided they want to break back in. 20,000 CHEERS FROM A CHAIN GANG has a pretty good title but that's about the only good thing going for it. It wasn't rare for Warner to spoof their features in their short films so this here certainly isn't anything new but at the same time very little is done with it. There are a few funny moments scattered throughout the film including one bit where the men are being chased by the dogs but the dogs turn out to be poodles and other non-threatening breeds. Another funny moment happens when the men try to break their chains but have a few issues. With that said, there are several moments that simply aren't funny and at times the film just comes across very boring and flat. This includes the entire second half of the picture where we see all the "changes" that were made but I assure you none of them will add any entertainment value.

Brandt Sponseller This is a 20-minute long spoof of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), directed by Roy Mack and starring Jerry Bergen. It is now available on DVD as an extra on I Am a Fugitive.Because this is also a Warner Brothers production, Mack actually begins with a shot, under the titles, from I Am a Fugitive--of the chain gang working along a curved dirt road on a hill. It segues right away to the main character's existence in the chain gang, and spoofs the scene of James Allen's (Paul Muni) escape. Bergen's character, also named Jerry, runs through the woods with three other men. Instead of bloodhounds, the prison guards run after them with poodles and a Lassie-like collie. Eventually, state officials are scheduled to visit the chain gang facility to make sure that everything is kosher. The warden implements "a few changes". The changes are very amusing, as they turn the prison into more of a resort/country club.20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang is best watched immediately after I Am a Fugitive. Many of the funniest scenes work because of the changes they make to the original film. However, there is a hilarious original "soda song" (which I would suspect might have been spoofing an early theatrical commercial) that supplies our heroes with the straws they will need for hiding in the swamp, and later on, 20,000 Cheers becomes something of a vaudeville review.At times, 20,000 Cheers plays a bit seriously--I didn't know anything about it when I first started watching it and thought it might have been just another chain gang film, and some of the musical performances are fairly serious. But the straighter moments are just as enjoyable, and they help emphasize the comedy. Quite often, the humor depends on gradually pulling serious material more and more towards absurdism.The only downside to this short is that there's not more of it. It's good enough that a feature length spoof of I Am a Fugitive would have worked well.