Chain Gang - in Popular Media

In Popular Media

  • I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is an award-winning movie released in 1932, which depicted the degrading and inhumane treatment on chain gangs in the post–World War I era.
  • The 1950 Chain Gang starred Douglas Kennedy (actor) as a reporter working as a guard to expose corruption and brutality.
  • Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman.
  • O Brother, Where Art Thou? featured chain gangs.
  • Life – starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence and features them working on a chain gang.
  • Take the Money and Run – Woody Allen's 1969 mockumentary.
  • The episode "Unchained" in the television series Quantum Leap features protagonist Sam Beckett leaping into a chain gang to help a fellow prisoner escape.
  • In "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo, the character Jean Valjean is part of a chain gang as part of his punishment for stealing bread.
  • "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
  • Circa 1947, Woody Guthrie, Alec Seward, and Sonny Terry recorded several chain gang related songs including "Chain Gang Special", and several other older songs adapted to having chain gang themes. They were released on the Cleopatra compilation Best Of The War Years. Guthrie had also previously written other chain gang songs, including "Chain Around My Leg", which was released on the Library of Congress Recordings.
  • Soul singer Sam Cooke recorded a hit song in the 1960s called "Chain Gang" (also covered by Otis Redding). It was included in American singer/songwriter Jim Croce's "Chain Gang Medley" on the album "Down the Highway" in 1975. The Sam Cooke song was sampled and thematically expanded by the rapper Hell Razah on the song "Chain Gang" appearing on his 2007 album Renaissance Child.
  • Other songs entitled "Chain Gang" have been written and performed by Johnny Cash; Bobby Scott in the 1950s; and as a B-side song to The Blue Hearts' single "Kiss Shite Hoshii".
  • "Back on the Chain Gang" is a popular song from the Pretenders album Learning to Crawl.

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