Product Details

• Actors: James Cagney, George Raft, Mel Blanc, Arthur Q. Bryan, Jane Bryan
• Directors: Bobby Connolly, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, William Keighley
• Writers: Charles Perry, Crane Wilbur, Jack Miller, Jerome Odlum
• Format: Full Screen, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 18, 2006
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FI9OBI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,428 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Each Dawn I Die" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Although innocent reporter Frank Ross is found guilty of murder and is sent to jail. While his friends at the newspaper try to find out who framed him Frank gets hardened by prison life and his optimism turns into bitterness. He meets fellow-inmate Stacey and they decide to help each other.Running Time: 92 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569677388 Manufacturer No: 67738

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Throw me back in the hole, I can take it", July 16, 2000

By 

Vincent Tesi "Vinny" (Brick, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Each Dawn I Die [VHS] (VHS Tape)

William Keighley's Each Dawn I Die set the tone for the prison genre. Oz it is not, but for 1939, Each Dawn I Die presents viewer insights to the jargon, code of ethics, and behavior of hardened convicts. John Wray as Pete the prison guard barks through his lines like a rattled pit bull. George Raft, who seemed to be forever dressed in prison garb, plays Stacey a "lifer" who is sprung to aid newsreporter Ross (James Cagney) who has been framed for manslaughter. Cagney shows glimpses of his emotional explosiveness as Ross breaks down befoe a parole board. Raft is in prime form cooly delivering lines that would make Edward G. Robinson proud. The prison break scenes are shot and edited realistically and provide reference points for future prison films such as Brute Force and Caged. Still other scenes are highly improbable and mirorred in Hollywood fare. ( Stacey giving himself up in front of the penitentiary, and the warden's mushy sentimentality to name just two). These shortcomings restricted Each Dawn I Die from attaining a higher echelon among crime films. Still the sixty-one year old film retains its credibility among the genre and is worth owning.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A 1939 BLOCKBUSTER., January 28, 2003

By 

"scotsladdie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Each Dawn I Die [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The title refers to what many prison inmates feel when they awaken in the morning: it's a timeless - albeit poetic - metaphor. As a pugnacious reporter, Cagney unearths evidence that will put some hight-level politicians in jail. Before he can get his material into print, he is abducted, knocked unconscious and put into a car, booze poured over him & the vehicle sent careening down the street where it runs over a man and kills him. The brutal frame-up works: Cagney is convicted of manslaughter and is sent to prison, where he befriends smooth crook George Raft (as "Hood" Stacey), a crime boss. On the train to the Big House, Raft smiles and jokingly asks Cagney to write a piece about him - cause he likes his name in the paper...Once inside Rocky Point, Cagney pleads again and again for parole, which is repeatedly denied him...Cagney and Raft had known each other in vaudeville back in the late twenties. Raft, a real-life tough guy had various connections with hoodlums and bootleggers: Owney Madden & Joe Adonis to name a couple. Raft even picked up their own particular mannerisms and he had a very short fuse in real life. But Raft got along well with Cagney: advantageously making this film a blockbuster hit in its day: owing to a tight script and the electric acting of the leads, this one is far above average in the category of crime films.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Prison Films, August 13, 2006

By 

Douglas M - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Each Dawn I Die (DVD)

"Each Dawn I Die", released in 1939, is the best of the prison films which Warner Brothers made in the thirties. Even the title is fantastic. James Cagney plays a reporter working for a newspaper who is exposing the politicians who run the rackets. Cagney is framed, convicted and sent to prison for 10 years as retaliation. There, he meets hardened criminal George Raft.

The film was produced by Hal Wallis and benefits from a bigger budget than most of its predecessors. There is a more detailed and convincing expose of prison life than usual and cliches are avoided. You get a real feel for the hopelessness and boredom of the inmates. Cagney is subdued and underplays - very effective. George Raft, usually a wooden and stiff actor, rises to Cagney's level. Their friendship becomes very touching. The film develops real suspense as you wonder if Cagney will ever be released. Jane Bryan plays Cagney's girlfriend with a small but key part in the plot. Bryan was a very talented actress on the Warner's payroll who retired early when she married. She invests the part with great depth and is touching.

The print is excellent and the DVD has lots of extras, including a really worthwhile commentary by Haden Guest; at last, a commentator with a pleasant voice who avoids trivial biographical details and really observes the film as it unfolds. A contemporary featurette documentary on the language of the gangster film is included but it is by far the weakest in this series - a lot of historians/actors etc saying which lines they liked and who they imitated as children - yawn! There is also another of the Warner's blooper shorts which are entertaining, particularly if you know the actors on the studio payroll then. "A Day at San Anita" is is technicolour short film set around the race track. It stars the nauseating Shirley Temple contemporary Sybil Jason who is cloying in the worst child star sense. The colour is excellent and there is some interest in the shots of stars such as Bette Davis and then husband Harmon Nelson and Ruby Keeler with Al Jolson. The cartoon, which definitely does not date to 1939, is OK with a rooster that may have developed into Foghorn Leghorn. Finally, the Lux Radio version of the film is included with Franchot Tone replacing Cagney. These radio versions really only have historical interest.

The DVD is excellent value, particularly if purchased as part of the Warner's Tough Guys Collection.