#07 “I Steal!”
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, 1932
It was one of those accidental eff-ups that resulted in a cinematic home-run. The final moments of Mervyn LeRoy’s searing, social indictment of the depression-era penal system ends with the fugitive from justice, Paul Muni (in a powerhouse performance seldom matched by anyone before or since), telling his one-time lover, “I steal!” But the lights overhead just so happened to flicker out as the scene was ending, shrouding Muni in darkness and, well, the rest is history.
The Kitty Packard Pictorial 