Each Dawn I Die (1939)

Each Dawn I Die is a 1939 gangster film featuring James Cagney and George Raft in their only movie together as leads, although Raft had made an unbilled appearance in a 1932 Cagney vehicle called Taxi! in which he won a dance contest against Cagney, after which he and Cagney brawl. Raft also very briefly "appeared" in Cagney's boxing drama Winner Take All (1932), in a flashback sequence culled from Raft's 1929 film debut Queen of the Night Clubs starring Texas Guinan. The plotline of Each Dawn I Die involves a crusading reporter (Cagney) who is unjustly thrown in jail and befriends a famous gangster (Raft). George Bancroft portrays the warden. The movie was a box-office smash and remains a favorite among aficionados of Warner Bros. gangster movies. The film was based on the novel of the same name by Jerome Odlum.

Synopsis

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.

Actors