The Man Who Broke 1000 Chains

original title:
The Man Who Broke 1000 Chains
other titles:
Unchained, (Der Mann der tausend Ketten sprengte)
country / year of production:
USA / 1987
original length:
115 min. , color
premiere:
31 October 1987
genre:
adventure
based on:
Robert Elliott Burns. Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1932.
director:
Daniel Mann
film script:
Michael Campus , David Wyles
producer:
Yoram Ben-Ami , Michael Campus
cinematographer:
editor:
Diana Friedberg , Walter Hannemann
composer:
Charles Bernstein
cast (role):
Val Kilmer (Robert Eliot Burns) , Charles Durning (Warden Hardy) , Sonia Braga (Emily Del Pino Pacheco) , James Keach (Father Vincent Godfrey Burns) , Kyra Sedgwick (Lillian Salo) , Val Kilmer , Charles Durning , Sonia Braga , James Keach , Kyra Sedgwick
more:
plot synopsis:
Robert Elliot Burns, a veteran of World War I returns to the United States but cannot find his place in the society. For a small robbery he is condemned to ten years of forced labour in a Georgian prison.
He escapes from a chain gang, makes a life and a name for himself, only to find that he must succumb to his past once again.
keywords:
based on a true story , veterans , forced labour , made-for-TV film , captivity
war:
First World War (1914-1918)
literature:
remarks:
The authentic story of Robert Elliott Burns, who was sentenced to forced labor in the 1920ies and wrote a book about his horrific experiences that led to the abolition of the chain gangs. Burns was pardoned in 1944.
availability:
VHS NTSC