Each Dawn I Die

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 Cagneys boxing drama Winner Take All 1932, in a flashback sequence culled from Rafts 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 boxoffice 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.

He meets a gangster, Stacey Raft, who, as there is no death penalty in that state, is in for 199 years. They work in the twinemaking room together and Stacey falls into Rosss debt when Ross saves him from a knife thrown by another inmate. Rosss reporter friends outside are trying to help him win vindication by finding the real culprits but they are having no success. Stacey agrees to help Ross prove that he was framed if Ross helps him escape from a courthouse. They arrange that Stacey be named by Ross as guilty for killing of Limpy, another inmate and hated stool pigeon.Ross goes along with the plot, including a promise to tell no one about it, but antagonizes Stacey by tipping off his old newspaper, so that the court room is full of reporters. He escapes by leaping from a window but makes no effort to find the real culprits who were responsible for Rosss predicament. Ross, meanwhile, is implicated in the escape and after being beaten up by brutal guards, spends five months in the hole refusing to betray Stacey. This is solitary confinement where prisoners are handcuffed to the bars in the dark and fed bread and water once a day. Ross, who has become a bad character, is promised a chance at parole by the warden Bancroft if he reforms, but Hanley has become governor and appointed Grayce to head the parole board. Grayce turns Ross down, meaning he must wait another five years before he can try again for parole. ........

Source: Wikipedia