Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I doubt if there's any jail on earth where the grasses operate openly. It's a pity that we didn't know what Stacey was in four-murder,at a guess? In reply to another poster-the reason why bastards like Pete Kassock didn't get what was coming to them was that, in this state, the penalty for that or escaping was life in the hole-handcuffed to the bars for eight hours a day,living on bread and water. Nobody should be treated like that! I hope Ross followed his release by exposing prison conditions and getting things improved. Yes,I was on the cons' side in the riot.

. . . George Raft did not know "how to quit" James Cagney, either, in EACH DAWN I DIE. From their first exchange of shirts to their last stolen embrace, Raft's "Stacey" and Cagney's "Frank" are caught in the throes of a tie before its time. Their hot passion sees Frank sniveling like a babe in diapers during a forced separation, which is ended when Stacey ignores his 199-year sentence to take a cab BACK to Rocky Point Penitentiary when Frank's powerful pull on him overcomes his own sense of self-preservation. In today's happier times this odd couple might have tied the knot at their county courthouse. But in the 1930s, theirs was a love that could not be named. Therefore, actress Jane Bryan was cast to portray Frank's "beard," Joyce, and one of the not-so-tough-guy pair must bite the dust before this story can end, with a literal "till death do us part." As in last year's IMITATION GAME, the best acting performances always are turned in by gay men acting straight when the world is not quite AC\DC. So two thumbs up for Cagney and Raft in EACH DAWN I DIE!!

By 1939, Warner Brothers was having some trouble with it's top tier gangster talent; both Cagney and Robinson were demanding more money and better working conditions. Jack Warner drew George Raft away from MGM to round out his stable, believing it was wise to keep as many tough guys on contract as possible. Cagney liked Raft, seeing a genuine toughness in him, and one of the anecdotal stories related in the book 'Cagney' by author Doug Warren has Raft decking Edward G. Robinson once when the latter got pushy on a set.So it's no surprise that Raft portrays a character of similar attitude here. As career outlaw Hood Stacey, Raft just about steals the picture from it's nominal headliner, though both share equal billing at the top of the credits. In this one, Cagney doesn't start out as a mug, he's framed for vehicular manslaughter by a career politician (Thurston Hall) after sneaking a peek at his gang destroying records that would implicate him in some chicanery or other. The business with Frank Ross (Cagney) being found guilty of drunk driving bothered me in as much as a good lawyer would have nailed the prosecution for lack of evidence on that charge. But then you had the three victims to over compensate, which was needed to make this story move forward.You know what seemed really awkward? After convict Limpy (Joe Downing) got stabbed, the film seemed to jump through hoops establishing Stacey's guilt so he could go to court while planning his breakout. The whole time I'm thinking, well who else could have done it? Stacey was sitting right BEHIND Limpy during the movie!?!? Why wasn't he considered the prime suspect right off the bat?Speaking of that movie scene, the prison inmates were watching a film that came out the same year, "Wings of the Navy". I found it quite interesting to observe the patriotism of the men in jail as they cheered images of America's war effort, bursting into loud applause as an image of the White House came into view. Very different from today to be sure. An interesting trivia note on that picture - Victor Jory appeared in both 'Wings' and the movie under review here.For Cagney fans, "Each Dawn I Die" will satisfy well enough, though I don't put it in the upper tier of his films that I enjoy most - "The Public Enemy" (1931), "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938), and "White Heat' (1949). Keep an eye on that scene when Cagney cracks in front of Victor Jory's parole board. It looks like it might have been a decade early warm-up for that maniacal scene of his in the prison mess hall of "White Heat", an all time Cagney classic that he ad-libbed with great enthusiasm.

Folks, It doesn't get much better than "Each Dawn I Die" with James Cagney and George Raft... This is one of my top-5 all-time gangster / prison films from the golden era of Hollywood film-making...I thought James Cagney, George Raft, George Bancroft and Jane Bryan were just terrific in this film... I can watch this movie three or four times a year, depending on my mood and state of mind... I never seem to grow tired of this film... Probably never will, either....I am much more into the tough guy and mobster roles' actors like Cagney, Bogie, Robinson & George Raft made in their peak years in Hollywood... I never was big on Musicals' or Song and Dance films..... The years between 1930 to 1950 are no doubt my favorite years of classic film-making..... "Gangster & Horror" were at their best....MR.BILL Raleigh