Billy Bob's Filmography
MAN WHO BROKE 1000
CHAINS (1987)
Distributor
HBO
Director
Daniel Mann
Character
Train Conductor
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Movie Quote
(Insert deep sigh of fannish regret here.)
Plot
Robert Elliot Burns (played by Val Kilmer) returns from World
War I and finds that he cannot fit in with society. After
he is thrown into prison on a 10-year sentence for robbery,
Burns experiences the dehumanizing, humiliating treatment of men
imprisoned in the Deep South and escapes. He eventually
writes the muckraking novel I Am a Fugitive From a Georgia Chain Gang.
What Billy Bob Gets To Do
Alas, he gets to nap on the cutting room floor. It appears that Billy Bob's scenes were excised from the final version of this cable film.
Val Kilmer escapes his chain gang and eludes the authorities by slipping onto a
train, where Billy Bob takes tickets.
Backstory
It was on the set of this made-for-cable drama about that Billy Bob,
shorn bald, chafing under a too-tight collar, and resenting the way he was being treated by the director,
created the character of Karl Childers from SLING
BLADE while making faces in the mirror.
Billy Bob has said that, because of this unpleasant experience, he has
made it a point as a director and actor never to mistreat a day
player. The telefilm's cast includes James Keach (who
directed two of Billy Bob's future films: CAMOUFLAGE and
STARS FELL ON HENRIETTA), Sonia Braga, Kyra Sedgwick, Elisha
Cook, Jr. (the unfortunate Wilmer from the original THE MALTESE
FALCON!), Clancy Brown, Taj Mahal, Charles Durning, and William
Sanderson. Incidentally, the novel I Am a Fugitive From a
Georgia Chain Gang
became a star-making, Academy
Award®-nominated vehicle
for the great golden-era character actor, Paul Muni in 1932.
Awards (for THE MAN WHO
BROKE 1,000 CHAINS)
CableACE Award (Direction of Photographing/Lighting, Mihael
Salomon) - 1989 - Winner
CableACE Award (Actor, Val Kilmer) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Art Direction, Vincent M. Cresciman) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Costume Design, Charles Buehler) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Make-Up, Pamela S. Westmore) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Movie or Miniseries, Michael Campus, Yoran
Ben-Ami) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Original Score, Charles Bernstein) - 1989 - Nominee
CableACE Award (Supporting Actor, Charles Durning) - 1989 - Nominee
Relevant Links
IMDb Link
Rotten Tomatoes review
Val Kilmer Newsletter Flash-heavy site; pack a
lunch.
Planet Kilmer Fan Page trivia quiz Can you guess the answer to Q4?
Interesting history
of Burns' book and the film I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG
Related Merchandise
Robert E. Burns' original I Am A Fugitive From A
Georgia Chain Gang is still in print, and the Paul
Muni feature is also out on VHS.
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