History Film / Fury1936

Joe Wilson (Tracy) is the hardworking owner of a gas station who sets out on a drive to meet up with his fiancée, Katherine Grant (Sidney). On the way he is stopped and arrested, on suspicion of being party to a kidnapping that is making newspaper headlines. Through increasingly distorted word of mouth, he residents of the ignorant little town of Strand, where Joe is being held, whip themselves up into a frenzy, form a lynch mob, and burn down the jail with Joe inside of it.

''Fury'' is a 1936 drama film directed by Creator/FritzLang, starring Creator/SylviaSidney and Creator/SpencerTracy.

Joe Wilson (Tracy) is the hardworking owner of a gas station who sets out on a drive to meet up with his fiancée, Katherine Grant (Sidney). On the way he is stopped and arrested, on suspicion of being party to a kidnapping that is making newspaper headlines. The residents of the ignorant little town of Strand, where Joe is being held, whip themselves up into a frenzy, form a lynch mob, and burn down the jail with Joe inside of it.

* GossipyHens: All the old biddies of Strand that gossip about Joe's arrest and wind up flaming the passions of the mob. {{Lampshaded}} when Lang inserted a shot of actual hens during the gossip montage.

* StealthHiBye: TheBarber's customer who disappears behind his back after some joking about a DangerouslyCloseShave.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In the original case, the two men lynched by the mob are agreed to have been the actual culprits. For the sake of the film, the incident is fictionalized and the accused is made an innocent. Fritz Lang, who wanted to explore the idea of capital punishment, felt that this was a weakness since according to him you can only make a convincing case against the death penalty by stating that even the guilty shouldn't be executed.

* ItsQuietTooQuiet: After they barred themselves up in the jail house, the sheriff gets suspicious of the silence outside. Cue the mob [[BatteringRam ramming the door]].

* OnePhoneCall: {{Averted}}. Joe wants to call Katherine but is denied any phone call because the sheriff fears Joe could be using the call to warn his partners in crime.

* PowderKegCrowd: The angry mob at the jail house. [[ProducePelting A tomato thrown at the sheriff]] escalates the riot.

* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:Joe]] seeks to get the 22 filmed members of the mob hanged for getting him killed.

[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fury_1936.jpeg]]

Joe Wilson (Tracy) is the hardworking owner of a gas station who sets out on a drive to meet up with his fiancée, Katherine Grant (Sidney). On the way he is stopped and arrested, on suspicion of being party to a kidnapping that is making newspaper headlines. The residents of the ignorant little town of Strand, where Joe is being held, whip themselves up into a frenzy, form a lynch mob, and burn down the jail with Joe in it.

Or so they think. One of the townspeople threw a stick of dynamite which actually wound up blowing open the bars of Joe's cell. 22 people of the town, who were caught on camera, wind up going on trial for Joe's murder, and a vengeful Joe stays in hiding rather than reveal himself and save the townspeople.

Inspired by a real-life incident revolving around the kidnapping and murder of San Jose department store heir Brooke Hart, and the subsequent lynching by mob of the persons held to be responsible for the crime. Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film (he had fled from ThoseWackyNazis in 1933, making a pit stop in France). Listed on the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.

Or so they think. One of the townspeople threw a stick of dynamite which actually wound up blowing open the bars of Joe's cell. 22 people of the town, who were caught on camera, wind up going on trial for Joe's murder, and a vengeful Joe stays in hiding rather than reveal himself and save the townspeople. The film

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c37e60fb8f23aa92b9eaabd9b360fac3.jpg]]

''Fury'' is a 1936 film starring Creator/SylviaSidney and Creator/SpencerTracy. It was directed by Creator/FritzLang.

Joe (Tracy) is a hardworking owner of a gas station who sets out on a drive to meet up with his fiancée, Katherine (Sidney). On the way he is stopped and arrested on suspicion of being party to a kidnapping that is making newspaper headlines. The residents of the ignorant little town of Strand where Joe is being held whip themselves up into a frenzy, form a lynch mob, and burn down the jail with Joe in it.

Or so they think. One of the townspeople threw a stick of dynamite which actually wound up blowing open the bars of Joe's cell. 22 people of the town, who were caught on camera, wind up going on trial for Joe's murder, and a vengeful Joe stays in hiding rather than reveal himself and save the townspeople. The film is based on a real-life incident revolving around the kidnapping of Brooke Hart and the subsequent lynching by mob of the persons held to be responsible for the crime.

Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film (he had fled from ThoseWackyNazis in 1933, making a pit stop in France). Listed on the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry.

** Joe's inability to correctly spell "memento" backfires later with same the error appears on the anonymous CutAndPasteNote, [[spoiler:finally convincing Katherine that he's alive]].

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The sheriff. He promising Joe a square deal and keeps his word when defending him against the angry mob. Later on he refuses to identify anyone among the mob, because he doesn't want them to be put to death.

* TwoScenesOneDialogue: The sheriff tells his nervous deputies that the National Guard has been summoned. Cut to a very quick scene in which the mustered Guardsmen are told they will be standing down. Cut to governor saying "''Why?''", as his political boss says that sending the Guard into a town could be damaging. In real life, the governor ''actively supported'' the lynch mob, even saying he would ''pardon'' its members, and ''refused'' to send in the National Guard.

''Fury'' is a 1936 film starring Sylvia Sidney and Creator/SpencerTracy. It was directed by Creator/FritzLang.

* {{Revenge}}: [[spoiler:Joe]] seeks to get the 22 members of the mob hanged for getting him killed.

* TwoScenesOneDialogue: The sheriff tells his nervous deputies that the National Guard has been summoned. Cut to a very quick scene in which the mustered Guardsmen are told they will be standing down. Cut to governor saying "''why?''", as his political boss says that sending the Guard into a town could be damaging. In real life, the governor ''actively supported'' the lynch mob, even saying he would ''pardon'' its members.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In the original case, the two men lynched by the Mob are agreed to have been the actual culprits. For the sake of the film, the incident is fictionalized and the accused is made an innocent. Fritz Lang, who wanted to explore the idea of capital punishment, felt that this was a weakness since according to him you can only make a convincing case against the death penalty by stating that even the guilty shouldn't be executed.

* AntiHero: Joe starts out as a good guy [[spoiler:But after the traumatic events of almost being burned alive by a raging mob, he become a case of HeWhoFightsMonsters, trying to get justice for the crimes committed against him, even if it means to forge evidence.]]