10 Famous Movie Endings That Were Total Accidents

Mervyn LeRoy's classic 1932 crime drama I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang boasts a quite unforgettable ending where wrongly convicted prisoner James Allen (Paul Muni) escapes prison and has one final reunion with love interest Helen (Helen Vinson) before quite literally disappearing into the darkness.

As Helen laments James' decision to disappear, he backs away from her all while the scene's lighting gets progressively dimmer until we can't see James any longer, and he tells her he'll survive by stealing.

However, the original plan was to have the lighting suddenly go black at the very end, yet during filming one of the set lights blew a fuse and began gradually dimming during the shot of James backing away.

But director LeRoy ultimately accepted that the lucky effect only enhanced the meaning behind the scene, and so decided not to reshoot it.