Dead End (1937)

When I was a boy we watched the Bowery Boys - Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, et al - and puzzled why my dad called them the "Dead End Kids;" now I know this film is why.

Dead End is the adaptation of Sidney Kingsley's 1935 Broadway play of the same name by Samuel Goldwyn's company. The Dead End Kids played a big role in the film, reprising their Broadway personas and they eventually made dozens of movies emphasizing the urban comedy rather than the dire Depression-era economy they were showing in the play.

I've been a viewer of films for years and this one I am sure I watched way back when but the DVD caused me to notice a few things I didn't notice before. First, the film takes place on a wharf right next to the East River of NYC. This is an elaborate set that has all kinds of elevations and nooks and crannies to exploit with the camera and lighting of cinematographer Gregg Toland, who did the marvelous visuals of Citizen Kane a few years hence. Dead End is one of the first uses of German Expressionist styling by Hollywood and it is very striking in its visuals due to Toland's fine eye.

Joel McCrae and Silvia Sidney star with a much bigger star in the making in a supporting role - Humphrey Bogart - but that was a few years in the future. Bogart got some good exposure in this as the "graduate" of the neighborhood who had become a bona fide gangster and had plastic surgery on his face to change his identity. He would do this again in Dark Passage, but why he chose to come out looking like Humphrey Bogart after cosmetic surgery is a mystery; both times.

Joel McCrae is also a "graduate" of the gang who somehow got a college diploma in architecture, however, his good intentions and trolling for work has him just scraping by on the edge of unemployment as the other protagonist Drina (Silvia Sidney), is on strike. Sidney's little brother (Billy Halop) one of the Dead End Kids, is on the fast track to juvenile hall and reform school,

Dead End is basically a slice of life from the 1930s slum with the underlying philosophy that the slum conditions breed crime and make people bad. There is no real story except for a couple of human episodes where Bogart is rejected by his mother (Marjorie Main) and discovers his boyhood girlfriend (Claire Trevor) is now a syphilis-riddled prostitute.

Beyond that, the gang kids have their shenanigans and the big sister (Silvia Sidney) plots how to save her brother from growing up to be just like Humphrey Bogart's character.

Having been rejected by his mother and disappointed by his girl in the same day, Bogart decides to kidnap the little rich boy that lives in the expensive house that backs onto the Dead End. McCrea voices the filmakers' thesis about the slum breeding criminals, thereby satisfying the Hays Office. The rest of the movie I leave to your viewing pleasure.

Bogart was clearly the anchor man of this production and must have made good points with the studio with his performance. Claire Trevor's little dilemma was pretty hard to fathom because of the eliptical way it was discussed. I got it when Bogart said, "Why didn't you starve?" and she stuck her face out into the harsh light.

The MGM DVD is in black and white full screen theatrical format running 92 minutes. The story is a bit dated and retains the staginess of the play. The biggest impact I saw is from the stylish cinemtography by Gregg Toland.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV