Dead End

Rating:
Summary: "Yeah, she was my goile when we was kids"
Review: This is a wonderful film about the life of people living in a Manhattan ghetto in the 30's. Their life is starkly juxtaposed against that of an upper class family living in a posh residence in the same neighborhood--moving there for a desirable view of the river. From their terrace, the rich folks are insulated from, and can look down upon, the poor people living in tenements.

The film has a very theatrical feel; most of the action happens right on the street in the neigborhood. The dialouge, written by Lillian Hellman, is snappy and excellent.

The kids of the Dead End are young adolescent boys on the verge of growing up. Their choices in life are constrasted by the characters of Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart: adults who were also once Dead End kids. McCrea, who still lives in the neigborhood, has been to college but is now is looking for work. Bogart, who is returning to the neighborhood after many years away, is the nortorious gangster, Baby-faced Martin; he has killed eight men.

The adults are facing tough choices too: McCrea is torn beween two women: Sylvia Sidney, a neighborhood friend who is trying to raise her younger brother (one of the Kids) on her own, and Wendy Barrie, a member of the rich family (her father is brother to a Judge). Sidney, when her brother gets in trouble, contemplates helping him run away. Barrie is apparently engaged but wants to go with McCrea--if a prospective job for him comes through.

Bogart has come back to the neighborhood for something...he's not sure. Perhaps he wants some stability in his life so he seeks out an former girlfriend, Clair Trevor, leading to a memorable scene:

Bogart (reminiscing): "Remember that night on the roof?"
Trevor: "The night was full of stars and I was full of dreamy ideas."

He makes a pitch for her to come away with him but she tells him to take a closer look at her... Bogart feels betrayed--and this comes shortly after being rejected by his own mother--whom he hasn't seen for years. Trevor, like other characters here, feels as if her life is at a dead end. What hope? But this film is not depressing. There is a glimmer of hope offered through the characters of McCrea and Sylvia; and, of course, in the boys.

This is a very enjoyable film, well written and executed. And the dilemmas portrayed are still with us today.

Rating:
Summary: Bogie and The Dead End Kids
Review: This is the film that propelled the Dead End Kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan et al) to stardom.
Humphrey Bogart portrays a gangster who returns to his old neighborhood only to come to grief.
The Dead End Kids portray slum kids living right next door to the luxurious apartment houses of the rich.
Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea are the star-crossed lovers who try to battle their way out of the slums.
Gangster melodrama at its finest!

Rating:
Summary: can't beat bogart and dead end kids
Review: this performance doesn't rank with bogart's most famous but it should, since he is darn near perfect in the part. it makes you wonder why he struggled for so many years in his career. it also has sylvia sydney, the perfect depression era actress with her nobility and wounded sweet beauty. even joel mccrea, who i usually find to be a dud (wait, he was phenomenal in "Sullivan's Travels" and "Palm Beach Story"!) is excellent here. of course, the dead end kids became national institutions with this movie. a fine, fine, really fine movie.