Dead End (1937)

Luxury apartments for the wealthy begin to pop up on the East River affording the upscale tenants a view of the river. But those townhomes are an eyesore for the slum dwellers below. The high rises and the upper class tenants only serve as a reminder of their dire poverty and bleak lives. Based on the socially conscious play by Sidney Kingsley (DETECTIVE STORY) and adapted for the screen by Lillian Hellman, William Wyler's film doesn't push the film's obvious message (the poverty environment breeds criminals). First and foremost, it's a well crafted story filled with interesting characters and even the actors with the briefest of screen time manage to make an impression. For example, Claire Trevor has just one small scene as a prostitute but she kicked it to an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. While the focus is on whether Joel McCrea should go with sad eyed Sylvia Sidney (lovely enough to make even poverty seem attractive) or pretty blonde Wendy Barrie, it's the street kids who steal the movie and, indeed, known as the Dead End kids originally, they went on to make a series of popular low budget films right up until the 1950s when they were known as the Bowery Boys. With Humphrey Bogart as a killer who returns to see his old girlfriend (Trevor) and mother (Marjorie Main in a rare dramatic performance), Allen Jenkins, Ward Bond, Esther Howard, Elisabeth Risdon and as the Dead End Kids: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan and Bernard Punsly.