Crime School

Warner Brothers (1938) B&W, 85 Mins


This is a story of boys almost all of which go on to be part of The Dead End Kids, and The East Side Kids. A few of those went on to be part of the Bowery Boys. In The beginning Billy Halop played there leader Frankie/Tommy/Johnny/Billy and many other character names. Later actor Leo Gorcey took over as Muggs there leader in The East Side Kids. Gabriel Dell plays Bugs, and is (under a large number of different character names) a regular character in The Dead End/East Side Kids.Bobby Jordan plays Squirt and later plays Angel and Danny, he was a regular character in the Dead End Kids and in the beginning of the East Side Kids, but then was drafted. Huntz Hall plays Goofy, who later is practically secound in command in the East Side Kids. Benard Punsly plays Fats he was in a handful of the Dead End Kids, Leo Gorcey plays Spike in this case a rather selfish fink, (he inproves) Spoiler!!!!! (He and the rest of the boys reform at the end) In This movie the boys play a group of kids in a extremly underprivledged situation. One way they make money is to swipe things then sell the stuff. Well one night at Junkies (the guy the work for and sell there stuff to) all of them collect the usual odds and ends, including a bath tub, Junkie refuses to give em what the stuff is actually worth and Frankie(Billy Halop) gets mad, he starts to fight Junkie and Spike(Leo Gorcey) is behind Junkie and decides to get in on the fight, by way of a smack to the Junkies head with the use of a metal candlestick. Junkie falls, they all panic, Frankie takes the candlestick and Spike starts ranting, saying they can't let him take the rap for this alone and they haft to stick up for him, and so on. Frankie takes chrage telling them to turn out the lights, they all leave runing, this draws attention from some cops patroling on foot they start chasening um and corner Spike, and take him to see what they were all running from. Everybody else is to busy running to notice they all run for home. The next morning they are all in a room in in front of a judge, one by one he calls them up talks to them trying to find out which one actually hit Junkie, none of them tell, and so he must send them all to reform school. At first the place is horible and they get beat-up. That is when Humphrey Bogart takes over, he sees how badly the place is run and fires almost everyone and changes the whole place, he trys to gain there trust and fixs the place up, giving them jobs to do, things to fix and soon he gains there trust. (all that and saving squirts life) From then on your on your own, but don't think thats the ending, this is one movie WORTH watching.

Goofs:

The paint on Mr Cooper's face, hat, and shoulders appears differently in the following scene when he reports to Mr Braden's office.

 

Spike's hair changes when he is telling Frankie about Mr. Braden and his sister. First it is falling in his face and the next shot it is all completely combed back then in the next shot it is falling in his face again.

 

 

Trivia:

This is the secound of seven movies the Dead End Kids were featured in. But were not speically Dead End Kids movies.

 

 

Quotes:

 

Bugs: [seeing Goofy in an ill-fitting suit] What are you all dressed up for?
Goofy: Me and Pops was over to see Mom. She's in the county jail.
Fats: Yeah? What for?
Goofy: Thirty days. Pop's goin' next 'cause he's gonna beat up Mama when she gts out.

 

 

Goofy: [telling the judge why his parents are not at the hearing] Me mudder's in jail, and me old man went to get the check. We're on relief!

 

Sue Warren: [Pleading] I'll take him away to a better neighborhood. I'll have more time to spend with him. Give 'em a chance, will yuh?
Judge Clinton: I'm afraid it's too late for that, Miss Warren.
Sue Warren: Too late? How can you say a thing like that? Maybe he'sd a little tough, but a kid's got to be tough in our neighborhood to stay alive. If you send him to reform school, I know what's gonna happen to him. He'll come out hard and mean and bitter. If you want to do something for these boys, why don't you clean up the slums? Wht don't you give 'em a decent place to live in? Give 'em some of the things other boys have! Give 'em a chance in life!

 

Morgan: Those guards you fired were valuable men. Whatta you want to replace them with? A crew of schoolteachers?
Mark Braden: Maybe you got things just a little twisted, Morgan. This is a school you're running and not a prison. You're dealing with kids, not hardened criminals!