They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

This is an early noir with Busby Berkeley coming on with many surprises on the way of the typically noir theme of an innocent, having to escape from justice and the law since all the circumstantial evidence is against him and no one believes him. John Garfield was always uncouth and rowdy but managed to make the more splendid characters for their sore trials, forcing them to extreme honesty, not seldom to self-sacrifice to prove themselves right. John Garfield was expert on such characters, especially in Hemingway stories. This is different, though. Here he is hounded by a policeman notorious for his uncompromising pertinacity, who is no one less than Claude Rains, and we know how merciless he can be. John Garfield, however, finds another life in Arizona with the Dead End Kids and a girl and creates an idyllic existence away from the world, - while Claude Rains gets the scent and comes on track.John Garfield's character is not very intelligent, he follows his impulses rather than any careful thought, and his character will keep you constantly worried, for he can't end up in anything but trouble. and his honesty must keep you sticking to him with all your sympathy. How he wins the boys on his side and finally the girl just to one day meet his fate as Claude Rains turns up at the wrong moment is a fascinating thriller all the way with many psychological moments of truth. The grandma finalizes the brilliance,It's a very enjoyable and impressing film with Max Steiner's music adding to it just discreetly enough, but Busby Berkeley's direction takes the prize. The party in the beginning of the film is a triumph for him.

FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS of the Screen Version of DEAD END (1937), the contracts of 'the Dead End Kids' were sold by Samuel Goldwyn to Warner Brothers. Hence Billy Hallop, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bobby Jordan and Bernard Punsly all were working alongside the likes of Cagney, Garfield and Reagan.TO BE SURE, Jack Warner and company would keep them busy. Titles such as CRIME SCHOOL, ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACRS and HELL'S KITCHEN followed. Sandwiched in between was THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL.THE FILM IS a prime example of one of the many remakes that were (and actually still are)such a large portion of the studios' yearly output. In this case, 1933's THE LIFE OF JIMMY DOLAN, which boasted of a cast featuring Douglas Fairbanks, Loretta Young, Edward Arnold and a young Mickey Rooney. Although we have never seen this film, we do know that the storyline is the same as the screenplays are both from original play by Bertram Milhauser and Beulah Marie Dix.LEADING THE CAST in this 1939 version is John Garfield; along with Gloria Dickson, Claude Rains (in a classic case of miscasting), Anne Sheridan and the Dead End Kids. It is interesting that the Kids all have retained their names that were used in that original names from the progenitor of all the Kids' movies, DEAD END.AS FOR THE story, a whirlwind of events move Jack Dorney (Garfield) from the paragon of sophistication, New York, out to the semi-arid, West's agricultural crossroads; which could be in California, New Mexico or Arizona (take your pick). Prizefighting, Loose Women, greed, excessive drinking and arrogance all conspire to knock the boxer off his summit to the depths of being a fugitive from the law.THE CHARACTER OF Detective Phelan (Mr. Claude Rains) has an obsession with catching the suspected murderer, Dorney, that would make him a literary ancestor to Lt. Gerrard (Barry Morse) in 1960's TV THE FUGITIVE.THE FILM ALSO boasts of being Directed by Busby Berkley, in a rare non-musical assignment.

It's a Warner Bros. production, in spades—from Garfield to the gritty subject matter to the seedy surroundings. If MGM was the glamour studio, Warner's was the no-nonsense Plain Jane. Here boxing champ Johnnie (Garfield) hobos it to the California desert to escape a New York murder rap. There he hooks up with tough blonde (Dickson) and her juvenile delinquent date pickers (Gorcey, et. al.). Trouble is that Detective Phelin (Rains) won't give up the chase, and now Johnnie's in a pickle he can't fight his way out of.Okay, nothing unusual about the plot, except maybe the setting. Nevertheless, director Busby Berkeley manages to blend the elements into a good gritty little tale. Well, that's except for the fight scenes, which prove Berkeley was better at arranging dancers than boxers. Even so, he makes maybe the best use of that ragamuffin outfit that would become the Bowery Boys that I've seen. Even the usually buffoonish Huntz Hall is under firm control. But maybe the biggest challenge was getting aristocratic Claude Rains to impersonate a street wise New York cop, of all things. Fortunately, that excellent actor pulls it off better than expected. And, of course, there's the great Garfield showing why his brand of feisty urban grit was so perfect for the times. Then there's the one scene that still has me sweating. Johnnie and the boys are cooling off inside a big water-filled irrigation tank. Okay, no problem. Except, farmer somebody decides his date trees need water, and before they know it, the boys are clawing at the bare metal sides, trying to escape the ten feet of water he's left in the bottom. Sure, they're okay, but only so long as they keep swimming and swimming, trapped like flotsam in a fish bowl. It's a sweaty doomsday setup that comes out of nowhere.Anyway, this is the type of film that made me a fan of hardscrabble Warner Bros. of the 1930's. So catch up with it if you can.

Starring John Garfield, Claude Rains (finding his role for "Casablanca"), and plenty of other known actors of that time. This is a fully predictable story about a boxer who ends up "on the lam" trying to start a new life, and in the process seems to have done exactly that… and then things get complicated… Sometimes you just want to sit back and go for the ride, and this one is one of those. It's enjoyable, the "tough guy Bronx chatter" is over the top, the dames and the gal next door are perfect, the kids who need a role model – although aging their ways past these roles – were big box office at that time as "The Dead End Kids", there's a young Ward Bond in here, good cars, bad booze, fast broads, and slow conclusions. Hey, it's Hollywood in the Depression before the War. Lighten up.