CRIME SCHOOL

US, 1939, 85 minutes, Black and white.
Humphrey Bogart, Gail Page, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell.
Directed by Lewis Seiler.

Crime School capitalised on the popularity of the Dead End Kids in the film of the same name as well as the interest in juvenile delinquency for cinema audiences of the period.

The Dead End Kids, or some of them, had a continued career in the late 1940s and into the 1950s with quite a number of small-budget films where they were billed as The Bowery Boys, with Leo Gorsey as their leader, Huntz Hall as the comedian and Gabriel Dell as a straight man.

Here they hang out on the streets, get involved in petty crime, one of them giving a blow to a pawn shop owner and their all being arrested, heard in court, committed to a reformatory for two years. The reformatory is run severely and with touches of sadism, including a flogging, with the doctor being an alcoholic, the warden and his assistant involved in embezzlement.

Humphrey Bogart has a role as a reformer, on the side of right and humanity, visiting the reformatory, seeing the abuses, taking over, trying to motivate the young men and, after the leader stokes the boiler room to explosion almost killing one of the boys, finding a change in taking responsibility. However, the young man who did the hit is blackmailed by the assistant to get rid of reformer – but the plan backfires, not without touches of humour. There is some romance between Humphrey Bogart and Gail Page is the sister of the leader of the boys.

1. A Warner Brothers crime film of the late 1930s? The background of the film, Dead End Kids, of Angels with Dirty Faces? Concerns about juvenile delinquency in the cities?

2. New York City, the poor areas, shops, pawn shops, the streets, the courts? The reformatory, the dormitories, dining hall, the boiler room? Offices? Authentic atmosphere? Musical score?

3. The cast, the Dead End Kids, the different personalities? A star vehicle for Humphrey Bogart – on the side of the law and right?

4. The kids, in the streets, their age, older teenagers? As a gang, Frankie and his leadership? Spike’s mother tipping the water? At the pawn shop, the range of things stolen, the clash with Junkie, Spike hitting him? Their running away, rounded up? In the court? The distinctive personalities of each of the young men? With their parents and guardians, some wanting them to go to reformatory, others making a plea to the judge? Mark Braden observing?

5. The attitude of the judge? Sending them away? Their defiance?

6. At the reformatory, surly attitudes? Morgan, his severity, Cooper and his assistance? The boys having nothing to eat? In the dormitory? The older boy, Frankie and his
defiance, the fight, Frankie taken, his attempt at escape, called on the barbed wire, flogged, to the hospital, the drunken doctor, no care taken of his wounds?

7. Mark, his promotion, his visit to the reformatory, the encounter with Morgan, Cooper and his pretence? The tour, the bad food, the drunken doctor, Frankie’s back and condition? The false records of the guards, their being sacked, the doctor fired, Morgan fired?

8. Mark and the attempts at reforms, the encounters with the boys, then trusting him? His appeal for finance from the authorities, getting the boys to paint – and their making a mess, and realising they had to live with it and doing it properly? The paint on Cooper? The work in the boiler room, putting up the heat, the explosion, Squirt and his almost dying, Mark and the rescue? Frankie and his change of attitude, taking responsibility?

9. Sue, careful Frankie, the attraction to Mark, the visit and his refusal, being upset? Change of heart, completing the course, Mark getting her the job? In the courts? The dates and going out?

10. Cooper, Mark examining the books, the set up with Spike, hearing that he had been responsible for the hit, blackmailing him, the threat of imprisonment, the keys of the car, the gun, Spike and his steering Frankie? Frankie allowing himself to be riled? The going into the city, getting into the apartment, the gun, firing, the police, Mark giving an explanation? The return – and all of them in bed, even If Goofy with his boots on?

11. Mark and the boys returning, going to the office, the Commissioner with Morgan, Cooper’s story, finding the boys in bed, the charges against Morgan for embezzlement, the fight with Cooper?

12. Warner Brothers and their social concerns during this time – and the advocacy of more humane treatment and for reform?