Watching the movie version of Dead End must be an experience similar to watching the stage production upon which it is based. The makers of the film have chosen to create what is basically a single stage for all of the action of the movie, and we open and close the film with shots that carry us into and out of the portion of the street that will be our focus for about ninety minutes. The film also stays relatively true to the stage-bound conventions of time, with all of the events occurring within a single day. Dead End doesn't call attention to these trappings, of course, but it's pretty easy to recognize the stage origins of the movie once you realize that we aren't going to leave the neighborhood.
The film has several different plotlines. Baby Face Martin (Humphrey Bogart), a notorious gangster, has returned to his old neighborhood because he misses his mother (played by Marjorie Main in a rather uncharacteristically subdued performance) and his former girlfriend Francey (Claire Trevor in a small but memorable role). He's trying to avoid being recognized, and he hopes that his recent plastic surgery will help to keep him from being arrested. He got his start in a gang in this East Side area of New York, and he's disappointed when he finds out that his mother doesn't want to see him and that Francey has become a prostitute.
Drina (the great Sylvia Sidney) is on strike, part of a group of employees demanding better wages from their employer. She's also trying to keep an eye on her younger brother, Tommy (Billy Halop), who's quickly growing up and becoming too involved in criminal activity. She's in love with Dave (Joel McCrea), an architect who grew up in the neighborhood and who can't find any steady work in his profession and is reduced to the occasional jobs painting restaurants. Drina's jealous of Dave's friendship with the wealthy Kay (Wendy Barrie). However, he seems more intrigued by the prospect of wealth that Kay represents rather than Kay herself; she already has a rich man who's keeping her anyway.
And then there's the Dead End Kids, one of the main reasons to watch this film. They're really the beginnings of a street gang, and they terrorize almost anyone who bothers them. And a lot of people seem to bother them: the rich kid who lives in the new high-rise, the doorman (played by, of all people, Ward Bond) for the building where the wealthy people of the neighborhood live, even each other at times. Tommy is the apparent leader of the gang, but really, it's a rather loose confederation of friends who have nothing better to do than hang out all day long and get into trouble. They're saddled with some odd nicknames at times, like Spit (because he likes to spit) and T.B. (because, well, he's been diagnosed with tuberculosis), and they aren't portrayed by the strongest actors, but there's such a vitality to these kids that it's no wonder they became stars in their own right after this film.
The movie tries to depict how the rich and poor can live next to each other yet have little contact. The rich folks live in a fancy apartment building next to what might charitably be called a tenement slum, so they can, literally, look down on the poor people who are their neighbors. The wealthy people in the high rise have parties that are loud enough to keep them from hearing the gunshots that occasionally ring out below them. The poor aren't allowed into the complex; that's why Ward Bond is there. In fact, it's only a fluke that the poor see the rich people enter and exit the building. The wealthy folks are having to use the service entrance while the front of the building is being completed. When the rich and poor do intermingle, the results are often disastrous. When the rich kid meets with the Dead End Kids, for example, he winds up with his clothes torn and his watch stolen. When Kay tries to find Dave in his tenement building, she's repulsed by the rats and filth she encounters there. The implicit message is that rich and poor do not belong together.
I suspect that Dave's speech about how people get used to fighting in the tenement was meant by playwright Sidney Kingsley and screenwriter Lillian Hellman to be a plea for tolerance and understanding. Are people really so heavily influenced by the circumstances surrounding them? For example, had Francey no other choice after Baby Face left her than to turn to a life of prostitution? Does Tommy seem destined to a term in jail or, at least, juvenile hall because he's gotten too accustomed to a life that seems to encourage him to commit crime? Is there ever a way out of a life of poverty? Can someone escape? There are no easy answers to questions like these in a movie like Dead End, but perhaps the title itself gives you a clue as to the thinking of the writers.
No one is truly the "star" of this movie. It's an ensemble film at heart. Bogart would become one of the biggest stars in films, but here he's primarily used to show the long-term effects of a life of crime. Sidney is a luminous presence in this film, and she is very touching in the scenes where Drina tries to convince her delinquent brother that they should try to escape. McCrea is meant to represent the moral conscience of the film, and he pulls it off rather effectively. He certainly stands out among most of the rest of the characters by always trying to make the right choices.
However, it's the kids you'll likely remember the longest. They are having the most fun in the movie. They get to jump in the water of the East River and swim almost every day despite seeming to be dirtier when they get back on dry land. They get to play pranks on each other and on other people. They manage to initiate new members from time to time, and they even get to arrange fights with rival gangs in the area. They also talk a lot, using the kind of slang and dialects that must have been grating to adult ears in 1937. They also get to share tales of their everyday existence in ways that can actually be endearing at times. It's no wonder that these charismatic young men are the real reason to see Dead End nowadays.
Oscar Nominations: Outstanding Production, Best Supporting Actress (Claire Trevor), Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography
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