DEAD END

[Sepiatone]

Watched this chestnut for the first time in many years last night.  Never tire of it.  Always like to be reminded of how cute Silvia Sidney  was, how good an actor Joel McCrea was even back then, and how promising the Dead end Kids were, and saddened at how they ended up( as the Bowery Boys and doing all those God-awful movies).

 

I know it was adapted from an award winning stage play and often wondered, over the years of seeing this movie on TV, at what the theater audience's initial reaction was.  A powerful statement! 

 

But, I also recall how funny my daughters thought it was when they first saw it....."Did kids back then REALLY talk that way?"  You know...."I'll WHALLOP ya!"  EEeehhhhh!  Go ON wi'd ya!"

 

Come to think of it, These days saying something like, "EEehhhh!  Your Muddah wears ARMY BOOTS " would be more TRUE than insulting!

 

Was also wondering if venerable character actor ALLEN JENKINS is related to today's character actor RICHARD JENKINS?

 

Sepiatone

[TopBilled]

I am a huge fan of this film, too. I had lost/misplaced my copy of it, so I appreciated TCM re-airing it this morning. I would have no problem with this film returning in August if Sylvia Sidney finally received a Summer Under the Stars tribute. Though I must say it's quite a change of pace, to go from this picture to BEETLEJUICE. What a career she had!

[NipkowDisc]

dead end oughta be shown preceded by street scene.

[hamradio]

Watched this chestnut for the first time in many years last night.  Never tire of it.  Always like to be reminded of how cute Silvia Sidney  was, how good an actor Joel McCrea was even back then, and how promising the Dead end Kids were, and saddened at how they ended up( as the Bowery Boys and doing all those God-awful movies).

 

I know it was adapted from an award winning stage play and often wondered, over the years of seeing this movie on TV, at what the theater audience's initial reaction was.  A powerful statement! 

 

But, I also recall how funny my daughters thought it was when they first saw it....."Did kids back then REALLY talk that way?"  You know...."I'll WHALLOP ya!"  EEeehhhhh!  Go ON wi'd ya!"

 

Come to think of it, These days saying something like, "EEehhhh!  Your Muddah wears ARMY BOOTS " would be more TRUE than insulting!

 

Was also wondering if venerable character actor ALLEN JENKINS is related to today's character actor RICHARD JENKINS?

 

Sepiatone

 

My goodness, his mom is COLD!!  Calling him a dog and just die.   

 

[JamesJazGuitar]

My goodness, his mom is COLD!!  Caling him a dog and just die.   

 

 

 

His mom was spot on.   The guy had murdered 8 people and committed many other crimes.    The world would be a better place if more parents treated their criminal kids this way.     I assume you value loyalty over morals.

 

As for the entire movie;  This is a great film with many very solid scenes.   McCrea is such a natural actor.  Man is he good.    Sidney can really convey emotions but without being over the top.   

 

Add to all this the scene between Bogie and Clair Trevor;  wow.   Even with the Production code one clearly understands what is going on here.    In fact NOT spelling it out works because as hard as the Bogie character is he can't even say what he is thinking.   The fact he is so sexist (it isn't OK for a gal to sleep around to make a living,  but it is A-OK for him to kill do to so),  says a lot about how messed up he was.

[hamradio]

His mom was spot on.   The guy had murdered 8 people and committed many other crimes.    The world would be a better place if more parents treated their criminal kids this way.     I assume you value loyalty over morals.

 

I value family and morals, shouldn't she begged him to do the right thing and turn himself in and repent or something like that. She could had stated, why did he chose the road of crime, what did she do wrong?

 

The movie try to point out he was the product of the environment (poverty, hopelessness) the other kids are heading in the same direction.  One kid might be spared that fate

 

Some parents simply disown their criminal children stating to stay away because of the bad influence on the other family members.  

[TopBilled]

Hard to believe Marjorie Main was 46, because she looks at least ten years younger. Bogart was 37 at the time, and he looks every bit of 37. I understand he's probably playing a guy who is supposed to be in his late twenties. But regardless, Main just doesn't look old enough to be his mother. Esther Dale, a great character actress, is in the film in a small role. She would have been more believable as Bogey's mother and could have been even nastier and more bitter towards him. Main seems like Bogey's older sister here.

[hamradio]

Hard to believe Marjorie Main was 46, because she looks at least ten years younger. Bogart was 37 at the time, and he looks every bit of 37. I understand he's probably playing a guy who is supposed to be in his late twenties. But regardless, Main just doesn't look old enough to be his mother. Esther Dale, a great character actress, is in the film in a small role. She would have been more believable as Bogey's mother and could have been even nastier and more bitter towards him. Main seems like Bogey's older sister here.

 

That I believe is the point, many girls had children at a very young age and are not mature enough to cope with parenthood.  Children raising children in a very rough and hostile world.

[TopBilled]

That I believe is the point, many girls had children at a very young age and are not mature enough to cope with parenthood. 

He could have also been the runt of the litter, where he had an older mother and was the last in a line, with the father having long since died-- having to prove something and feeling his mother was too old-fashioned. 

 

The casting of Main and Bogart as mother and son does not work for me because of the fact she looks younger for her age and he looks older for his. She played similar parts at this stage of her career (before she signed with MGM), usually in poverty row pictures as the mother of a hoodlum. In one of the other pictures, BOY OF THE STREETS, she is cast as teenager Jackie Cooper's mother and it is much more believable.

[JamesJazGuitar]

I value family and morals, shouldn't she begged him to do the right thing and turn himself in and repent or something like that. She could had stated, why did he chose the road of crime, what did she do wrong?

 

The movie try to point out he was the product of the environment (poverty, hopelessness) the other kids are heading in the same direction.  One kid might be spared that fate

 

Some parents simply disown their criminal children stating to stay away because of the bad influence on the other family members.  

 

Ok those are valid points,   but my perception was that mother and son already had these discussion many,  many times when he was living in NYC and of course he rejected her POV and continued his life as a killer. 

 

But you have raised a very interesting point I never considered.  That his mom failed him by disowning him 'too soon' and therefore she has some responsibility in how he turned out.     If one ties this to the sister of the young gang leader who refuses to give up on him, then maybe that is a nuance that I missed.      

[hamradio]

Ok those are valid points,   but my perception was that mother and son already had these discussion many,  many times when he was living in NYC and of course he rejected her POV and continued his life as a killer. 

 

But you have raised a very interesting point I never considered.  That his mom failed him by disowning him 'too soon' and therefore she has some responsibility in how he turned out.     If one ties this to the sister of the young gang leader who refuses to give up on him, then maybe that is a nuance that I missed.      

 

The sister is going to make a great parent. 

 

She learned by experience (at the end of the movie) that one can not spare the rod and spoiled the child as the judge who was stabbed was trying to convey. I only sense sternness not anger toward the teenager.

 

My point is that family don't give up.  Being a parent is NOT easy.

[JamesJazGuitar]

The sister is going to make a great parent. 

 

She learned by experience (at the end of the movie) that one can not spare the rod and spoiled the child as the judge who was stabbed was trying to convey. I only sense sternness not anger toward the teenager.

 

My point is that family don't give up.  Being a parent is NOT easy.

 

Well I disagree that families don't give up as it relates to turning in their own.   If family members would turn in their own this would have a very positive impact in reducing gang related and religious extremist crimes.     When the parents claim to not know what was going on,  in most cases I'm not buying it.      Their duty to society outweighs their duty to their child.   Yea, I know that most people reject this POV.

 

I have a common question I ask parents when they make statements like 'I would do anything for my child';  would you help bury the body?  (i.e. cover up the crime to protect your child).    

[hamradio]

Well I disagree that families don't give up as it relates to turning in their own.   If family members would turn in their own this would have a very positive impact in reducing gang related and religious extremist crimes.     When the parents claim to not know what was going on,  in most cases I'm not buying it.      Their duty to society outweighs their duty to their child.   Yea, I know that most people reject this POV.

 

I have a common question I ask parents when they make statements like 'I would do anything for my child';  would you help bury the body?  (i.e. cover up the crime to protect your child).    

 

http://abc13.com/news/teen-suspect-turned-in-when-mom-sees-him-on-tv/522649/

[JamesJazGuitar]

 

 

I'm glad that this occurred but it is still a rare exception.   Look at what the victim had to say:

 

Burglary victim Joseff White said, "I'm happy about it, actually. It might seem as if she is selling him out or turning him in or something like that, but she's doing him a service. She's helping him become a better person and a better individual for our society."

 

When he says 'might seem as if she is selling him out' he is reflecting what I believe to be the common POV in all human societies.

 

In places like France they better hope there are more moms like this!  

 

 

[HoldenIsHere]

 

Bobby Jordan is one of my all-time favorites. 

He was the youngest and most versatile of the young actors who appeared in the movie DEAD END (reprising their roles from the stage production).

He suffered a series of personal and professional disappointments, which led to alcohol abuse.

He died at the age of 42 from cirrhosis of the liver. 

 

 

as Angel in DEAD END  (seated right)

 

 

As Joey Richards in HELL'S KITCHEN

   

 

as Douglas Fairbanks Rosenbloom in A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER

 

 

 

 as Joe Dingle in YOUNG TOM EDISON

 

 

 

as Reginald Colbrook in MY BILL

[Sepiatone]

Well I disagree that families don't give up as it relates to turning in their own.   If family members would turn in their own this would have a very positive impact in reducing gang related and religious extremist crimes.     When the parents claim to not know what was going on,  in most cases I'm not buying it.      Their duty to society outweighs their duty to their child.   Yea, I know that most people reject this POV.

 

I have a common question I ask parents when they make statements like 'I would do anything for my child';  would you help bury the body?  (i.e. cover up the crime to protect your child).    

I'm sure this, and many other points made, or that were atempted to be made here have been discussed time and time again. 

 

In the case of the film, the judge's brother seems to think there's a "one size fits all" solution to the problem.  HE thinks it was cruel the way the other kids treated his son without considering his SON'S contribution in all of this.  The neighborhood kids were reacting typically to another kid who thought he was superior to them, and didn't hesitate to express that opinion.  Even ADULTS find ways of giving a "comeuppance" to other adults who do the same.  And often they are more cruel in their execution of their reaction.

 

How many times, when you were a kid, were you told, "Don't bother that BEE, and he won't bother YOU!".  Turns out, they were right!  So, maybe once you didn't listen, and you bothered the bee and it STUNG you.  From THEN ON, you never bothered bees again, insomuch as "bothering" them would be like SWATTING at them or otherewise trying to chase them away.

 

Seems we give MORE respect to BEES than we do that element of our society that ALSO "stings" when we swat at THEM.  But, in THAT case, we condemn the "BEE" for  it's natural reaction!

 

 

Sepiatone

[NipkowDisc]

funniest scene in the whole picture is when bobby jordan says to dave's materialistic blonde girlfriend...

 

"yeah lady, I guess he ain't comin' in."

 

 

[hamradio]

funniest scene in the whole picture is when bobby jordan says to dave's materialistic blonde girlfriend...

 

"yeah lady, I guess he ain't comin' in."

 

 

 

For me it's when the Dead End Kids, tricked the rich one into the basement of a building to rough him up.  Remember the wall is several feet thick of brick and concrete.  The lamp shade falling left me on the floor laughing. 

[FredCDobbs]

Funny thing..... I don't care much for this film but I watch it every time it is on.

 

[NipkowDisc]

For me it's when the Dead End Kids, tricked the rich one into the basement of a building to rough him up.  Remember the wall is several feet thick of brick and concrete.  The lamp shade falling left me on the floor laughing. 

that lamp cover falling was a bit of a hoot and accentuates the wallopin' they were giving gentlemanly little percy.

[NipkowDisc]

My goodness, his mom is COLD!!  Caling him a dog and just die.   

 

baby face martin, the eldest of the kettle brood.

[JamesJazGuitar]

baby face martin, the eldest of the kettle brood.

 

Poor baby face.   Died before the series became a major hit! 

[Stephan55]

Topbilled said:

 

"...I understand he's probably playing a guy who is supposed to be in his late twenties. But regardless, Main just doesn't look old enough to be his mother...."

 

If I remember this film correctly, there was a scene in it where Bogie's character said  "They call it plastic." explaining he's had plastic surgery, which may have been a way to explain his aged look, not mentioning I imagine that his character has lead a pretty rough life.  

 

There was another later film (DARK PASSAGE 1947, with Lauren Bacall)  in which Bogie's character also had plastic surgery, to make him look older and unrecognizable.

[Sepiatone]

funniest scene in the whole picture is when bobby jordan says to dave's materialistic blonde girlfriend...

 

"yeah lady, I guess he ain't comin' in."

 

 

First of all, it was a different couple, NOT Dave and the blonde.

 

And as far as Main not looking old enough to be "Baby Face's"  mother;

 

Y'all're assuming bogey's character is the same age as BOGEY was when he made this flick.  Often in movies, it's never really the case.  AND y'all may be assuming an age when the woman MIGHT have given birth to "Baby Face".  It could have been a case of, as it often is and WAS in poverty stricken neighborhoods, that she COULD have been still in her TEENS when she gave him life.  There's a LOT of possible factors

 

 

Sepiatone

[Stephan55]

Sepiatone said:

 

"Always like to be reminded of how cute Silvia Sidney was, how good an actor Joel McCrea was even back then, and how promising the Dead end Kids were, and saddened at how they ended up( as the Bowery Boys and doing all those God-awful movies)."

 

My shared sentiments on all points, exactly!