They Made Me a Criminal

"A sentimental sucker punch of a movie. "--Barry Gifford. Yet mostly watchable. The marvelous Claude Rains is pretty much wasted as the Javert pursuing the Jean Valjean of John Garfield--whose speaking voice sounds disconcertingly like Gene Kelly's. He lands in Arizona at a date ranch-cum-work farm for delinquent boys from NYC--those lovable ruffians, the Dead End Kids--run by the street-wise May Robson, who steals every scene she's in. Redemption all around by the end.

In his first major role they give John Garfield an old Douglas Fairbanks Jr. movie to rework. They shoot this almost scene for scene the same as the '33 movie with some minor changes. The 'Dead End' Kids getting much more to do with the drama in the middle. And with them the energy is always high. Garfield is also a much better choice for this part then Fairbanks! MUCH better! Garfield almost mirroring James Cagney as the urban tough guy just as good with his mouth as he is with his fists!

Hokey, predictable, formulaic. John Garfield is alright, but like ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, pretty much everything goes to crap whenever the Dead End Kids start flapping their gums. Busby Berkeley directs, but don't expect to see any fancy choreography (though there is an amusing reference to "By a Waterfall"). However, I'll give the movie credit for this: it's got heart. You can pinpoint exactly how it's going to play out, but you do kind of root for these characters anyway... even the Kids.