''They Made Me a Criminal'' is a 1939 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Busby Berkeley and starring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle, March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Griffin (The Invisible Man), Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man (1933 film), The Invisible Ma ...

, and The Dead End Kids. It is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of the film '' The Life of Jimmy Dolan'' (1933). The film was later featured in an episode of ''

Cinema Insomnia ''Cinema Insomnia'' is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo. Format Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic (such as ''Creat ...

''. Portions of the film were shot in the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacin ...

, California. �
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Plot

Johnnie Bradfield is a southpaw world champion boxer falsely accused of murder. He disappears and is presumed dead. The only witnesses who could have exonerated him were his manager and girlfriend, both of whom have died in an automobile accident. Detective Monty Phelan believes that Johnnie is still alive and hasn't given up on searching for him. Johnnie, meanwhile, is hiding out on Grandma Rafferty's farm in Arizona. There, he meets up with some juvenile delinquents, Tommy, Angel, Spit, Dippy, T.B., and Milty, who are under the guardianship of Tommy's sister Peggy. Johnnie, using the fake name of Jack Dorney, takes Tommy under his wing and encourages him to go in business for himself by buying a gas pump for the farm. He helps the kids raise money by returning to the boxing ring for a match against an up-and-coming boxer. Johnnie sees Phelan arriving at the fight and decides not to fight, disappointing the kids and Peggy. However his determination to help the kids overcomes him and he decides to fight. He tries to hide who he really is by not using his trademark stance in the ring, but not being a good right handed fighter, he is on the verge of losing. Because of this, Johnnie reveals who he really is, although he is still defeated in the fifth round. He surrenders to Phelan assuming he will be arrested, but the detective allows him to remain in Arizona instead of returning to New York.

Cast

Main cast

as Johnnie Bradfield *

as Det. Monty Phelan *

Ann Sheridan Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films ''San Quentin'' (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagney ...

as Goldie West *

Barbara Pepper Barbara Pepper (born Marion Pepper; May 31, 1915 – July 18, 1969) was an American stage, television, radio, and film actress. She is best known as the first Doris Ziffel on the sitcom '' Green Acres''. Early life and career Marion Pepper ...

as Budgie * May Robson as Grandma Rafferty *

Gloria Dickson Gloria Dickson (born Thais Alalia Dickerson; August 13, 1917 – April 10, 1945) was an American stage and screen actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years Born in Pocatello, Idaho, Dickson was the daughter of a banker. After her father's dea ...

as Peggy *

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

as Lenihan * William B. Davidson as the Chief of Detectives *

Robert Gleckler Robert Gleckler (January 11, 1887 – February 25, 1939) was an American film and stage actor who appeared in nearly 60 movies between 1927 until his death in 1939. He was cast for the role of Jonas Wilkerson, overseer of the slaves at Tara in ...

as Doc Ward

The Dead End Kids

* Billy Halop as Tommy *

Bobby Jordan Robert G. Jordan (April 1, 1923 – September 10, 1965) was an American actor, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, and The Bowery Boys. Early life and career Jordan was born in Harrison, New York, ...

as Angel * Leo Gorcey as Spit * Gabriel Dell as T.B. *

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular " Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bowery ...

as Dippy * Bernard Punsley as Milt

References to other films

When Dippy is operating the shower controls for Jack, who is showering, he serenades him with the song, ''By a Waterfall'', which was a hit song from the director's earlier film, ''

Footlight Parade ''Footlight Parade'' is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The film was written by Manuel Seff and Jam ...

''.

Malaprop

This film also contains the first

malapropism A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed t ...

of the

Dead End Kids The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play '' Dead End'' in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They prov ...

/ East Side Kids/ Bowery Boys series when Jordan says ''Regenerate, ya dope'' when Hall used the word ''degenerate''. Malapropisms became a staple of these films, with Gorcey using them on a regular basis throughout the series.

Home media

As this film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

, there have been several DVD releases from a variety of companies over the years. The

Alpha Video Alpha Video (also known as Alpha Home Entertainment) is an entertainment company, based near Philadelphia, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD. Alpha Video releases approximately 30 ...

DVD was released on July 30, 2002.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Dead End Kids 1939 films 1939 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Remakes of American films Films shot in California Warner Bros. films Films directed by Busby Berkeley Films produced by Hal B. Wallis Films scored by Max Steiner 1930s English-language films 1930s American films