Hell's Kitchen (1939)

A paroled convict's efforts to improve conditions at a boys' reform school alarm the school's corrupt warden, who has been embezzling funds from the institution. He hatches a plan to derail... See full summary »

Directors:

Ewald André Dupont, Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Crane Wilbur (screenplay), Fred Niblo Jr. (screenplay),

Stars:

Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Halop	...	Tony
Bobby Jordan	...	Joey
Leo Gorcey	...	Gyp
Huntz Hall	...	Bingo
Gabriel Dell	...	Ace
Bernard Punsly	...	Ouch (as Bernard Punsley)
Margaret Lindsay	...	Beth
Ronald Reagan	...	Jim
Stanley Fields	...	Buck
Frankie Burke	...	Soap
Grant Mitchell	...	Krispan
Frederic Tozere	...	Mike Garvey (as Fred Tozere)
Arthur Loft	...	Elmer Krispan
Vera Lewis	...	Sarah Krispan
Robert Homans	...	Hardy

Storyline

A paroled convict's efforts to improve conditions at a boys' reform school alarm the school's corrupt warden, who has been embezzling funds from the institution. He hatches a plan to derail the reformed convict's efforts and have him sent back to prison, and part of that scheme involves cracking down hard on the reform school's inmates.

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Plot Keywords:

gunfire | solitary confinement | benefactor | trial | slang | 

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Taglines:

THE RIGHT ROAD...OR THE 'LAST MILE' -- WHICH WAY ARE THEY HEADED? (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Sucursal do Inferno

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As a result of a PTA complaint, this was the last gangster angle picture made by The Dead End Kids.

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Quotes

Beth Avery: Oh Jim! Krispan killed Joey Richards last night!
Jim Donohue: Killed him?
Beth Avery: He kept him in the cool room for 9 hours!

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Connections

Follows Code of the Streets (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Auld Lang Syne"
(1788) (uncredited)
Traditional
Lyrics by Robert Burns
Sung a cappella by Stanley Fields and the boys
Played during the end credits

User Reviews

Cashing In On Boys Town

The first of two films in which Ronald Reagan was featured with the Dead End Kids was Hell's Kitchen where after one stint of time in reform school in Crime School, the boys are back in the juvenile joint. The adult players take a distinct back seat to the boys in both these films.

Crime School was an out and out remake of the James Cagney classic The Mayor Of Hell and this one also has aspects of those films in it as well. We've got a self righteous warden of the school in Grant Mitchell who's once again skimming off the tops and treating the kids like dirt. His infamous cooler is an old meat locker where he locks the kids in to 'cool' them off. When one of them dies, it all hits the fan.

Challenging him for control of the institution is paroled racketeer, Stanley Fields who is playing his role like a cut rate Wallace Beery. Ronald Reagan is his nephew and Margaret Lindsay is the secretary of the school under Mitchell and who is ready to quit when Caesar arrives on the scene.

Jack Warner must have really been in a bind here because he even acknowledges a hit film from another studio. One of the reforms that Fields wants to bring in is a kind of self governing institution by the kids like Father Flanagan's Boys Town. In fact I'm sure that's why this film was made, to cash in on the success of Boys Town.

No Oscar winning performances here though like Spencer Tracy's. Still it's entertaining enough.