They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Bertram Millhauser (novel) and
Beulah Marie Dix (novel) ...

Release Date:

28 January 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sport

Tagline:

I am a fugitive! I am hunted by the mob! I am wanted by the cops! I am forgotten by decent women! (re-release print ad)

Plot:

A boxer flees believing he has comitted a murder while he was drunk.

Plot Keywords:

Ranch | Detective | Arizona | Police | Reporter

US TV Schedule:

Fri. July 24

6:00 AM

TCM

Cast

John Garfield	...	Johnnie Bradfield, aka Jack Dorney
The Dead End Kids	...	Tommy's Gang
Claude Rains	...	Det. Monty Phelan
Ann Sheridan	...	Goldie West
May Robson	...	Grandma Rafferty
Gloria Dickson	...	Peggy
Billy Halop	...	Tommy
Bobby Jordan	...	Angel
Leo Gorcey	...	Spit
Huntz Hall	...	Dippy
Gabriel Dell	...	T.B.
Bernard Punsly	...	Milt (as Bernard Punsley)
Robert Gleckler	...	Doc Ward (Johnnie's manager)
John Ridgely	...	Charles 'Charlie' Magee (reporter)
Barbara Pepper	...	Budgie Massey

Also Known As:

I Became a Criminal
They Made Me a Fugitive

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4701)

Filming Locations:

Palm Desert, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Desert location shooting was so hot at times that the film melted in the camera.

Quotes:

Ringside Radio Fight Announcer: A right to the jaw. A left to the face. Boy, is he a killer. Is he murderous. The Bull lands a terrific right to Smith's jaw, and Smith is down! It'll be best for Smith if he stays down, because this is downright murder. Smith's face is red pulp; red, red pulp. 8, 9, 10! And Smith's out. Phew! And I'm glad that's over.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dad's Army: A Brush with the Law (#5.11)" (1972)

Soundtrack:

Cowboy from Brooklyn

A Mirror Image of another great film from the 1930's

I have never been a big fan of John Garfield but seeing this movie gave me a different opinion. This is a well done remake of one of my all time favorite films "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" (1933) with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. , Loretta Young , a very young Mickey Rooney and a cameo by a guy named John Wayne. That film had one of the best love songs ever "How Deep Is the Ocean" as a background to the love scenes.

Garfield plays his boxer a little more as a looser than did Doug Fairbanks but he is great in the part.

What really drew me to this film was the "ensemble" cast of the Dead End Kids as the tough reform school guys on the farm that Garfield's character helps. The ever superb (and I feel also unrated) Leo Gorcey says it all with his body language and that face as the tough mug with a ice cube for a heart. He is wonderful. As for the rest of the Bowery Boys/Dead End Kids, they are also fabulous. How they play off each other is a lesson in acting.

I would recommend this film but for the classic take on this story see the Fairbanks film. It is outstanding.