Crime School (1938) User Reviews

no such thing as a bad kid

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 8 August 2015]

The Dead End Kids star with Humphrey Bogart in "Crime School," a 1938 film from Warner Brothers.

The boys live in a rough neighborhood. They steal things and bring them to a fence, whom Spike accidentally kills. They are sent to reform school, but the school turns out to be more like a prison, run by a horrible warden (Cy Kendall) and his henchman (Weldon Heyburn).

Bogart plays Braden, the new Deputy Commissioner of Correction. When he comes for a visit he sees Frankie (Billy Halop) untreated in the hospital with lash wounds all over his back. He tastes the food, which is inedible. He fires the warden and several guards. He fires the drunk doctor. The bars come off the windows, the food is better, the kids are in training for various skills, no more whippings.

Then the henchman, still working there, sets Braden up to take a big fall by convincing Spike (Leo Gorcey) to take his car keys and escape. Of course the rest of the boys come with him.

Entertaining, with Bogart playing a nice guy. Gale Page is Frankie's sister. If you like the Dead End Kids, this is okay, though I understand it's not their best.

Of interest, "under God" is left out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It don't take no brain to get burned."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 4 October 2004]

In between 1937's "Dead End" and 1938's "Angels With Dirty Faces", came "Crime School", all three films teaming the Dead End Kids with Humphrey Bogart. "Dead End" first introduced the misfit gang of course, and not quite a year later they had top billing in this tale of ghetto poverty and reform school violence. Billy Halop portrayed the leader of the Dead End Kids in all three films, and went on to co-star with Bogey in one more prison movie, 1939's "You Can't Get Away With Murder".

This early on, the Dead End concept wasn't fully fleshed out, as each movie brought the same actors to the screen, though with different names. But their screen personas essentially remained the same; in this film Leo Gorcey is the tough wise guy Spike, Huntz Hall goes by Goofy, and Bobby Jordan is known as Squirt. Interestingly, Gorcey rats out on Halop's character in both "Dead End" and "Crime School".

For his part, Humphrey Bogart played the heel in all the films mentioned, except "Crime School", where he got to turn in a portrayal of level headed and compassionate Deputy Commissioner Mark Braden. In no nonsense fashion, he fires inept guards and the reformatory's crooked Superintendent Morgan (Cy Kendall). However Morgan's hand picked head guard Cooper (Weldon Heyburn) remains behind, feigning loyalty to Braden, but using Spike to create a divisive wedge between Braden and fellow inmate Frankie Warren (Halop). Thrown into the mix is Frankie's sister Sue (co-star Gale Page), who becomes Braden's love interest in the film.

"Crime School" is a taut and well paced film, even if the story line gets muddy with Deputy Commissioner Braden's complicity in covering up the gang's prison break and eventual return. As with other Warner Brothers/First National films of the era, the studio paints a picture of the futility of crime and violence as an answer to poverty. In addition to recommending the movies already mentioned, "Little Caesar" and "Public Enemy" are also must see films, though somewhat harder edged.

An interesting point of trivia - in the prison yard scene when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited for the new commissioner, the words "under God" had not yet been added to the version we know today.

"A boy, not much older than you, was electrocuted tonight in Sing Sing."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 29 July 2015]

Humphrey Bogart takes over a reform school and tries to straighten out the Dead End Kids in this fine urban drama from Warner Bros. It's the second movie featuring the Dead End Kids after their debut in "Dead End" and their first for Warner Bros. This one is essentially a remake of a great Pre-Code movie called "The Mayor of Hell," which was also made by WB and starred James Cagney. That movie was grittier than this one and, since it didn't star the Dead End Kids, was less comedic. That isn't to say this movie is a comedy but the mugging of the Kids brings levity to even the most serious of scripts. Eventually someone would realize the boys were better suited for comedies but in these early dramas they were used to illustrate the plight of tough street kids.

The Dead End Kids have their share of detractors among classic film fans today. Read through some of the reviews of their movies here and you'll come across some very vocal 'haters.' I like them myself, particularly the later movies they did as East Side Kids and Bowery Boys where Leo Gorcey was the leader of the gang instead of humorless Billy Halop. Anyway, the Kids are good here despite drama not being their forte. Humphrey Bogart shines as the good guy, an unusual role for him at this point in his career. Bogart also appeared in "Dead End," although he was a gangster in that one. Gale Page is nice in a sympathetic role as the sister of Halop's character. It's a good movie of its type and I have no doubt fans of the urban crime pictures WB specialized in will like it. And, of course, Bogart and Dead End Kids fans will enjoy it most.

I really enjoyed the performances but...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 22 January 2012]

... I'm perhaps a poor judge of the film itself since it is an obvious remake of "The Mayor of Hell" with some "San Quentin" thrown in for good measure. In particular, "San Quentin" has Bogart as the convict made to believe that the warden is just being nice to him to get to his sister, and in this film Bogart is the prison administrator. It's interesting to compare the scene in both films where the escaped prisoner confronts the warden, in "San Quentin" with Bogart holding the gun on the warden, and in "Crime School" with Bogart being the wrongly accused warden being held at gunpoint. It's a tribute to his acting skills that he was so believable in both.

James Cagney played the head of the reform school in Mayor of Hell, but he was more of an accidental angel, getting the job because of political connections, plus he was a former gangster with moll in tow when he arrived. Bogart's take on this same role has him as always having been a straight arrow, a guy with an education who wants to help these kids who have come up from the same neighborhood from which he came up.

What makes this one special versus its predecessor is seeing Bogart in a good yet tough guy role and the special chemistry of the Dead End Kids who were so good together that they continued making films under various monikers until 1958.

The Mayor of Heck

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 7 January 2006]

Warner Brothers decided to save a bundle on purchasing new properties for the Dead End Kids. The boys did They Made Me a Criminal a year later which was a remake of The Life of Jimmy Dolan and Crime School is a remake of The Mayor from Hell.

Fellow gangster icon James Cagney starred in The Mayor from Hell which I also reviewed here. Such things as Cagney's motivation and commitment to the reform school and the manner with which the boys take matters into their own hands is pretty grisly. None of that in this kinder, gentler film.

Sleepers has a lot of the same elements in both The Mayor from Hell and Crime School. It's certainly better than Crime School. This was one film whose message was watered down to nothing.

Nevertheless Crime School does have Humphrey Bogart in it and the Dead End Kids are always entertaining.

I wonder what kind of stuff the Dead End Kids would have been turning out had they come along pre-Code?

Bogie shines and even the Dead End Kids are great!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 25 March 2017]

The realistic dialogue in the slums at the beginning of the film, featuring mothers who were no better than you might expect, was doubtless a factor in getting this film banned in many regions including Australia – despite the abrupt reformation of all concerned in the movie's closing moments. Bogart doesn't come on for about 20 minutes and even then, it's but a brief glimpse until his abrupt return as D.C. of Prisons a while later. Once on, though, Bogie dominates the proceedings – which is just as well in some ways. Billy Halop gives his usual over-strained, over emphatic performance, but the rest of the "Dead End Kids" are excellent – particularly Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and – in a smaller role than usual – Huntz Hall. In fact, they all give natural, believable, vital performances.

On the other hand, Paul Porcasi overacts atrociously, and Miss Page tends to overdo it too (and she's also none too flatteringly photographed). Cy Kendall and Weldon Heyburn are okay as the villains. But the movie belongs to Bogie on the one hand, and to the kids on the other – although they are virtually in separate films. Halop is the link between the two – and a weak link at that! Fortunately, the kids are in great dramatic and comic form, with most of the comedy – aside from a strained painting the cell on swings episode – coming off because it all seems so natural and in character.

Seiler's direction features a few imaginative shots, but it is mostly just routinely competent. In a few places, it even shows signs of unnecessary haste. True, the movie was made on a "B" budget – although a comparatively top of the range one. The photography and sets are appropriately gray. We do see some action on screen, although the climactic beating-up occurs off-camera. Perhaps a lot of the over-emphatic dialogue delivery can be laid against uncredited director William Clemens and maybe writer Vincent Sherman, while Crane Wilbur wrote the more natural Dead End Kids material as well as the actual plotting. All the same, thanks to the pleasure of seeing and hearing Bogie in a characteristic performance as the good guy (of the much later "Knock On Any Door") with an abrasive, no-nonsense bleeding heart, "Crime School" was worth waiting nearly 50 years for!

Predictable vehicle for the Dead End Kids; watchable at the time

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 5/10 · 15 April 2005]

"Crime School" is clearly from the same mold as "San Quentin" and Cagney's "The Mayor of Hell."

It is a predictable vehicle for the Dead End Kids, in which Bogart played, in a dull, unemotional style, a deputy commissioner of correction who takes over the running of a reformatory housing the Kids when he finds the warden is a sadist…

There is a threat to Bogart's plan when the Kids escape as part of the warden's calculated attempt to prove Bogart's regenerative prison policies are valueless, but the ruse fails as Bogart gets the boys back winning the solemn recognition of merit

a lesser quality re-hash of DEAD END

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 29 December 2005]

This is a re-pairing of much of the cast of DEAD END--with the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart together in the same film. The BIG difference this time is that instead of Bogey playing the nasty gangster, he is a juvenile prison crusader--bent on reforming the system and stressing rehabilitation. While this is an interesting twist, it is odd considering Bogart mostly played heavies during this era. And the overall effort isn't bad BUT once again I need to knock off a point because I simply find the Dead End Kids annoying at times. While not as annoying as they were to become when they were re-dubbed the Bowery Boys (complete with a few cast changes), a little of their hijinks goes a long way!

Dead End Kids with Bogie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 29 July 2019]

The Dead End Kids gets into an argument with a junkman called Junkie and Spike hits him over the head. The kids are brought in front of a judge for the assult but they refuse to cooperate. They are all sent to the state reformatory school run by the sadistic warden Morgan for two years. New deputy commissioner Mark Braden (Humphrey Bogart) attends the Kids' case and grows concerned. He checks up on them at the school. After some horrific discoveries, he fires four guards and the discredited doctor. He sets out to reform the reform school. The guard Cooper cozies up to Braden but secretly sows dissention among the boys.

It's the second movie for the Dead End Kids. Their disruptive antics have already caused issues on the lot. Their antics on screen can be quite rough also. The movie starts with Spike almost killing a guy. These are no angels. That is interesting. The whip marks are really brutal. The characters are also oddly naive at times. Some of the Kids are interesting as they continue to rotate in and out from one movie to the next. There is no continuity which does devalue their story. It is an interesting aspect of depression era cinema.

Too kind for its own good ...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 13 November 2014]

Directed by Lewis Seiler in 1938, "Crime School" doesn't have the documentary-like realism of "Dead End" nor the religious resonance of "Angel with Dirty Faces" but it works as a good follow-up of one and a fair premise to the other, and if the overall result doesn't leave much to criticize, it doesn't leave more to praise either.

The film is the first Warner Bros production starring the 'Dead End' kids after their misbehavior during the shooting of "Dead End" convinced United Artists to let them go. Warner tried to advertise the film by branding them as the 'Crime School' kids, but they were such a hit that the audience would forever associate them to the initial movie, probably expecting another dynamite-story with this one.

And my expectations were high too, "Dead End" ended with the gang's leader, played by Billy Halop, being taken to the Police, and "Crime School" could have worked as a sequel. Halop's character also had a struggling sister played by Gale Page, and the story could have been a riveting commentary on the reformatory system in the USA, at first, you try to fix the evil from the roots, now, in its early blooming.

Unfortunately, that terrific premise turned into a gentle story about a good man, played by Humphrey Bogart, trying to put kids on the right side. I loved seeing Bogart in a character totally opposite from his "Dead End" 'Baby Face' Martin, proving once again that he wasn't an actor to be typecast in gangster roles and could as well pose as a decent gentleman. Watching the kids' interactions and Bogart's restrained performance were the film's redeeming qualities.

"Crime School" had so much to offer. Indeed, while "Dead End" was a neighborhood story following many character's arcs, in "Crime School", the kids were the main protagonists, especially Billy Halop, who, through his conflict relationship between his overprotective sister and his reputation with the gang, tries to find the balance between being a good brother and not appearing soft. His paradox is also highlighted by the pivotal arrest; it was for getting money to buy his sister a writing machine that the fight started

And the bargained turns wrong; Leo Grocey (always the cause of troubles) hit the junkman's head with a hard object, knocking him out. The man survives so they could escape from a more severe sentence, but following their code of honor, no one divulged who hit him, since "Dead End", we know the value (and the reward) of a squealer. They're all arrested and put in reformatory school, in jail-like conditions more likely to 'educate' them about violence and crime, than rehabilitating them, hence the thought-provoking title. Good start.

This is a terrific premise but the script, surprisingly cautious for a Warners' production, was too shy to reflect the real image of violence, or to emphasize its dramatic value. The same man dying would've been a great turning point for the story. Another under-exploitation was the great character of Warden Morgan (Cy Kendall) whose terrifying eyes and authoritarian voice would've been a great match to these hard-boiled kids. What an antagonist to good old Braden (Bogart) he would've been, but he had to be fired… for once, I wished Bogart wasn't too omnipresent.

What I can't overlook though is the furnace scene, where an angry Frankie decides to put too much coal to teach them a lesson, naturally, this thrilling scene ends up in an explosion that merely kills Bobby Jordan, the sweetest and gentlest of the group. Had he died, it would have been a shock, and a significant self-revelation for Frankie or another fuel of anger. Instead, it was just the occasion to show an act of bravery from Braden and make him and Frankie bury the hatchet war, a bit too hazily. A man like Braden should've slapped Frankie in the face to teach him a lesson about using your own anger to endanger your friends' lives, no, it was like all ends well that ends well.

It's a great sight to the eyes, Halop and Bogart shaking hands, but at 15 minutes of the film, what was left was only a last-minute frame from the head-guard that fails in a blatant anticlimactic way. Frankie was lead to believe that his sister was paying Braden in exchange of good favors, sort of prostituting herself, but why not making Braden a less clean-and-cut character and his motivations more ambiguous. His ambition to parole the kids could've been genuine but he had the right to have his own selfish reasons.

What saves the film from a rather simple, but not exciting storyline, is the performances, everyone is outstanding, the kids are more rooted in their characters, Leo Grocey is as sneaky as usual, Frankie delivers a great heart-breaking performance, the villains are good. And it's precisely for this reason that I wished the film had the guts of "Dead End" or "Angels" something that would cut straight to your heart.

The film is full of good intentions, but its approach to delinquency and criminality is naive and tends to minimize it, the same positive message could've been delivered at the end, but the story deserved more. What do I mean by that? In "Blackboard Jungle", a sort of "Dead End" kids of the 50's, one of the lessons was that some kids are irremediable and they have to be pushed away not to influence the other ones. Not intolerant, realistic.

Speaking with the languages of the 21th century, "Crime School" has the appeal of a low- budgeted TV movie.

Not Your Typical Kids

[Sargebri · 8 October 2002]

This was the first "Dead End Kids" film that I watched and I really enjoyed it (too bad they don't show it on television anymore). When I first watched it, it was at a time when I thought all "kid gang" films were like the Little Rascal/Our Gang Comedies. The Dead End Kids were the ones who broke the mold and made the kids believable and this film hooked me on them. The one scene that I was particularly shocked with was when Frankie (Billy Halop) tried to make a break for it and got caught in the barbed wire fence. What happened to him after still makes me cringe as he is whipped within an inch of his life with a cat-a-nine tails. Even though this film is not a classic like "Dead End", the film that introduced us to the Kids, it still is a good picture on it's own.

The Dead End Kids Do It Again

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 26 April 2011]

In their second film appearance, The "Dead End" Kids are petty New York City street thieves. Starting a trend that will last two decades, the group play essentially the same characters - but with occasional name changes, and no dependable continuity from story to story. Herein, the depression-strapped youth are charismatic leader Billy Halop (as Frank "Frankie" Warren), young orphan Bobby Jordan (as Lester "Squirt" Smith), wisecracking Huntz Hall (as Richard "Goofy" Slade), incorrigible Leo Gorcey (as Charles "Spike" Hawkins), chubby Bernard Punsly (as George "Fats" Papadopolos), and dropout Gabriel Dell (as Timothy "Bugs" Burke).

When their junk dealer offers a paltry $5 for the gang's latest booty, an argument leads to Mr. Gorcey giving the man a fractured skull. No stool pigeons, the kids won't squeal and consequently all six receive a two-year stint in the reformatory. They are physically abused by sadistic superintendent Cy Kendall (as Morgan). Mr. Halop is whipped after a failed attempt to escape, then put in the care of a drunken doctor. By the time young Jordan is about to be punished for repeatedly dropping his trousers, socially conscious deputy Humphrey Bogart (as Mark Braden) has arrived to investigate. He dates Halop's pretty sister Gale Page (as Sue).

Future member Hal E. "Hally" Chester debuts herein. To follow-up on the successful original film, Warner Bros. merely re-worked their own "The Mayor of Hell" (1933), which starred James Cagney and Frankie Darro. Rehashing old plots became a cottage industry in the Bowery, and the "Crime School" story re-appeared almost instantly as "Hell's Kitchen" (1939) with Ronald Reagan filling Mr. Bogart's shoes. Note that the hardened delinquent George Offerman Jr. (as "Red") who bunks with Halop and the others in "Crime School" is the same actor who registered strongly in "The Mayor of Hell" and would even appear in "Hell's Kitchen".

****** Crime School (5/10/38) Lewis Seiler ~ Billy Halop, Humphrey Bogart, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey

Crime School is a mediocre film, but

[emoreno-1 · 4/10 · 23 October 2002]

Crime School is a mediocre film, but still a good performance by Bogart. One of the Dead End Kids films, it struggles to keep you interested. The Dead End Kids are, well dead. The acting is very poor and the characters and almost annoying with the over done accents and supposed gang behavior. The main problem which contributes to the entire films downfall is the unrealistic dialog and actions. When one of the kids shows up at the pawnshop with a 100 lb cast iron bathtub, you roll your eyes. But when Cy Kendell gets fired from a job he has had for 12 years and he puts up almost no protest you have to reach for remote and try not to stop the tape. Its finer points are the moral and political statements the film makes on reforming child criminals. Sadism versus compassion, hate verses love, good points clouded by comical attempts at portraying tough street kids. Bogart is a great actor and plays the part well, of all the characters in the film his is the most believable and entertaining. Definitely not one of Lew Seiler's best movies. I would not rent it unless you are old enough to connect for nostalgic reasons, but if it shows on TV it is worth muddling through it.

I was glued to the tv when this movie was on in the 1950's

[hcd160 · 10/10 · 11 November 2003]

The guys were believable as every-day city guys. They had chips on their shoulders, for sure, but growing up poor in the lower east side of NYC in depression times would tend to tighten you up. They supported each other and showed emotion and humor. I wish I could find it to rent sometime soon.

Excellent Film

[squirt-10 · 10/10 · 21 January 2004]

This is a great DEK flick, classic & appealing! I recommend this film before you see any other DEK film. This will get you acquainted with them and you will love watching the other films! My favorite character is Frankie Warren...he sets the tone for the movies and the other guys accent it all so well that you couldn't imagine them apart!

The Dead End Kids go to Crime School!!

[kidboots · 7/10 · 13 November 2009]

I am sure James Cagney was a knockout in "The Mayor of Hell" but for those of us who haven't seen it, this film is pretty okay. Humphrey Bogart is nowhere near as dynamic as Cagney (who was?) but this film belongs to the Dead End Kids and Bogart's role was only secondary. With names such as Squirt, Goofy, Spike, Fats and Bugs it was never going to be completely hard hitting. Still it has Bogart playing a hero for once and making her film debut, the amiable Gale Page.

Frankie (Billy Halop) and his gang rule the neighbourhood and his sister Sue arrives just in time to hear them get a telling off by the local constable. There have been a lot of robberies lately and the boys have been caught hanging around the local pawn shop. When Spike (Leo Gorcey) accidentally knocks out a shonky second hand dealer, in a show of solidarity all the boys are sent to the State School for 2 years. In court Mark Braden listens with interest to the pleas of their families, especially Sue. He is determined to help "the dead end kids" to a better future but first he has to clean up the State School.

The gang are pretty cocky at first but it doesn't take them long to realise this "school" is no laughing matter. First night, a fight breaks out in the dormitory and Frankie, after an abortive escape attempt, is savagely whipped. When Braden visits he is appalled by the harsh treatment metered out to the boys. He starts with sweeping changes, firing several guards, who themselves have prison records and also the Chief Warden Morgan (Cy Kendall) for cruelty. Head Guard Cooper (Weldon Hayburn) speaks out against the primitive conditions - but he is being sneaky, he feels that by being kept on he can keep Morgan up to date on what is happening. He hatches a plan to make Braden look incompetent so Morgan can be re-instated.Braden has an uphill battle trying to prove to the boys that he is on their side - Frankie, in particular, has a huge chip on his shoulder. When there is an explosion in the coal room (Frankie has ordered the boys to overheat the furnace) Braden, by saving Squirt (Bobby Jordan), who has collapsed under a column, shows them that he only has their best interests at heart.

By aiming a few comments in Frankie's ear, Spike convinces him that Braden and Sue are seeing a lot of each other. Frankie, with a lot of help from Spike, escapes from the home in a stolen car to see if Sue is seeing Braden. That night Cooper, who has set it all up, telephones Morgan, so he and the trustees can make a surprise visit to the home and "surprise, surprise" find pandemonium. But Braden quickly realises the plot and turns the tables on the villains to show them with "egg on their faces"!!!

Billy Halop was, I think, being groomed for juvenile stardom, but after a good role as Flashman in "Tom Brown's Schooldays' it was back to the gang and movies such as "You're Not So Tough" and "Mob Town". Bobby Jordan, who I think was the real star of the Dead End Kids added a much needed bit of light heartedness as Squirt.

Recommended.

Great Bogart Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 31 December 2007]

Enjoyed this 1938 film dealing with a young boy named Frankie Warren, (Billy Halop) who is placed in a reform school which is in bad condition and the leadership does not care about the young men and treats them all like hardened criminals. Mark Braden, (Humphrey Bogart) is assigned a Deputy Commissionier of Correction and decides to take off the bars on the reformatory and sets a new policy of giving the young men jobs to keep them busy and educate them for the outside world. Mark Braden meets Frankie Warren's sister named Sue Warren, (Gale Page) and they fall in love with each other after Sue sees how Frankie is improving and has changed his personality towards people and himself. Mark Braden discovers that there is corruption going on in his correction institute and he confronts his chief guard and finds out that Reformatory Superintendent, Morgan are working together stealing funds from the reformatory. All the "Dead End Kids" appear in this film and they give lots of comedy and drama throughout the entire picture. Great 1939 Classic.

Good Fun

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

Crime School (1938)

*** (out of 4)

The Dead End Kids gets sent off to reform school where they're beated and abused by the warden but a do-gooder (Humphrey Bogart) decides to clean things up and help the kids. This film isn't in the same league as Dead End, Angels With Dirty Faces or They Made Me a Criminal but it still works due to some unique casting. At first it's rather weird seeing Bogart playing the nerdy good guy but this wears off and he's actually pretty damn good in the film. After watching this I somewhat wished he had played more good guys that didn't use their muscles all the time.

You can call them "The Dead End Kids" or . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 21 August 2021]

. . . The Little Tough Guys or The East Side Kids or The Bowery Boys, but through 88 feature films and 36 serial chapters, they're always obnoxious, disturbing, miscast, unconvincing, hammy, grating, irresponsible, braying, foolish and a general waste of time. Like a Rolling Stones tour featuring nonagenarian "rockers," CRIME SCHOOL and its 120-some sequels feature grown men clumsily acting out implausible childish fantasies as the other adult actors desperately try not to smirk and attempt to stay "in character." It's pretty strange that the guy who'd go on to crack the case of THE MALTESE FALCON could not nip this ring of counterfeit kids in the bud.

Crime School: Carbon Copy, But Good.

[MStillrage · 7/10 · 3 July 2009]

The Mayor of Hell blows this 1 out of the water in a lot of ways: 1) Cagney had criminal ties in "HELL", Bogart is a straight guy from the streets in "Crime School",but he has clearly been educated. The 2 films stand the test of time. Leo Gorcey is once again the "Maverick" of the group, just like in "Dead End" & "Angels with Dirty Faces",2 more classics. This film has an excellent drama and acting level. It shows the way politics can literally screw a class of people. I'll take the Dead End kids in any film before I can sit through any Andy Hardy/Rooney yarn. Enjoy this 1. It's a lot of fun. Sadly Bogie does not have a sidekick in this 1 like Cagney did in "Hell". But you won't be let down.

It's not just the boys who need to change. It's the system.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 24 March 2024]

This is an above average reform school drama, previously made as "The Mayor of Hell" with James Cagney and redone a bit differently the year after this as "Hell's Kitchen". The dialogue and modern style is unintentionally funny, but taken in context with the film's plot is quite threatening.

It's the Dead End kids vs. The system before they turned corny as the annoying but basically harmless Bowery Boys. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall aren't the buffoons they later would be so along with Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan and Gabriel Dell are dangerous enough to take serious. Gale Page as Halop's sister and Cy Kendall as the harsh warden are also very good.

Taking over Cagney's part is another vet film gangster, Humphrey Bogart, playing advocate for the injustices they face, taking over as commissioner and dealing with the cruel treatment that wouldn't reform them but make them worse. As a commentary on how authority isn't always used correctly, it's a very good expose, shocking and handing over the truth even though the powers that be didn't want to face the truth and make needed alteration.

Your running a school not a prison

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 18 January 2012]

***SPOILERS*** Deputy Prisons commissioner Mark Brander, Humphrey Bogart, in trying to make things better for the youthful inmates of the Gatesville Reformatory in upstate New York runs into a number of major problems. It's the manager of the reformatory and his captain of the guards Morgan & Cooper, Ky Kendall & Weldon Hyburn, who are running the place like a Soviet Gulag. In fact the two law enforcers are actually taking the funds allotted for the reformatory and pocking them at the expense of those incarcerated there.

It's when Branden fires all the prison guards with criminal records together with manager Morgan and his drunk brother in law the prison doctor, Spencer Charters, that Cooper in acting that he's on Branden's side plans together with Morgan to get even with him. That's by having Braden fired from his job by staging a prison brake by some of the inmates to embarrass him. That's in Cooper finding out that it in fact was Spike, Leo Gorcey, who brained with a candlestick the local junk-man and fencer of stolen goods Junkie, Frank Otto, and robbed his place that fellow inmate Frankie Warren, Billy Halop, took the blame for. Cooper gets Spike to screw up Frankie's head by planting stories that he's having an affair with his big sister Sue, Gale Page, whom he's more interested then in helping the youths he's in charge of. And what's more that's why he's acting so good to Frankie so he can get in good and close to his sister.

Later Braden wins over the young inmates by risking his life saving Squirt, Bobby Jordan, in a boiler room explosion that Frankie, by overloading the boiler, started. With Frankie still believing the lying Spike he and his fellow reform school inmates brake out of prison with the help of head of the guards Cooper providing them the car and gun,both his,to do it with. It's Cooper and his former boss Morgan's sinister plan to discredit Braden and then have him canned so they can get back to business as usual robbing the reformatory of it's funds and at the same time keeping the nosy Braden from exposing them.

***SPOILERS*** It's Braden with the help of Frankie and his fellow escapees who in the end turns the tables on both Morgan & Cooper. In him getting the boys back in bed before their discovered by Braden's boss the prison commissioner to have escaped which blows Morgan and Cooper's plan sky high. In fact later Braden catches Cooper red handed trying to hide the incriminating evidence, the falsified state money invoices, and works him over just for good measures. As for Morgan he ends up not in the reformatory but, together with his partner in crime Cooper, in "The Big House" Sing Sing prison for a 5 to 10 year stretch. With at the same time those youths that Morgan & Cooper abused and brutalized getting an early parole, thanks to Mark Braden, instead.

Poor film and a poor remake of previous "Warner Bros" film.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 4/10 · 1 September 2017]

"Crime School" wouldn't have done many favours for Humphrey Bogart's career. When this film was released in 1938, the actor wasn't yet a star and had no choice but to accept any and all films the studio gave him. A remake of the 1933 film "The Mayor of Hell" with James Cagney, "Crime School" features the Dead End Kids who are sent to some kind of reform school after being caught committing a burglary. They come up against a ruthless and sadistic warden. At least Bogart is cast on the right side of the law for a change. He plays a social worker who is determined to protect all the boys at the reform school from further ill treatment. Nothing much to say in this film's favour and I daresay it didn't make much money at the box office.

interesting mix of Bogey & dead end kids

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 21 August 2021]

Wow, the dead end kids even got top billing over bogart in the opening credits! In this one, frankie is the boss (not spike). And only one gorcey... Leo hadn't figured out how to get his brother and father into the story yet. So when spike puts a pawn shop owner in the hospital, they end up in reformatory school. It's so badly run, that the top guy (Bogart) decides to run it himself. Which makes the kids more cooperative, but now the reform school employees are the problem. Throw in a love story, and it's a film. This was just a couple years after Petrified Forest, and Bogie was just finding his style. The "kids" would go on to make films as the east side kids, and the bowery boys, which Gorcey owned with his agent. Directed by Lewis Seiler and William Clemens.

gang takes the rap for one kids mistake and are sent to run down "crime school"

[cfhiesehse · 10/10 · 10 January 2000]

Great movie, well worth the search, great performances, and feeling of caring between the boys. Humphrey Bogart plays his role with an honesty that would be hard to break apart, his face screams "trust me", and so we do.