|
''Dead End'' is a 1937 crime drama film. Directed by William Wyler, it is an adaptation of the Sidney Kingsley 1935 Broadway play of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Joel McCrea, and Sylvia Sidney. It is notable as being the first film appearance of the Dead End Kids. ==Plot== In the filthy slums of New York, wealthy people have built luxury apartments there because of the view of the picturesque East River. While they live in opulence, the destitute and dirt poor live nearby in crowded, filthy tenements. At the end of the street is a dock on the East River; to the left are the luxury apartments and to the right are the slums. The Dead End Kids, led by Tommy Gordon (Billy Halop), are a petty gang of street urchins who are already well onto a path to a life of crime. Members of the gang besides Tommy include, Dippy (Huntz Hall), Angel (Bobby Jordan), Spit (Leo Gorcey), T.B. (Gabriel Dell), and Milty (Bernard Punsly), the new kid on the block in search of friends. Spit is a bit malicious with a cruel streak and initially bullies the newcomer and takes his pocket change. However, Tommy eventually lets Milty join the gang, and he turns out to be both a loyal and generous friend. Tommy's sister, Drina (Sylvia Sidney), dreams of marrying some dashing, rich stranger who will save her and Tommy from this miserable life of poverty and help prevent Tommy from growing up to be a mobster like Hugh "Baby Face" Martin (Humphrey Bogart), who has returned to the neighborhood to visit his mother and childhood girlfriend. Dave Connell (Joel McCrea), raised on the same street as Martin, recognizes him and warns him to stay away, but Martin contemptuously ignores him. Dave, a frustrated architect who currently works odd jobs, is Drina's childhood friend. He is having an affair with a rich man's mistress, Kay Burton (Wendy Barrie). Although Dave and Kay love each other, they know they can't be together because Dave cannot provide Kay with the kind of lifestyle she desires. Meanwhile, the kids lure Philip (Charles Peck), a rich kid from the apartments, into a cellar where they beat and rob him. When the boy's father tries to intervene, Tommy winds up stabbing him in the arm. He escapes the police and goes into hiding. Martin is subsequently rejected by his mother (Marjorie Main), who denounces him as a murderer, and repulsed by his ex-girlfriend, Francie (Claire Trevor), who is now a prostitute and "sick" (a coded reference to her suffering late term stages of syphilis). Despondent over the failed visit, he decides to kidnap the rich child for ransom to make the trip back worthwhile. Dave sees Martin and his cohorts planning the kidnapping and again warns him to leave. Martin knifes him and Hunk (Allen Jenkins) pushes him into the river. Managing to pull himself out of the river, Dave pursues the hoodlums, knocking out Hank and chasing Martin on the rooftops before cornering him on a fire escape. Among a hail of bullets, he manages to kill Martin who falls onto the street below. As the police and a crowd of people gather around Martin's body, the doorman (Ward Bond) recognizes Spit as being a member of the gang that attacked the rich kid's father and identifies him to Officer Mulligan (James Burke). Spit exonerates himself by informing the police that the man was cut by Tommy, who has returned to say goodbye to Drina before running away. Meanwhile, Kay approaches Dave asking him to go away with her using the reward money that he received for killing Martin. Dave refuses, and Kay returns to the man that she doesn't love, but who can provide her with financial security. Tommy hears of Spit's betrayal and tries to give him the mark of the "squealer", which is a knife wound across the cheek. Before he can do so, Dave intervenes, and he and Drina convince Tommy to surrender to the police. Dave then offers to use his reward money to pay for Tommy's defense. As Drina, Dave, and Tommy leave with Mulligan, the rest of the Dead End Kids meander off into the night, singing "If I had the wings of an angel, over these prison walls I would fly." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dead End (1937 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|