The movie was pretty good minus the Dead End Kids - once they were brought into the picture it went down hill. It wasn't a focus on Johnnie's story anymore but an outlet for the Dead End Kids to act up on camera.The studio, director and writers - someone - should have kept the focus on Johnnie and police. Once Johnnie left town, they only showed the police one time and that was briefly around the middle of the film and finally got back to the police at the end of the film.OH don't expect to see a lot of Claude Rains in this one - he's in the film as a tough cop - did well with the role handed to him - but he's not in the film all that much.Anyway - I would like this film much more if the Dead End Kids were NOT in the film and would have most likely rated the film higher!! They put way too much focus on them and not on the what the story is about: Johnnie being framed for a murder he didn't commit.4/10

This was John Garfield's second film following hard on the heels of his debut in Four Daughters (in which Claude Rains was much better cast as a father than he is here as Javert with an American accent). Inexplicably Ann Sheridan, a natural foil for Garfield and an actress who revelled in low-key dialog ("you couldn't even afford the headlights" was her come- back to the diner who observed 'some chassis' in They Drive By Night) and would certainly have matched Garfield crack for crack, is written out in the second reel leaving Gloria Dickson - a fine actress but no match for Sheridan in trading dialog - as the love interest. The plot's a tad predictable but this was 1939 and audiences were more than happy with a mixture of cliché and sentiment provided it was pacey and punchy and this delivers on both counts.

After winning a championship fight, boxer John Garfield (as Johnnie Bradfield) celebrates with a drinking binge, which leads to the manslaughter of a pushy reporter. Although his manager killed the man, Mr. Garfield is blamed. When the manager dies in a car crash, wearing Garfield's stolen watch, authorities think the boxer is dead. Still a WANTED man, Garfield changes his identity to "Jack Dorney" and moves to an Arizona ranch. There, Garfield meets "The Dead End Kids": Billy Halop (as Tommy), Bobby Jordan (as Angel), Leo Gorcey (as Spit), Huntz Hall (as Dippy), Gabriel Dell (as T.B.), and Bernard Punsly (as Milt).Garfield bonds with the young "Dead End" lads, who were sent to stay with sweet "Grandma Rafferty" (May Robson) as an alternative to reform school, courtesy of her brother, deceased priest "Father Rafferty". Garfield falls in love with Halop's sister, pretty "Peggy" (Gloria Dickson), who is there to keep any eye on the kids. Of course, Garfield's past comes back to haunt him… John Garfield and The 'Dead End' Kids make beautiful (Max Steiner) music together, thanks to effective direction and photography, by Busby Berkeley and James Wong Howe. The story is predictably comfortable, with the Warner Brothers support team in fine form. Garfield and the "Dead End" kids are a winning combination; although Garfield made no further movies with the "East Side" gang, the studio had him re-team with both Billy Halop and Bobby Jordan, almost immediately, for "Dust Be My Destiny".The boxing scenes are nicely staged. But, the most exciting sequence has Garfield and four of the New York "Kids" (Halop, Jordan, Hall, and Punsly) climbing into a giant water tank for a swim - which unexpectedly puts their lives in danger. Other, more brief, highlights include floozy Ann Sheridan (as Goldie), boozy Barbara Pepper (as Budgie), and young Ronald Sinclair (as Douglas) losing at strip poker.******** They Made Me a Criminal (1/21/39) Busby Berkeley ~ John Garfield, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Claude Rains

This is a poor excuse for a movie. A film noir done by Busbee Berkeley? Please! First, let's forget about the plot, a truly simple-minded version of a cynical tough guy turned into a saint by the love of a pretty blonde. Yechh. So what turns her from despising him to loving him? Along with a group of other guys, he helps keep a kid from drowning as they all swim in a water tower and try to survive as the water is siphoned off, stranding them. It isn't exactly heroics, but she's suddenly smitten. It's truly painful to watch Claude Rains trying to portray a hard-bitten, tough-talking, noir-type cop. A crooked grimace is his main and rather pathetic acting tool, along with a growling voice. Most of his energy seems to go into trying to hide the intelligence that shines in all his other roles. How he ever got talked into taking this job I'll never understand. Enjoy it, if you can, for a few period details, the old cars and gas pumps, but don't expect a decent film experience. It wasted 1-1/12 hours of my life.