Wednesday, September 19, 2012

They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Busby Berkeley
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

John Garfield is a successful New York boxer, but his life outside the ring gets him in trouble. A newspaper reporter is accidentally murdered one night in his apartment, but he was too drunk to remember what really happened. Framed for murder, he goes on the run. He ends up on a California ranch with fellow big city exiles the Dead End kids. He takes them under his wing but mostly teaches them how to steal and cheat. Farm girl Ann Sheridan eventually changes his ways. The New York boxing drama is OK, but when the action shifts to California it becomes just another predictable juvenile drama with Leo Gorcey and friends. Berkeley's former directorial flourishes are nowhere to be found, although there is one interesting scene where Garfield and the boys get trapped in a water tower while swimming.

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