Movielogr

Rating: 5.5 stars

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Amazon Prime boxing framed innocent on the run orchard secret identity kids reform arizona double cross

All movies seen on 06/30/2020

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They Made Me a Criminal (1939)

Directed by Busby Berkeley

Crime | Drama | Film Noir

Most recently watched by sleestakk

Overview

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

Rated NR | Length 92 minutes

Actors

John Garfield | Claude Rains | Ann Sheridan | May Robson | Gloria Dickson | Billy Halop | Bobby Jordan | Leo Gorcey | Huntz Hall | Gabriel Dell | Bernard Punsly | Robert Gleckler | John Ridgely | Barbara Pepper | William B. Davidson | Ward Bond | Robert Strange | Louis Jean Heydt | Frank Riggi | Cliff Clark | Dick Wessel | Sam Hayes | Jack Austin | Irving Bacon | Clem Bevans | Richard Bond | Edwin Brian | Raymond Brown | Mushy Callahan | Nat Carr | Eddy Chandler | Georgie Cooper | Hal Craig | Joe Cunningham | John Dilson | Mike Donovan | Tom Dugan | John Harron | Leyland Hodgson | Stuart Holmes | Arthur Housman | Donald Kerr | Reid Kilpatrick | Harry Leroy | Al Lloyd | Doris Lloyd | Frank Mayo | Sam McDaniel | Larry McGrath | Frank Meredith | Jack Mower | Jimmy O'Gatty | Paul Panzer | Bob Perry | Charles Randolph | John J. Richardson | Cyril Ring | Bert Roach | Dave Roberts | Sally Sage | Cliff Saum | Janet Shaw | John Sheehan | Ronald Sinclair | Charles Sullivan | Elliott Sullivan | Dorothy Varden | Tom Wilson | Jack Wise

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

The final film for my In Focus: James Wong Howe series. Not a terrible film but also not particularly outstanding, although there are some great shots in this, including one of a newspaper above the fold story being rotated to show the below the fold portion which I’ve never seen in a film before!

John Garfield plays a boxer who eventually, reluctantly ends up with a heart of gold. He’s fine in the role but not outstanding here. You get the feeling he’d have been better under a better director maybe.

Claude Rains is miscast as a NYC detective on Garfield’s trail. He doesn’t get much screen time either.

I’d never heard of the “Dead End Kids” but they get second billing as a bunch of reforming reprobates working on a farm who latch onto Garfield’s character as their idol.

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