They Made Me A Criminal [1939] @ .mp4

User Rating: 7.1/10


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032022/

Genre: Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sport

Tagline:
I am a fugitive! I am hunted by the mob! I am wanted by the cops! I am forgotten by decent women!


John Garfield ... Johnnie Bradfield, aka Jack Dorney
The Dead End Kids ... Tommy's Gang
Claude Rains ... Det. Monty Phelan
Ann Sheridan ... Goldie West

This is breezy highly entertaining drama with an excellent cast. Garfield is fine as a boxer hiding from the police with that motley crew the Dead End Kids. Most notable of these is the beautiful Billy Halop who has some very moving moments. Gloria Dickson, who in real life died very young in a house fire, is strong and very attractive as Halop's sister, and in the early scenes Ann Sheridan, on the brink of stardom, is a knock-out. May Robson is very funny as a crusty old granny, but Claude Rains proves here that even a great actor can flounder if mis-cast (whoever thought of casting him as a tough New York cop?).

Busby Berkeley proves here that he was a fine director with or without musical numbers. The film moves at a terrific pace and the water tower sequence is very suspenseful and well photographed. The ending is contrived, and the plot nothing startling or original, but I still found this a highly enjoyable experience.

Video
Codec mpeg-4
w/h 640x480
bitrate 866kbps
frame rate 29.970
Audio
mpeg4aac
bitrate 128kbps