Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Powerful

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

They Made me a Criminal is a film I never heard of until a couple of months ago. I bought the 92-minute Alpha Video print (which is quite good, by the way, except for some minor shaking in the credits) and I watched it today. What a wonderful surprise!I don't go out of my way to collect Dead End Kids movies. I really liked their first one, Dead End, with Humphrey Bogart. The next one I have is the celebrated Angels with Dirty Faces, starring Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien. That is also a good film, but I actually like They Made Me a Criminal better. Angels with Dirty Faces is well executed, but the moral issue about Cagney's reputation as either tough guy or coward is, to me, handled in a loud way, as if to say, "This is a movie with a message about how to wean kids from involvement in gangs." They Made Me a Criminal is more low-key, less a message movie and more just a warm human story.It has a boxing component, with John Garfield as the boxer. It might seem impossible to find any original variant on a boxing film, since scores of them have been made, but this one has its own twists, and a clever and satisfying plot.Garfield is simply superb in the film. Ann Sheridan and Gloria Dickson are both perfect as his romantic interests. Claude Rains, despite his protests to Warner against doing the part (for which he thought he was unsuited), turns in his usual professional performance, and I quite liked it. Why couldn't an American cop be an immigrant from England and have an English accent? No reason, and Rains is effective. Not at his greatest, perhaps, but the role calls for a low-key performance and he delivers it. The usual excellent supporting and bit-part cast (drawn from Warner and other studios) is on hand to provide a delightful mix of characters: among those deserving mention (too many to list) are May Robson, Robert Gleckler, Barbara Pepper, William B. Davidson, Ward Bond, Robert Strange, and Louis Jean Heydt.The Kids themselves are in fine form, with Billy Halop as the sensitive leader and the others with their usual personalities. However, though they are important to the film and their scenes are all good, this is really Garfield's film.The ending caught me by surprise, but I liked it.The direction by Busby Berkeley is perfect for the story. Berkeley apparently had talent for directing more than musical extravaganzas. The musical score by Max Steiner is good, adding effects here and there and not intrusive. Another great Warner picture.

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

A boxer (John Garfield) takes it on the lam after believing he killed a reporter. He lives the life of a hobo from New York to Arizona, where he gets a job working for a nice old lady (May Robson) who runs a work farm for juvenile delinquents. He enjoys his life on the farm helping the boys and also falls for pretty Gloria Dickson. Soon his past catches up with him as a relentless detective (Claude Rains) tracks him down.Fantastic WB crime drama, a superior remake of The Life of Jimmy Dolan. It's the first starring vehicle for John Garfield, who crafts a memorable screen persona here. After this he would be typecast in similar roles, the same struggle that previous Warner stars like Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson had to overcome. The Dead End Kids are always fun. They're not everybody's cup of tea but I'm a fan. This movie isn't their first but it does have the distinction of being the first movie of theirs where they use a malapropism, which would become one of their trademarks. At first glance Claude Rains might seem like a poor fit for a chain-smoking New York cop. But he's an actor with such a great presence that he makes it work. Sexy Ann Sheridan has a small role but she makes the most of her limited time. Robert Strange is good as a slimy lawyer.It's a fun movie with colorful characters and good direction by Busby Berkeley. No dance numbers, though. Max Steiner music and James Wong Howe cinematography are pluses. I love the boxing parts. The story is simple but entertaining. For some reason WB let it slip into public domain. This means it's readily available for free online. This is one of the best movies that are in public domain. No excuses not to seek it out.

A seemingly home-spun boxer gets accused of a murder he didn't commit and goes on the run. Fortunately for him, he's believed to be dead so he blends right in with the Dead End Kids, picking dates on an Arizona farm. Unfortunately for him, a determined detective spots him in a newspaper photo, and his cover is endangered.Another imitator of Fury, the classic early film noir with a very similar set-up, this one suffers slightly from both predictability and a generic structure. Where it succeeds is with the superb Warner Brothers technology and a dream cast of contract players. John Garfield plays a media darling, so perfect with public relations that he publicly thanks his mother, whom we never even see. His phoniness is exposed the minute the camera is off and the booze flows. Ann Sheridan is wasted as his floozy moll, the real leading lady the lesser known Gloria Dickson who works on the date farm supervising the Dead End Kids.Claude Rains is, as always, impressive as the desperate detective, a much more low-key variation of Les Miserables' Javert, albeit one with a soft touch and cynical sense of humor. He's been beaten by life and empathizes with Garfield. A true scene-stealing performance comes from May Robson who combines love, no-nonsense and a thrilling love of boxing that creates a lot of humor. Being a remake of an earlier pre-code film with elements of film noir thrown in, the result is a noble try that doesn't completely come off but isn't a dud, either. The fact that this is directed by veteran choreographer Busby Berkley without any of his famous over-the-head camera shots of chorus girls makes this even more interesting.