1. Dead End<br /> To modern eyes, Lillian Helman’s 1937 movie, “Dead End” appears stiff and two dimensional. Shot entirely on a sound stage it has the look of a play; and it was, running on Broadway from 1935 to 1937. But once you overlook the lack of high speed chases and special effects, the deeper social commentary of the film is clear.<br /> “Dead End” represents both a New York location and where the lives of the young urban poor are headed. The setting is the end of 53rd St. where it meets the East River. A mansion, built for the river views (and based on the actual River House), both ignores and mocks the separate and very unequal world of the tenements across the street.<br /> As the urban poor try to make ends meet, the gangster/murderer Baby Face Martin returns to his old neighborhood to seek out his mother and old girlfriend. The Dead End Kids idolize Baby Face as “one of their own” who’s “made it.”<br /> Tommy, the Kid’s gang leader is being raised by his sister Drina. She loves Dave an unemployed architect, but is engaged to a man she doesn’t love. She hopes he can take them away from poverty. Dave is having an affair with a rich woman he can never be with. Both know their choices are wrong, but perhaps necessary.<br /> A rich kid from the mansion is intrigued by the Dead End kids. Their savvy street smarts are in complete contrast to his sheltered, privileged life. But instead of friendship, he is beaten and robbed. The boy’s father grabs Tommy, who stabs him and escapes into hiding. Drina fears she’s losing Tommy to a life of crime.<br /> When Baby Face finds his mother, instead of a tender reunion, she is repulsed by him crying out, “You’re a no-good tramp! Just die, and leave us alone.” On the heels of this, he finds his girlfriend. Expecting her as he remembers (the big man’s girl in her sexy prime),<br />instead he finds her worn, haggard and “sick,” a 1930s Hollywood euphemism for a prostitute dying of syphilis.<br /> Enraged, Baby Face decides to kidnap the rich kid. Dave gets wind of this and is stabbed by Baby Face while trying to stop him. Dave gets a gun, chases Baby Face through the alleys and rooftops like the rat that he is, and true to the 1930 Hays Committee criteria, Baby Face Martin dies in a proverbial hail of bullets, falling to the streets like a minor league King Kong. Dave is given a $500 reward for his feat.<br /> As a crowd gathers, someone alerts police to the Dead End kids (still wanted for questioning about the stabbing). One of them squeals on Tommy, who at that moment is preparing to flee with his sister. Dave gets to them first.<br /> Drina fears for Tommy’s own “Dead End,” either as a criminal or a victim of the system. She sees no way out. Dave convinces the boy to accept responsibility for what he’s done, trust the system and renounce Baby Face’s ways. The film ends with Dave pledging his reward money to help as the police arrive. Even in 1937 this was a tragic ending – the characters “did the right thing” even faced with the weight and darkness of a reality they could barely survive, let alone change. <br /> 1937 found the US in the midst of the Great Depression and the New Deal. People were questioning an established order that had let them down. The extremes of society were well represented in this “Best Picture” nominated film – rich/poor, haves/have-nots, luxury dwellings/tenement slums, criminals/honest citizens. And with them, the choices people had to make every day. In our lives, despite advances in film making, we are faced with many of those same, human choices.<br />