They Made Me a Criminal
| They Made Me a Criminal | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Busby Berkeley |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Edited by | Jack Killifer |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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92 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939 American Warner Bros. drama crime film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the 1933 film The Life of Jimmy Dolan. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia. Portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California.
Johnnie Bradfield (John Garfield) is a world champion boxer falsely accused of murder. He disappeared and is presumed dead. The only witnesses who could have exonerated him were his manager and girlfriend, both of whom have died in an automobile accident. Detective Monty Phalen (Claude Rains) believes that Johnnie is still alive and hasn't given up the search for him. Johnnie, meanwhile, is hiding out on Grandma Rafferty's (May Robson) farm in Arizona. It is there that Johnnie meets up with some juvenile delinquents, Tommy (Billy Halop), Angel (Bobby Jordan), Spit (Leo Gorcey), Dippy (Huntz Hall), T.B. (Gabriel Dell), and Milty (Bernard Punsly), who are under the guardianship of Tommy's sister Peggy (Gloria Dickson).
Johnnie, using the fake name of Jack Dorney takes Tommy under his wing and encourages him to go in business for himself by buying a gas pump for the farm. He helps the kids raise money by returning to the boxing ring for a match against an up-and-coming boxer. Johnnie sees Phalen arriving at the fight and decides to hide who he really is by not using his trademark stance in the ring. However his determination to help the kids overcomes him and he reveals who he really is, although he is defeated in the fifth round. He surrenders to Phalen, but the detective allows him to remain in Arizona instead of returning to New York.
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