Crime School (1938) **1/2

Release date: May 28, 1938

Running Time: 86 minutes

Starring: Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Punsly, Humphrey Bogart, Gale Page, Weldon Heyburn, Cy Kendall

Directed by: Lewis Seiler

The second pairing of Humphrey Bogart and The Dead End Kids (billed and advertised as The Crime School Kids to avoid legal issues with United Artists) is an odd duck. For one, The Crime School Kids received top billing for this film, overshadowing even Bogart for that distinction. Bogart was not quite at the top of his game at this point in his career having just turned in supporting rolls in Stand-In against Leslie Howard and the much maligned Swing Your Lady. The Crime School Boys were also on the downward swing and several were released from their contracts only to be quickly resigned when they made a film with Universal that was a big hit. This was the film that lead to those contracts being released in the first place. Part of the problem is that the film doesn’t give us a strong story to hang the antics of the Crime School Kids. Bogart’s miscasting doesn’t help.

The story is pretty thread-bare. The Crime School Kids: Frankie, Squirt, Spike, Goofy, Fats and Bugs live in the slums. To make money they work for a junkman (Frank Otto) selling various items they “come across” in their wanderings. When the junkman refuses to pay them what was initially promised a scuffle breaks out and Spike strikes the man over the head causing him to fall to the ground unmoving. The boys are quickly arrested but none of them are willing to squeal forcing the judge to send them all off to reform school. 

Upon arrival it doesn’t take long for the boys to run afoul of the harsh warden, Morgan (Cy Kendall) and before the first night is through Frankie tries to escape. He is swiftly caught and flogged, left in bed battered and in need of medical attention. Meanwhile, newly appointed superintendent of the state reformatories, Mark Braden (Bogart), visits the school and is appalled to find the conditions the kids are living in. They are served poor quality food and forced to wear uniforms that don’t fit. When he finds Frankie in the hospital ward, his wounds untreated, Mark has seen enough to take action. He quickly fires half of the guards, the reformatory doctor and Morgan, retaining the head guard, Cooper (Weldon Heyburn). Mark takes control of the reformatory himself and attempts to win over the boys but finds himself facing an uphill battle with the jaded youth. Meanwhile, Cooper, and Morgan, are concerned that Mark will discover discrepancies if he looks too closely at the books.

The title of the film, Crime School, is a bit of a misnomer probably to make the film seem more exciting to 30’s audiences. Aside from brief mentions of people “graduating” reform school into a life of crime, nothing much plays into that name. Warner Brothers tried to play that title up by rebranding The Bowery Boys as The Crime School Kids in this film and Angels With Dirty Faces later the same year but that name was unpopular and eventually the troop ended up with the moniker The Dead End Kids. They would star alongside Bogart in a total of three movies: Dead End, Crime School and Angels With Dirty Faces. This would be the only time among the three films where Bogart played a heroic figure.

Bogart seems comfortable enough in the roll of the noble superintendent, determined to do right by the boys in his charge. It’s a roll that comes across a little too bland to really offer any actor much of an opportunity to shine, though. He isn’t sleepwalking through the part but he’s also not doing much to create a real character. Instead, he’s just a one-dimensional do-gooder who is just there to advance the story and provide a contrary perspective to the adage that growing up in the slums means you will never amount to anything other than a petty criminal. Likewise Cy Kendall and Weldon Heyburn play cookie cutter baddies without an ounce of nuance to them. 

After the previous years Dead End it is a little disappointing watching The Crime School Kids’ follow-up film. The kids themselves are good as always but the rest of the film lets them down. There are some truly great moments peppered in here such as Frankies desperate attempt to climb a barb wire fence to escape but these moments are not enough to sustain this movie. It’s perfectly adequate but that’s about it.