Dead End

I found Dead End to be very entertaining, and funny even thought it wasn't supposed to be. It is a good example of the social problem film that studios tackled in the 30s, 40s and 50s. It addresses the idea of the slum vs. the gentrified area of town, and in this film one is literally behind the other. When the viewer can look past the staginess and melodramatic acting, the film speaks of something that is still addressed in present day films - what can happen to the young people in poor neighborhoods when they don't have the right guidance/mentors. The film takes place mostly on one corner, conveying how the slum was closed off from the more affluent part of the city. They're close to it, but worlds away from it. Of course the film has the age old moral at the end "crime doesn't pay". As with most film from this era, I can't help but think about how cheesy the melodrama style is, yet how popular it was back then.