The Mayberry Grand: Re: The Dead End Kids

Yeah,Al, these are strictly crime dramas. Serious early inner city stories about crime and how it affects the kids, families, etc... They are really good and I can't recommend them enough. The original "Dead End" film starring Joel McCrea & Humphrey Bogart featured "the kids" (Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey etc..) as supporting players). They were so popular they appeared in more of these type films. I don't really look at these as a "film series" because the characters and stories are always different.

James Cagney appears in "Angels With Dirty Faces" with Pat O'Brien & Humphrey Bogart. This one is really good as Cagney plays a bad local dude that the kids look up to and O'Brien plays the minister trying to keep them on the straight and narrow. "They Made Me A Criminal" stars John Garfield & Claude Rains. Start with these 3. If you haven't seen them, you are in for a treat! Can't go wrong.

The other films are:
Crime School
Angles Wash Their Faces (Not sure if I have seen this one but it stars Ronald Reagan!)
Hell's Kitchen
On Dress Parade

As the "kids" actors became older and became known as "The East Side Kids" and later the "Bowery Boys", this is when they pretty much transition to comedies.