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Title: Dead End
Review: Based on a stage play by Sidney Kingsley and scripted by playwright Lillian Hellman, Wyler's gritty, compelling fable of tenement life in the 1930s was touted in its day as a hard-hitting social drama about class tensions and the origins of crime. Bogart, in one of his first starring roles, is a ringer as the rotten Martin, though a key scene with his disapproving mother shows a vulnerable side, too. McCrea and Sidney carry their weight as the moral heart of Wyler's mean streets, and teen actor Halop plays ragamuffin gang leader Tommy with lots of heart.
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