The Washington times., 1937-02-16

he turks IN tne alIey lot LlS re-
unions.
A hard-Working and honest
mother slaps his face and curses
the day she bore him. The girl of
his youth is a diseased street
walker, dangerous to caresS. Baby
face" finds himself Spurned
figure with a price on his head. In
his rage he kicks the crippled pal
of his boyhood, and thereby spells
his doom.
AS he prepares for a new
snatch" crime, Gimpy turns him
in to the G-men. They close in on
their quarry and in the squalid
street guns bark and "Babyface"
is riddled with $4,000 of un-
earned increment in the pockets
of his fancy tailor-made suit.
PRESENTS LESSON
Meanwhile the makingaof new
gangSters is taking place before
your very eyes. Tommy and Spit
face, Dippy and Angel, the omi-
nous coughing urchin known at
"T.B.," are planning the deviltrieS
that waterfront idleness con-
ceiveS.
They prey upon the boy in the
aristocratic pent house that ad-
joins this Slum, strip him Of his
clothes and watch and send him
home crying; they play cards and
dodge the cops; they jeer and
torment the fancy caparisoned
docrman of the rich, plan gang
warfare, and finally Tommy Stabs
the uncle of the boy they SO
grievously wronged.
Ali the while you must be i'm
pressed with the thought that
these East River urchins are not
inherently bad. They are denied
the training and advice so essen
tial in the formative period Of
lite, and their propensity for mis-
chief grows as their excess energy
is misapplied or expended to no
useful purpose. This is the mes
sage of Dead End" delivered
win stark grimneSS.
This segment of life becomes,
living, breathing reality through
the earmarks of poverty and
squalor that dot Norman Be
Geddes realistic setting. You hear
the hoarSe whistles of tug boats
the echo Of gay music from pleas
ure yachts, see the potted plants
and awnings of pent house lux
uries, contraSted with the dirty
underwear that drapeS from tene
ment fire escapes, garbage cans
and filthy milk bottles, the CRIME
and the rags of the underpriVi
legged.
is WELL ACTED
The final chapter discloses the
uniformed flunkey dousing with
fire hose the barrel bonfire
in which the hooliganS are roast
ing their potatoes, known as
"mickeys," and as the cloud OF
steam from the quenched flames
aScends to the heavens, the raga
mullins ironically chant 1.-THE
Prisoners Song"
This is Dead End" and though
Playwright Kingsley tries to drag
in a romance-that seemed to me
singularly fumbling and poorly
contrived - touches lightly upor
the police oppression Of girl
pickets, the emotional wallop Of
his play rests in the indictment
of society that neglectS the boy
who needs helping hand.
Dead End" is acted with con
siderable fire, energy and enthu
siasm by the juveniles in the i'm
portant roles. They appear to bt
endowed with boundless spirit, s
certain gang loyalty, and a love
for action. Donald Sharpe, Nor
ton Tuller, David Gorcey, Jay
Merrick and Edward Furman wiz
bows for this hoodlum illusion.
In the more matured charac
-, ters Dead End" has competent
acting from Francis De Sales
Turnkey Walker, Mady Correll
Millicent Green, Ernest Rowan
and Lew EckelS.
The lighting of Dead End" Il
strikingly effective with batterie
of floods from balcony and boxe!
utilized in creating the mood o.
A, the scene. Without Norman Be
p, Geddes I am afraid that tn,
playwright would be just an OF
dinary melodramatic preacher
With him he emergeS as a power
; full missionary with a real mes
sage.
, The curtain dropped last nigh
at 9:54.