These Three
Dead End
Lillian Hellman adapted her controversial stage play The Children's Hour for her first collaboration with director William Wyler. Miriam Hopkins and Merle Oberon star as college friends who work together at a posh private school for girls. Their sheltered world of privilege is turned upside down when a vengeful schoolgirl (played with malicious glee by Bonita Granville) enlists the aid of her high society grandmother to ruin the reputations of her headmistresses. William Hays, enforcer of the Production Code, insisted that the title of the film be changed to avoid direct association with the then-currently running stage play, and also demanded that all lesbian content in the original material be removed.
Set during an eventful day in a New York City slum, Dead End stars Humphrey Bogart as gangster Baby Face Martin, who returns to his old neighborhood and finds that nobody wants to see him. His mother is ashamed of his criminal past and his ex-girlfriend has become a syphilitic prostitute. Only the 'Dead End Kids' (in their screen debut) seem to welcome him, so they may learn his crooked way of life on the streets. Lillian Hellman's script remains faithful to Sidney Kingsley's popular stage play, and Wyler creates a gritty, urban milieu thanks to the visionary eye of cinematographer Gregg Toland.