A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This one wasn't bad - I expected the film to be far worse so it came as a nice surprise. It's not a great story but kinda fun to watch in a way. It's about the kid's club "Hell's Kitchen"... where a gang of kids, 4 boys and 1 girl, become friends. The oldest boy, Marty Malone, accidentally set fire to a building and was sent to reform school. Then the story fast-forwards to their adulthood where we find them meeting every year, the year we peer into their story there is a murder that leads to another murder - Marty Malone is involved.All grown up: A night club owner, a singer, a priest and 2 cops. I found my favorite of the gang to be the Priest Jerry. He was the one trying to keep the others calm and reasonable.It's not the grandest of stories but I found this one watchable and enjoyable.6.5/10

The film begins with a group of five kids playing around a warehouse. They accidentally light the place ablaze and run when the police arrive. However, one of the gang (Marty) is caught and he refuses to tell them who else was involved. So, he takes the rap for everyone and ends up growing into a guy who is a shady character--owning his own casino and consorting with disreputable types.The other four members of the gang grew into a not particularly talented lounge singer who works for Marty (Helen), a priest (Jerry) and two brothers who are firemen (Joe and Mike). Each year, they all meet for a reunion and are life-long friends.This friendship is tested when two thugs that work for Marty kill a man. Joe suspects it is not an accident and when he goes back to investigate, the thugs kill him as well! Now Mike takes up where Joe left off and he begins to suspect Marty's involvement. As for Marty, he did NOT want anyone killed and is stuck having to cover for the two thugs because this all began when he ordered the two to rough up a customer who refused to make good on his gambling debts. The problem is that the thugs have plans of their own and they refuse to leave town when Marty tells them to beat it.In the middle of this mess is Father Jerry. He cannot allow Mike to kill Marty but also cannot just ignore Marty's involvement. How all this is worked out is something you'll just have to see for yourself.Overall, this is a very interesting B-film with some nice twists and turns thanks to some excellent writing. As far as the acting goes, it's just fine, though Victor McLaglen in the lead is a real standout--in a tough but very sympathetic performance.

The parallels to the same year's "Angels With Dirty Faces" is unmistakable, right down to the character of Father Jerry, portrayed in this picture by Paul Kelly. I'm a bit curious about the opening scene in which the street sign marking 35th Street and 11th Avenue also states Hell's Kitchen; I wonder if that was really the case. Or if it's the case today, I'll check the next time I'm in the City.This was actually a fairly compelling gangster/crime drama, centering on five friends who palled together as the Death Avenue Cowboys. Growing up on different sides of the law, they collide in a series of events triggered by Marty Malone's (Victor McLaglen) insistence on collecting a gambling debt. Events quickly spiral out of control when one of the O'Mara Brothers suspects foul play in the death of a gambler connected to Malone. Mike O'Mara (William Gargan) learns the truth behind his boyhood friend's connection to brother Joe's (John Gallaudet) death, culminating in dire consequences for each of the principals. The female member of the 'Cowboys' is played by Beatrice Roberts, the adult Helen McCoy.I've seen Victor McLaglen in a few leading roles (1937's "Sea Devils" comes immediately to mind), and this might be his best effort as a headliner. Actually, he pretty much carries the picture, with William Gargan in a decent supporting role as policeman Mike O'Mara, attempting to get to the bottom of Joe's death. McLaglen's death scene doesn't evoke the same tear jerk response that Cagney's did in 'Angels', but it's still effective within the confines of his former childhood gang.For followers of the Little Rascals/Our Gang flicks, the opening scene will be reminiscent, but with a little harder edge, as Death Avenue Cowboys might suggest. The surprise in the film credits, for me at least, was seeing Wild Bill Elliott listed as gambler Brewster who welshed on his debt with Malone. The other puzzler involved the gang roster engraved in the wooden plaque at the beginning of the story; why was Marty Malone, the leader of the 'Cowboys' and the oldest member, listed last?

A group of young kids growing up in Hell's Kitchen form a lifelong bond. Because one refused to rat the others out, he goes to the reformatory. As adults they find their way to conflicting positions in society. Two cops, a priest, and a nightclub owner. The latter is mixed up in some shady dealings, mostly related to gambling. He hires a couple guys to rough a "client" up but they don't heed his limitations and kill the guy. This sets of a series of events where he is now under suspicion and brings about the death of one of his lifelong buddies. The film looks pretty good and it has that cool black and white element. Of course, honor is at the center, but that honor is not respected by the "really" bad guys. Victor McLaglan's character must confront his own miscues and face the music for his actions. It's not a bad movie, but there are absolutely no surprises and the characters actions are frequently pretty hard to swallow.