Dead End

Two worlds sit side by side along the East River: luxury apartments with picturesque river views and crowded, cockroach-infested tenements. A dock at the end of the street marks the boundary between opulence and desperation. The Dead End Kids, led by Tommy Gordon, emerge from the slums to begin their risky street existence in this divided city.

The Dead End Kids roam the neighborhood under Tommy Gordon’s leadership. Spit bullies Milty at first, but Tommy decides Milty can stay and join the gang. Milty proves to be a loyal, if wary, new member as the group tightens.

Hugh 'Baby Face' Martin returns to the neighborhood with his partner Hunk to visit his mother and old flame. Dave Connell, Drina's childhood friend, recognizes Martin and warns him to stay away. Martin ignores the warning, signaling new trouble on the horizon.

Dave Connell, a frustrated architect, is secretly having an affair with Kay Burton, a rich man's mistress. They know their relationship cannot last or provide the life Kay desires. Their affair adds a bitter undercurrent to the class tensions around them.

The Dead End Kids lure Philip, a rich kid from the apartments, into a cellar where they beat and rob him. When Philip’s father, a judge, tries to intervene, Tommy stabs him in the arm and the kid escapes. The incident triggers a police manhunt and Tommy’s need to vanish.

Tommy escapes the pursuing police after stabbing the judge and hides from capture. The raid on the gang intensifies as authorities close in on the Dead End Kids, forcing them to scatter.

Martin is rejected by his mother and dumped by Francey, who is now a prostitute. Desperate for meaning, he plots to kidnap a rich child for ransom to make the trip worthwhile. He assembles his accomplices, including his old gang, and heads toward a new crime.

Dave sees Martin and his accomplices planning the kidnapping and warns them to back off. Martin knives him, and Hunk pushes him into the river. Dave survives, regroups, and continues the pursuit.

Dave chases Martin along rooftops, corners him on a fire escape, and a gunfight erupts. Dave lets Hunk be knocked out and mortally wounds Martin, who falls to the street below. Police intervene as a crowd gathers around the fallen gang leader.

Martin engages the approaching police in a firefight, shooting at officers before they return fire and kill him. The crowd and officers stand over his body, marking the end of his violent arc.

As a crowd forms, the doorman identifies Spit as a member of the gang that attacked the rich kid’s father. Spit claims innocence and explains that Tommy cut the man, shifting suspicion away from himself. Tommy reappears briefly to bid Drina goodbye before fleeing again.

Kay Burton approaches Dave, urging him to run away with her using the reward money he is owed for killing Martin. Dave refuses, choosing not to abandon Drina or his own values, and Kay returns to the security of wealth with another man.

Tommy learns of Spit's betrayal and contemplates giving him the mark of the squealer. Dave intervenes, and with Drina’s support, convinces Tommy to surrender to the police. Dave even offers to use his reward money to help pay Tommy’s defense.

Tommy, Drina, and Dave leave with Mulligan as the rest of the Dead End Kids drift away into the night. The gang’s stories end with a chorus as they walk into the dark, singing a hopeful refrain about wings and freedom.