Dead End

Dead End (1937)

Timing: 1:33 (93 min)

7/10
115

• Director William Wyler (1902-1981) gave actress Claire Trevor (1910-2000) an old handbag and shoes with broken heels. He instructed her to wear less makeup and not to style her hair in the morning, to more convincingly portray her fallen heroine.
• William Wyler disliked how Wendy Barrie (1912-1978) reacted with disgust to the garbage cans in the dirty alley. After several unsuccessful takes, the director ordered live cockroaches to be brought onto the set, and only then did he achieve believable acting from the actress.
• All references to what Francy (played by Claire Trevor) does were veiled to avoid censorship (although her profession is stated directly in the play that served as the literary source). The film doesn't even once mention the fact that she is suffering from late-stage syphilis.
• William Wyler wanted to film on location directly on the streets of New York, but producer Samuel Goldwyn (1882-1974) insisted on studio filming. Wyler ordered garbage to be scattered around the set for realism, which horrified the fastidious Goldwyn, so he personally cleaned up the garbage at the end of each shooting day.