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Plot

This slightly bowdlerized version of Irving Shulman's The Amboy Dukes was used by Universal-International to showcase several of its new male contractees. Set in the slums of Brooklyn, the film follows the exploits of the Amboy Dukes, a teenaged street gang. Foremost among the Dukes is Frank Cusack (Peter Fernandez), who loses all opportunity to escape his grim existence when he accidentally kills his high-school teacher. The film tries to demonstrate that the so-called "code of the streets"--never rat on a pal--is possibly more destructive than any brass knuckle or switchblade. Maxwell Shane and Dennis Cooper's screenplay resists any temptation to sentimentalize the kids or trivialize their plight; the closest the film comes to comedy relief are the shattered romantic illusions of the near-moronic Crazy Perrin. Prominent among the supporting players are Thelma Ritter as Frank Cusack's anguished mother, Stephen McNally as a community center counselor, and Anthony (Tony) Curtis as the leather-jacketed gang leader.
MPAA Rating:
Genre(s):
Crime and Mystery,Drama,Thriller
Run Time:
90min.
Director(s):
Maxwell Shane
Starring:
Horace McNally , Thelma Ritter , Luis Van Rooten , Jeff Corey , Tony Curtis
Keywords:
bridge [structure],child,city,criminal,death,fugitive,gangster,hatred,hidden,hide-out,leader,rampage,rival,slums,street,teacher,teenagers,tenement