The Devil's Party

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The Devil's Party is a 1938 American crime film directed by Ray McCarey. It’s based on Borden Chase’s novel Hell’s Kitchen Has a Pantry and stars Victor McLaglen, William Gargan, and Paul Kelly.

Plot
As a boy in Hell’s Kitchen, Marty Malone is part of a street gang called the Death Avenue Cowboys. While trying to steal fruit, he starts a fire to distract the guards, but it turns into a real blaze. He’s caught and, though questioned harshly, refuses to name his friends and is sent to reform school.

Many years later, Marty owns the Cigarette Club, a cabaret and casino in Manhattan. He uses rough methods to collect debts from customers. Two criminals, Sam and Frank Diamond, beat a man to death and try to hide it as an accident. Joe and Mike O’Mara, brothers who used to run with Marty as kids, are now on the police side. Joe suspects murder and investigates, while Mike grows uneasy and tries to help his brother.

At a reunion dinner at the Cigarette Club, Marty’s old friends—now including the O’Mara brothers, Jerry the priest, and Helen McCoy, who works at the club—reconnect. Helen is in love with Mike, not Marty. After the dinner, the Diamonds push Joe toward a fatal confrontation, throwing him off a roof. Marty is furious that his men bungled the job.

The police dismiss Joe’s death as an accident, but Mike suspects a cover-up and grows torn between loyalty and justice. The Diamonds rob a jewelry store, bomb the club, and send incriminating notes about Marty to Mike. Mike tries to attack Marty, but Jerry stops him, and Marty confesses to Jerry that he didn’t want anyone hurt.

Diamond and Sam hatch a plan to rob Polar Gardens, an ice-skating venue, and kidnap Helen to draw Marty into the crime. They tip off Mike, hoping he’ll kill Marty. Mike again loses control, but Jerry once more prevents violence. In the final shootout, Marty dies taking a bullet meant for Mike. Grief-stricken, Mike and Helen find some closure, and at Jerry’s boys’ club a playground is built in Marty’s honor, fulfilling his wish for the kids he once protected.