Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Boyhood friends Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connolly have taken different paths in life. After Rocky is arrested, he is sent to a juvenile facility and becomes a lifelong tough guy and criminal; meanwhile, Jerry goes straight and becomes a Catholic priest ministering to people in the same neighborhood where he and Rocky grew up.

Rocky is released from prison, and he resumes his criminal lifestyle and becomes much admired by many of the local kids. Worried that the kids will follow Rocky into the criminal world, Jerry works hard to keep them on the straight and narrow. After Rocky is convicted and sentenced to the electric chair, Jerry asks him for one last favor.