East Side Kids
Encyclopedia
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of films released by Monogram Pictures
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
and The Little Tough Guys
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
.
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
, Huntz Hall
, Bobby Jordan
, Gabriel Dell
, Billy Halop
, and Bernard Punsly
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
player Donald Haines
, Frankie Burke
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
in 1946.
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
and The Little Tough Guys
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
.
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
, Huntz Hall
, Bobby Jordan
, Gabriel Dell
, Billy Halop
, and Bernard Punsly
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
player Donald Haines
, Frankie Burke
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
in 1946.
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
and The Little Tough Guys
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
.
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
, Huntz Hall
, Bobby Jordan
, Gabriel Dell
, Billy Halop
, and Bernard Punsly
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
player Donald Haines
, Frankie Burke
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
in 1946.
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film...
and The Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
History
When Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
Leo Gorcey
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
, Huntz Hall
Huntz Hall
Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
, Bobby Jordan
Bobby Jordan
Robert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...
, Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
, Billy Halop
Billy Halop
William "Billy" Halop was an American actor born in New York City.He came from a Jewish theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a child actress, who later worked on radio and in television...
, and Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly , was a New York City-born American actor who later left show business to become a physician.-Career and personal life:...
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart, along with Ann Sheridan and George Bancroft...
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939 American Warner Bros. drama crime film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the 1933 film The Life of Jimmy Dolan. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia.-Plot:Johnnie...
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
The East Side Kids
In 1940 producer Sam KatzmanSam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
player Donald Haines
Donald Haines
Donald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
, Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke was a Hollywood actor.Born in Brooklyn with the name Francis Vaselle Aiello, Frankie Burke was both tenacious and talented. He went to P.S...
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
Boys of the City
Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan...
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
Dave O'Brien (actor)
Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures....
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
Pete Smith
Pete Smith is the name of:* Pete Smith , Australian radio and television announcer* Pete Smith , Major League Baseball pitcher, 1962–1963...
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements was an American actor and comedian.Stanley Clements was born Stanislaw Klimowicz in Long Island, New York. Young Stan realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and when he graduated from college he toured in vaudeville for two years...
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie studios...
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
William Beaudine
William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:...
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong...
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite was a Philadelphia-based melodic hardcore band consisting of drummer Dave Wagenschutz, guitarist Dan Yemin, vocalist Jason Shevchuk, and bassist Michael Cotterman, who replaced original bassist Steve Farrell. The band put out two full-lengths before lead singer Jason Shevchuk left the...
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
in 1946.
Trivia
- Gorcey married two of his East Side Kids co-stars: Kay Marvis (1939) and Amelita Ward (1949).
- Actor/comedian Morey AmsterdamMorey AmsterdamMorey Amsterdam was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s.-Early life:...
, best known as "Buddy Sorrell" on The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, contributed to the scripts for Kid Dynamite and Bowery Champs.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Director | Screenplay | Story |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. East Side Kids East Side Kids (film) East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor during the silent film era.-Selected filmography:-External links:... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 2. Boys of the City Boys of the City Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 3. That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine is a 1940 film and the third film in the East Side Kids series.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan*Leo Gorcey as Muggs Maloney*Sunshine Sammy as Scruno*David Gorcey as Peewee*Donald Haines as Skinny... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | William Lively | Alan Whitman |
| 4. Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery is a black-and-white 1941 film and the fourth installment in the East Side Kids series. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and produced by Sam Katzman. It was released by Monogram Pictures on January 31, 1941.-Synopsis:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | George H. Plympton George H. Plympton George H. Plympton was an American screenwriter. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.A prolific screenwriter, Plympton collaborated in almost 300 films. His earliest known credits date back to 1912 as he concentrated almost exclusively on westerns... William Lively (adaptation) |
Steven Clensos |
| 5. Flying Wild Flying Wild Flying Wild is a 1941 film and the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series.-Plot:The gang, except for Muggs, works at an aviation factory where spys are present... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
William West | Al Martin Al Martin Albert Lee Martin is a former professional baseball left fielder. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played one season in the Korea Baseball Organization.- Early life :Martin graduated from John A... |
Al Martin |
| 6. Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series.It was released in the United Kingdom under the title Stand and Deliver.-Cast:The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis- Leo Gorcey... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Wallace Fox Wallace Fox Wallace Fox was an American film director. He directed 84 films between 1927 and 1953.He was born in Purcell, Oklahoma and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Bowery Blitzkrieg... |
Sam Robins | Brendan Wood Donn Mullahy |
| 7. Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild is a 1941 film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series, starring Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bobby Jordan. Released in 1941, it was directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman . It is based on an original... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Phil Rosen Phil Rosen Phil Rosen was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed 142 films between 1915 and 1949.... |
Carl Foreman Carl Foreman Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:... Charles R. Marion |
Carl Foreman Charles R. Marion |
| 8. Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.-Plot:After being falsely accused of stealing a truck, the East Side Kids are sentenced to a reform camp. Meanwhile, Danny's brother, Bill Collins, is accused of murder... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
William Nigh William Nigh William Nigh was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye".He was born in Berlin, Wisconsin.... |
Sam Robins Harvey Gates Harvey Gates Harvey Gates was an American screenwriter of the silent era. He wrote for 216 films between 1913 and 1948.He was born in Hawaii and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:... Jack Henley Jack Henley Jack Henley was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 80 films between 1932 and 1955.He was born in Ireland, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Hey, Pop!... |
Martin Mooney Martin Mooney Martin Mooney is a former Scottish footballer who played for Falkirk, Stirling Albion , Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir. He was most recently assistant manager at Berwick Rangers to Allan McGonigal before both departed the club in November 2008... |
| 9. Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 10. Smart Alecks Smart Alecks -Plot:Hank leaves the East Side Kids to become an apprentice crook; his first job being the lookout during a bank robbery done by Mike and Butch. Hank is handed the pistol one of the crooks used to rob the bank with the events witnessed by Police Officer Regan and Danny's sister... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | ||
| 11. 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. The film is the eleventh installment in the East Side Kids series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were making lighter, more humorous fare... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 12. Kid Dynamite Kid Dynamite (film) Kid Dynamite is a 1943 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.- Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy McGleavey*Bobby Jordan as Danny Lyons... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
Wallace Fox | Gerald Schnitzer Morey Amsterdam (dialogue) |
Paul Ernst Paul Ernst (Avenger writer) Paul Frederick Ernst was an American pulp fiction writer. He is best known as the author of the original 24 "Avenger" novels, published by Street and Smith Publications under the house name Kenneth Robeson.-Biography:Paul Ernst was born between 1899 and 1902, and "[took] up fiction writing in his... |
| 13. Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys is a 1943 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. It is Beaudine's first film with the team; he would direct several more in the series and many in the Bowery Boys canon... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine William Beaudine William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:... |
Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 14. Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose is a 1943 American film and the fourteenth film in the East Side Kids series, directed by William Beaudine.The film was released in the United Kingdom as Ghosts in the Night.-Cast:The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Mugs... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | Kenneth Higgins | Kenneth Higgins |
| 15. Mr. Muggs Steps Out Mr. Muggs Steps Out - Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy Freedhoff*Billy Benedict as Pinky *Bobby Stone as Speed*Buddy Gorman as Skinny*David Durand as Danny*Jimmy Strand as RockyAdditional Cast:... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
| 16. Million Dollar Kid Million Dollar Kid -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al Stone* Danny - David Durand* Pinkie - Jimmy Strand* Stinkie -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Frank H. Young | Frank H. Young |
| 17. Follow the Leader Follow the Leader (film) -Plot:Muggs and Glimpy have joined the army. Muggs is proud to be in uniform, until he's discharged for having poor eyesight. Crushed, Muggs has no choice but to return home; Glimpy tags along with his pal. Once the duo arrive back to the East Side, they are quick to learn that Danny has been... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
Ande Lamb |
| 18. Block Busters Block Busters -Plot:Jean, a wealthy French kid, moves into the neighborhood. Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids are reluctant to have a kid like Jean in town. Jean's nanny moved Jean into the neighborhood so that he could learn to be a normal kid. She enlists Muggs and his pals to teach Jean American... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Houston Branch Houston Branch Houston Branch was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 50 films between 1927 and 1958.He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.-Selected filmography:* I Like Your Nerve * Manhattan Parade... |
Houston Branch |
| 19. Bowery Champs Bowery Champs Bowery Champs is an American film starring the East Side Kids. Released in 1944, it was directed by William Beaudine.-Plot:Copy boys Muggs and Glimpy investigate a murder. They locate the ex-wife of the murdered man and become convinced she is innocent... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | Morey Amsterdam Earle Snell |
Earle Snell |
| 20. Docks of New York Docks of New York Docks of New York is a 1945 film starring the East Side Kids.-Plot:Muggs and the East Side Kids help rescue a couple of royal foreigners who are trying to avoid criminals from their country.-Cast:The East Side Kids:... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 21. Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again is a 1945 film starring The East Side Kids.-Plot:When jockey Muggs is mistakenly accused of cheating in a big race, he gets disqualified and suspended from racing. To make matters worse, Muggs' horse is being threatened to be sent to the glue factory... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 22. Come Out Fighting | 1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
William Beaudine | Earle Snell | Earle Snell |
External links
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of films released by Monogram PicturesMonogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film...
and The Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
History
When Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
Leo Gorcey
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
, Huntz Hall
Huntz Hall
Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
, Bobby Jordan
Bobby Jordan
Robert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...
, Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
, Billy Halop
Billy Halop
William "Billy" Halop was an American actor born in New York City.He came from a Jewish theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a child actress, who later worked on radio and in television...
, and Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly , was a New York City-born American actor who later left show business to become a physician.-Career and personal life:...
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart, along with Ann Sheridan and George Bancroft...
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939 American Warner Bros. drama crime film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the 1933 film The Life of Jimmy Dolan. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia.-Plot:Johnnie...
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
The East Side Kids
In 1940 producer Sam KatzmanSam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
player Donald Haines
Donald Haines
Donald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
, Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke was a Hollywood actor.Born in Brooklyn with the name Francis Vaselle Aiello, Frankie Burke was both tenacious and talented. He went to P.S...
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
Boys of the City
Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan...
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
Dave O'Brien (actor)
Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures....
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
Pete Smith
Pete Smith is the name of:* Pete Smith , Australian radio and television announcer* Pete Smith , Major League Baseball pitcher, 1962–1963...
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements was an American actor and comedian.Stanley Clements was born Stanislaw Klimowicz in Long Island, New York. Young Stan realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and when he graduated from college he toured in vaudeville for two years...
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie studios...
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
William Beaudine
William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:...
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong...
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite was a Philadelphia-based melodic hardcore band consisting of drummer Dave Wagenschutz, guitarist Dan Yemin, vocalist Jason Shevchuk, and bassist Michael Cotterman, who replaced original bassist Steve Farrell. The band put out two full-lengths before lead singer Jason Shevchuk left the...
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
in 1946.
Trivia
- Gorcey married two of his East Side Kids co-stars: Kay Marvis (1939) and Amelita Ward (1949).
- Actor/comedian Morey AmsterdamMorey AmsterdamMorey Amsterdam was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s.-Early life:...
, best known as "Buddy Sorrell" on The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, contributed to the scripts for Kid Dynamite and Bowery Champs.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Director | Screenplay | Story |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. East Side Kids East Side Kids (film) East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor during the silent film era.-Selected filmography:-External links:... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 2. Boys of the City Boys of the City Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 3. That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine is a 1940 film and the third film in the East Side Kids series.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan*Leo Gorcey as Muggs Maloney*Sunshine Sammy as Scruno*David Gorcey as Peewee*Donald Haines as Skinny... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | William Lively | Alan Whitman |
| 4. Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery is a black-and-white 1941 film and the fourth installment in the East Side Kids series. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and produced by Sam Katzman. It was released by Monogram Pictures on January 31, 1941.-Synopsis:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | George H. Plympton George H. Plympton George H. Plympton was an American screenwriter. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.A prolific screenwriter, Plympton collaborated in almost 300 films. His earliest known credits date back to 1912 as he concentrated almost exclusively on westerns... William Lively (adaptation) |
Steven Clensos |
| 5. Flying Wild Flying Wild Flying Wild is a 1941 film and the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series.-Plot:The gang, except for Muggs, works at an aviation factory where spys are present... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
William West | Al Martin Al Martin Albert Lee Martin is a former professional baseball left fielder. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played one season in the Korea Baseball Organization.- Early life :Martin graduated from John A... |
Al Martin |
| 6. Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series.It was released in the United Kingdom under the title Stand and Deliver.-Cast:The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis- Leo Gorcey... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Wallace Fox Wallace Fox Wallace Fox was an American film director. He directed 84 films between 1927 and 1953.He was born in Purcell, Oklahoma and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Bowery Blitzkrieg... |
Sam Robins | Brendan Wood Donn Mullahy |
| 7. Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild is a 1941 film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series, starring Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bobby Jordan. Released in 1941, it was directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman . It is based on an original... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Phil Rosen Phil Rosen Phil Rosen was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed 142 films between 1915 and 1949.... |
Carl Foreman Carl Foreman Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:... Charles R. Marion |
Carl Foreman Charles R. Marion |
| 8. Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.-Plot:After being falsely accused of stealing a truck, the East Side Kids are sentenced to a reform camp. Meanwhile, Danny's brother, Bill Collins, is accused of murder... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
William Nigh William Nigh William Nigh was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye".He was born in Berlin, Wisconsin.... |
Sam Robins Harvey Gates Harvey Gates Harvey Gates was an American screenwriter of the silent era. He wrote for 216 films between 1913 and 1948.He was born in Hawaii and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:... Jack Henley Jack Henley Jack Henley was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 80 films between 1932 and 1955.He was born in Ireland, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Hey, Pop!... |
Martin Mooney Martin Mooney Martin Mooney is a former Scottish footballer who played for Falkirk, Stirling Albion , Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir. He was most recently assistant manager at Berwick Rangers to Allan McGonigal before both departed the club in November 2008... |
| 9. Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 10. Smart Alecks Smart Alecks -Plot:Hank leaves the East Side Kids to become an apprentice crook; his first job being the lookout during a bank robbery done by Mike and Butch. Hank is handed the pistol one of the crooks used to rob the bank with the events witnessed by Police Officer Regan and Danny's sister... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | ||
| 11. 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. The film is the eleventh installment in the East Side Kids series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were making lighter, more humorous fare... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 12. Kid Dynamite Kid Dynamite (film) Kid Dynamite is a 1943 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.- Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy McGleavey*Bobby Jordan as Danny Lyons... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
Wallace Fox | Gerald Schnitzer Morey Amsterdam (dialogue) |
Paul Ernst Paul Ernst (Avenger writer) Paul Frederick Ernst was an American pulp fiction writer. He is best known as the author of the original 24 "Avenger" novels, published by Street and Smith Publications under the house name Kenneth Robeson.-Biography:Paul Ernst was born between 1899 and 1902, and "[took] up fiction writing in his... |
| 13. Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys is a 1943 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. It is Beaudine's first film with the team; he would direct several more in the series and many in the Bowery Boys canon... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine William Beaudine William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:... |
Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 14. Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose is a 1943 American film and the fourteenth film in the East Side Kids series, directed by William Beaudine.The film was released in the United Kingdom as Ghosts in the Night.-Cast:The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Mugs... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | Kenneth Higgins | Kenneth Higgins |
| 15. Mr. Muggs Steps Out Mr. Muggs Steps Out - Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy Freedhoff*Billy Benedict as Pinky *Bobby Stone as Speed*Buddy Gorman as Skinny*David Durand as Danny*Jimmy Strand as RockyAdditional Cast:... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
| 16. Million Dollar Kid Million Dollar Kid -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al Stone* Danny - David Durand* Pinkie - Jimmy Strand* Stinkie -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Frank H. Young | Frank H. Young |
| 17. Follow the Leader Follow the Leader (film) -Plot:Muggs and Glimpy have joined the army. Muggs is proud to be in uniform, until he's discharged for having poor eyesight. Crushed, Muggs has no choice but to return home; Glimpy tags along with his pal. Once the duo arrive back to the East Side, they are quick to learn that Danny has been... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
Ande Lamb |
| 18. Block Busters Block Busters -Plot:Jean, a wealthy French kid, moves into the neighborhood. Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids are reluctant to have a kid like Jean in town. Jean's nanny moved Jean into the neighborhood so that he could learn to be a normal kid. She enlists Muggs and his pals to teach Jean American... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Houston Branch Houston Branch Houston Branch was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 50 films between 1927 and 1958.He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.-Selected filmography:* I Like Your Nerve * Manhattan Parade... |
Houston Branch |
| 19. Bowery Champs Bowery Champs Bowery Champs is an American film starring the East Side Kids. Released in 1944, it was directed by William Beaudine.-Plot:Copy boys Muggs and Glimpy investigate a murder. They locate the ex-wife of the murdered man and become convinced she is innocent... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | Morey Amsterdam Earle Snell |
Earle Snell |
| 20. Docks of New York Docks of New York Docks of New York is a 1945 film starring the East Side Kids.-Plot:Muggs and the East Side Kids help rescue a couple of royal foreigners who are trying to avoid criminals from their country.-Cast:The East Side Kids:... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 21. Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again is a 1945 film starring The East Side Kids.-Plot:When jockey Muggs is mistakenly accused of cheating in a big race, he gets disqualified and suspended from racing. To make matters worse, Muggs' horse is being threatened to be sent to the glue factory... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 22. Come Out Fighting | 1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
William Beaudine | Earle Snell | Earle Snell |
External links
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of films released by Monogram PicturesMonogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film...
and The Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
History
When Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
turned the play "Dead End" into a 1937
1937 in film
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
film, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey
Leo Gorcey
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
, Huntz Hall
Huntz Hall
Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
, Bobby Jordan
Bobby Jordan
Robert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...
, Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
, Billy Halop
Billy Halop
William "Billy" Halop was an American actor born in New York City.He came from a Jewish theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a child actress, who later worked on radio and in television...
, and Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly
Bernard Punsly , was a New York City-born American actor who later left show business to become a physician.-Career and personal life:...
) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces
Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart, along with Ann Sheridan and George Bancroft...
(1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal
They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939 American Warner Bros. drama crime film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the 1933 film The Life of Jimmy Dolan. The film was later featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia.-Plot:Johnnie...
(1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys
Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943...
brand name, featuring most of the same kids.
The East Side Kids
In 1940 producer Sam KatzmanSam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
, noting the financial success of other tough-kid series, made the film East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
using two of the 'Little Tough Guys', Hally Chester and Harris Berger. He added former Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
player Donald Haines
Donald Haines
Donald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
, Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke was a Hollywood actor.Born in Brooklyn with the name Francis Vaselle Aiello, Frankie Burke was both tenacious and talented. He went to P.S...
, radio actor Sam Edwards, and Eddie Brian to round out the new team. Despite its misleading title, East Side Kids
East Side Kids (film)
East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:...
does not contain the actors generally associated with the East Side Kids (Gorcey, Hall, Jordan, et al.). However, it is often lumped in with the subsequent series of 21 films, making the total appear to be 22. The first true film in 'The East Side Kids' series is Boys of the City
Boys of the City
Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan...
.
Katzman hired Bobby Jordan to play leads in his series; he was soon joined by Leo Gorcey. Gorcey's brother David was added, as well as (Ernie) 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison as "Scruno," the only African-American in the group and a former child actor from the very first cast of the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy team.
In the first few films, Dave O'Brien
Dave O'Brien (actor)
Dave O'Brien was an American film actor, director and writer. Born David Poole Fronabarger in Big Spring, Texas, O'Brien started his film career in bit parts before gradually winning larger roles, mostly in B pictures....
(familiar from low-budget westerns and serials, and as the accident-prone star of the Pete Smith
Pete Smith
Pete Smith is the name of:* Pete Smith , Australian radio and television announcer* Pete Smith , Major League Baseball pitcher, 1962–1963...
comedies) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. O'Brien appeared in different roles as well—continuity between films was often ignored. As with the Little Tough Guys, the membership of the team changed from film to film, until Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when the lineup was somewhat stabilized. In total, 20 actors were members of the team at one time or another.
Always the outsider, Gabriel Dell drifted in and out of the series as a gang-member, a reporter, or a small-time hoodlum (as in Million Dollar Kid). In Smart Alecks he's an ex-member who left the gang to pursue a life of crime. Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements was an American actor and comedian.Stanley Clements was born Stanislaw Klimowicz in Long Island, New York. Young Stan realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and when he graduated from college he toured in vaudeville for two years...
also appeared in Smart Alecks as well as Neath Brooklyn Bridge and Ghosts on the Loose. After Gorcey left the subsequent "Bowery Boys" series in 1956, Clements was chosen to replace him in the last seven films.
Monogram (which later became Allied Artists) was notorious for its "Poverty Row
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie studios...
" productions, and the East Side films were no exception. With a minuscule budget of around $33,000 per feature and a tight shooting schedule of only 5-7 days, the series churned out three or four movies a year (an astonishing 21 films in less than six years). There was no time or money for subtlety, story development, or more than one or two takes per scene.
The stories always centered around the tough, pugnacious "Muggs McGinnis" (Gorcey) or the more innocent, clean-cut "Danny" (Bobby Jordan). Huntz Hall's "Glimpy" began as a minor character who grew in prominence as he was allowed to do more comedy bits over the course of the series. The loose format proved flexible enough to shift back and forth between urban drama (That Gang of Mine), murder mystery (Boys of the City), boxing melodrama (Bowery Blitzkrieg), and horror-comedy (Spooks Run Wild), with the kids confronting various stock villains: gangsters, smugglers, spies, and crooked gamblers, along the way. The East Side films were problem-teen melodramas until 1943, when director William Beaudine
William Beaudine
William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:...
joined the series and emphasized the comedy content. He encouraged the actors to improvise freely, adding to the films' spontaneous charm.
The contemporaneous events of World War II had an impact on the series as well as the cast. In 1943 Béla Lugosi (who was in Spooks Run Wild) returned as a Nazi saboteur in the incongruously-titled Ghosts on the Loose; a German-Japanese spy ring was thwarted in the blatantly patriotic Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough!
Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong...
from 1942 (with Gabriel Dell, of all people, as a Nazi spy). At the end of Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite
Kid Dynamite was a Philadelphia-based melodic hardcore band consisting of drummer Dave Wagenschutz, guitarist Dan Yemin, vocalist Jason Shevchuk, and bassist Michael Cotterman, who replaced original bassist Steve Farrell. The band put out two full-lengths before lead singer Jason Shevchuk left the...
Muggs, Danny, and Glimpy enlist and show off their uniforms. In Follow The Leader (1944), Muggs and Glimpy appear in uniform as they are on leave from the Army. Offscreen, between 1942 and 1944, cast members Billy Benedict, Morrison, Jordan, Dell, and David Gorcey left the series after being drafted. A few days after receiving his induction notice, Leo Gorcey suffered a near-fatal motorcycle accident and spent almost a year in recovery. His injuries led to a 4-F classification, rendering him unfit for military service.
During Bobby Jordan's absence, his role in the series was taken by former child actor David Durand. Durand had been the star of Columbia's series of "Glove Slingers" campus comedies, and lent the same earnest sincerity to his East Side Kids appearances. (Jordan returned in 1944, in uniform, for a guest appearance in Bowery Champs.)
Starting with Clancy Street Boys in 1943, Bernard Gorcey (Leo's father) did various bit parts, playing different characters in a total of seven films. In Million Dollar Kid he and Leo exchanged banter borrowed from an Abbott and Costello routine. He later became a fixture with The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
.
Given the low budgets, simplistic stories, and crude, assembly-line production of the East Side Kids series, its enduring popularity relies on the cast's rambunctious energy, breezy banter (often ad-libbed and containing inside jokes), fast-paced action, and Leo Gorcey's trademark malapropisms ("This calls for drastic measurements").
The East Side Kids series was supplanted by The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
in 1946.
Trivia
- Gorcey married two of his East Side Kids co-stars: Kay Marvis (1939) and Amelita Ward (1949).
- Actor/comedian Morey AmsterdamMorey AmsterdamMorey Amsterdam was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early 1960s.-Early life:...
, best known as "Buddy Sorrell" on The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
, contributed to the scripts for Kid Dynamite and Bowery Champs.
Filmography
| Title | Year | Director | Screenplay | Story |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. East Side Kids East Side Kids (film) East Side Kids is a 1940 film and the first in the East Side Kids film series. It is, however, the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.-Overview:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor during the silent film era.-Selected filmography:-External links:... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 2. Boys of the City Boys of the City Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966... |
William Lively | William Lively |
| 3. That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine That Gang of Mine is a 1940 film and the third film in the East Side Kids series.-The East Side Kids:*Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan*Leo Gorcey as Muggs Maloney*Sunshine Sammy as Scruno*David Gorcey as Peewee*Donald Haines as Skinny... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | William Lively | Alan Whitman |
| 4. Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery Pride of the Bowery is a black-and-white 1941 film and the fourth installment in the East Side Kids series. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and produced by Sam Katzman. It was released by Monogram Pictures on January 31, 1941.-Synopsis:... |
1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.... |
Joseph H. Lewis | George H. Plympton George H. Plympton George H. Plympton was an American screenwriter. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.A prolific screenwriter, Plympton collaborated in almost 300 films. His earliest known credits date back to 1912 as he concentrated almost exclusively on westerns... William Lively (adaptation) |
Steven Clensos |
| 5. Flying Wild Flying Wild Flying Wild is a 1941 film and the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series.-Plot:The gang, except for Muggs, works at an aviation factory where spys are present... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
William West | Al Martin Al Martin Albert Lee Martin is a former professional baseball left fielder. He played twelve seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also played one season in the Korea Baseball Organization.- Early life :Martin graduated from John A... |
Al Martin |
| 6. Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg Bowery Blitzkrieg is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series.It was released in the United Kingdom under the title Stand and Deliver.-Cast:The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis- Leo Gorcey... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Wallace Fox Wallace Fox Wallace Fox was an American film director. He directed 84 films between 1927 and 1953.He was born in Purcell, Oklahoma and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Bowery Blitzkrieg... |
Sam Robins | Brendan Wood Donn Mullahy |
| 7. Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild Spooks Run Wild is a 1941 film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series, starring Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Bobby Jordan. Released in 1941, it was directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman . It is based on an original... |
1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:... |
Phil Rosen Phil Rosen Phil Rosen was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed 142 films between 1915 and 1949.... |
Carl Foreman Carl Foreman Carl Foreman, CBE was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the notable film High Noon. He was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Biography:... Charles R. Marion |
Carl Foreman Charles R. Marion |
| 8. Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.-Plot:After being falsely accused of stealing a truck, the East Side Kids are sentenced to a reform camp. Meanwhile, Danny's brother, Bill Collins, is accused of murder... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
William Nigh William Nigh William Nigh was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye".He was born in Berlin, Wisconsin.... |
Sam Robins Harvey Gates Harvey Gates Harvey Gates was an American screenwriter of the silent era. He wrote for 216 films between 1913 and 1948.He was born in Hawaii and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:... Jack Henley Jack Henley Jack Henley was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 80 films between 1932 and 1955.He was born in Ireland, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Hey, Pop!... |
Martin Mooney Martin Mooney Martin Mooney is a former Scottish footballer who played for Falkirk, Stirling Albion , Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir. He was most recently assistant manager at Berwick Rangers to Allan McGonigal before both departed the club in November 2008... |
| 9. Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey , Huntz Hall , Bobby Jordan , and Robert Armstrong... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 10. Smart Alecks Smart Alecks -Plot:Hank leaves the East Side Kids to become an apprentice crook; his first job being the lookout during a bank robbery done by Mike and Butch. Hank is handed the pistol one of the crooks used to rob the bank with the events witnessed by Police Officer Regan and Danny's sister... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | ||
| 11. 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. The film is the eleventh installment in the East Side Kids series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were making lighter, more humorous fare... |
1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 12. Kid Dynamite Kid Dynamite (film) Kid Dynamite is a 1943 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.- Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy McGleavey*Bobby Jordan as Danny Lyons... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
Wallace Fox | Gerald Schnitzer Morey Amsterdam (dialogue) |
Paul Ernst Paul Ernst (Avenger writer) Paul Frederick Ernst was an American pulp fiction writer. He is best known as the author of the original 24 "Avenger" novels, published by Street and Smith Publications under the house name Kenneth Robeson.-Biography:Paul Ernst was born between 1899 and 1902, and "[took] up fiction writing in his... |
| 13. Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys Clancy Street Boys is a 1943 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. It is Beaudine's first film with the team; he would direct several more in the series and many in the Bowery Boys canon... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine William Beaudine William Beaudine was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres.-Early life and career:... |
Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 14. Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose Ghosts on the Loose is a 1943 American film and the fourteenth film in the East Side Kids series, directed by William Beaudine.The film was released in the United Kingdom as Ghosts in the Night.-Cast:The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Mugs... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | Kenneth Higgins | Kenneth Higgins |
| 15. Mr. Muggs Steps Out Mr. Muggs Steps Out - Cast :The East Side Kids:*Leo Gorcey as Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis*Huntz Hall as Glimpy Freedhoff*Billy Benedict as Pinky *Bobby Stone as Speed*Buddy Gorman as Skinny*David Durand as Danny*Jimmy Strand as RockyAdditional Cast:... |
1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
| 16. Million Dollar Kid Million Dollar Kid -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al Stone* Danny - David Durand* Pinkie - Jimmy Strand* Stinkie -The East Side Kids:* Muggs McGinnis - Leo Gorcey* Glimpy McClosky - Huntz Hall* Skinny - Billy Benedict* Herbie - Al... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Frank H. Young | Frank H. Young |
| 17. Follow the Leader Follow the Leader (film) -Plot:Muggs and Glimpy have joined the army. Muggs is proud to be in uniform, until he's discharged for having poor eyesight. Crushed, Muggs has no choice but to return home; Glimpy tags along with his pal. Once the duo arrive back to the East Side, they are quick to learn that Danny has been... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | William Beaudine Beryl Sachs |
Ande Lamb |
| 18. Block Busters Block Busters -Plot:Jean, a wealthy French kid, moves into the neighborhood. Muggs and the rest of the East Side Kids are reluctant to have a kid like Jean in town. Jean's nanny moved Jean into the neighborhood so that he could learn to be a normal kid. She enlists Muggs and his pals to teach Jean American... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
Wallace Fox | Houston Branch Houston Branch Houston Branch was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 50 films between 1927 and 1958.He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.-Selected filmography:* I Like Your Nerve * Manhattan Parade... |
Houston Branch |
| 19. Bowery Champs Bowery Champs Bowery Champs is an American film starring the East Side Kids. Released in 1944, it was directed by William Beaudine.-Plot:Copy boys Muggs and Glimpy investigate a murder. They locate the ex-wife of the murdered man and become convinced she is innocent... |
1944 1944 in film The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.... |
William Beaudine | Morey Amsterdam Earle Snell |
Earle Snell |
| 20. Docks of New York Docks of New York Docks of New York is a 1945 film starring the East Side Kids.-Plot:Muggs and the East Side Kids help rescue a couple of royal foreigners who are trying to avoid criminals from their country.-Cast:The East Side Kids:... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 21. Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again Mr. Muggs Rides Again is a 1945 film starring The East Side Kids.-Plot:When jockey Muggs is mistakenly accused of cheating in a big race, he gets disqualified and suspended from racing. To make matters worse, Muggs' horse is being threatened to be sent to the glue factory... |
1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
Wallace Fox | Harvey Gates | Harvey Gates |
| 22. Come Out Fighting | 1945 1945 in film The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins.... |
William Beaudine | Earle Snell | Earle Snell |