Let's Get Tough!
Encyclopedia
Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids
series, starring Leo Gorcey
(as Muggs), Huntz Hall
(as Glimpy), Bobby Jordan
(as Danny), and Robert Armstrong
(as "Pops" the Cop). Released in early 1942, it was directed by Wallace Fox
, and features the gang caught up in World War II
and fighting the Black Dragon Society
, an enemy sabotage
ring.
from World War I
), the gang decides to enlist in order to "kill a million Japs". Rejected by the Army, Marines, and Navy for being too young, the punks help the war effort by throwing fruit at a shop they believe is owned by a Japanese American. Confronted by him wielding a short sword, the gang decides to come back at night but find him dead. Their father figure Police Lieutenant "Pops" Stevens tell them they should be ashamed of themselves as Keno, the owner of the shop, was Chinese, an ally of America and that Danny should be especially ashamed as his brother is in the service.
The boys buy some flowers and go to the shop to apologize to the widow and notice a Japanese man take a pen from a locker the widow opened for him. Glimpy steals the pen and find that it contains a message written in Japanese.
They visit a Japanese shop run by Mr. Matsui to have it translated. He tries to steal the message but the gang threatens him, whereupon Mr. Matsui commits hari kari in their presence. The boys run to the police.
Matusui's son (Philip Ahn) successfully disguises himself as his late father to impersonate him and discredit the boys to the police. The boys take the law in their own hands to discover that Matsui is in league with German residents of the neighborhood (such as Gabriel Dell
, who would play a different role in each film of the series) who are in a sabotage group called the Black Dragon Society
. In a subplot, Danny's brother Phil (Tom Brown
) has supposedly been dishonourably discharged from the US Navy but is working undercover
to infiltrate the Black Dragons. Danny's brother's girlfriend Nora (Florence Rice
), (who is in the WAVES
) has a Japanese friend she went to high school with whom she seeks help from to translate the message. However he turns out to be Matsui's son, the leader of the spy ring and has her locked up in a cell in the basement of the shop.
The gang breaks into Matsui's shop that is filled with haunted house
type secret passageways and trapdoors where they discover the Black Dragon Society dressed in hooded costumes that Glimpy refers to as "Japanese Halloween". The gang frees Nora and revenges the attack on Pearl Harbor
by beating up the saboteurs. The film ends with Nora and Phil getting married but as they walk down the church steps with a sabre arch of East Side Kids holding their captured Japanese swords (that are quickly confiscated by the police at the end of the ceremony!). Phil is told he has orders to report back to his base as soon as possible. Phil and Nora briefly lament their not going on a honeymoon, but Muggs and the gang pile in the car and gallantly offer to accompany Nora on her honeymoon
unaware of what a honeymoon entails...
" (an in joke as that was the name of two serials the gang did for Universal Pictures
). The film captures the attitudes many Americans felt towards Japanese but this is tempered with the boys being chastised and shamed for attacking an innocent shopkeeper. Japanese American internment
on the West Coast of America did not begin until Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346 was issued on May 3, 1942 authorized by Executive Order 9066
. The Black Dragon Society
was an actual Japanese espionage
organization that first appeared in the Russo-Japanese War
. On March 27, 1942 FBI agents arrested members of the Black Dragon Society in the San Joaquin Valley
of California
.
The Black Dragon society also appeared in Black Dragons
a 1942 release starring Bela Lugosi
also written by Harvey Gates
and filmed by Sam Katzman
's production company.
Ernest Morrison who played Scuno in the film said that in a scene where the gang runs off he thought the filming had stopped and began counting his money he had in his pocket. The gang ad-libbed an attack on him.
The British Board of Film Censors who usually gave the East Side Kids series an 'A' (adult) rating gave Let's Get Tough! a rating approving it for all audiences, perhaps as a wartime morale booster.
At just over an hour, Let's Get Tough! is fast paced with the romantic subplot
and comedy setpiece
s blending into the main plot of the sabotage ring. For example, Glimpy's incompetent violin playing grating on his teacher's nerves lead to the gang pawning the violin to buy flowers for Mr Keno's widow, that leads them to see Matsui's son take the pen that contains the secret message. The same violin case attracts Glimpy's attention to discover that it now contains magnesium
powder (that Glimpy steals a sample of) to be used for sabotage that the gang only discover when it explodes and burns when placed next to Glimpy's mother's stove. The film stands as a reminder of the attitudes and cultures of the time, such as a fear of sabotage from well known members of the community.
Cast and Characters:
East Side Kids
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....
series, starring 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...
(as Muggs), 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...
(as Glimpy), 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:...
(as Danny), and Robert Armstrong
Robert Armstrong (actor)
Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
(as "Pops" the Cop). Released in early 1942, it was directed by 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...
, and features the gang caught up in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and fighting the Black Dragon Society
Black Dragon Society
The was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
, an enemy sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
ring.
Plot
Watching a military parade (stock footageStock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
), the gang decides to enlist in order to "kill a million Japs". Rejected by the Army, Marines, and Navy for being too young, the punks help the war effort by throwing fruit at a shop they believe is owned by a Japanese American. Confronted by him wielding a short sword, the gang decides to come back at night but find him dead. Their father figure Police Lieutenant "Pops" Stevens tell them they should be ashamed of themselves as Keno, the owner of the shop, was Chinese, an ally of America and that Danny should be especially ashamed as his brother is in the service.
The boys buy some flowers and go to the shop to apologize to the widow and notice a Japanese man take a pen from a locker the widow opened for him. Glimpy steals the pen and find that it contains a message written in Japanese.
They visit a Japanese shop run by Mr. Matsui to have it translated. He tries to steal the message but the gang threatens him, whereupon Mr. Matsui commits hari kari in their presence. The boys run to the police.
Matusui's son (Philip Ahn) successfully disguises himself as his late father to impersonate him and discredit the boys to the police. The boys take the law in their own hands to discover that Matsui is in league with German residents of the neighborhood (such as 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:...
, who would play a different role in each film of the series) who are in a sabotage group called the Black Dragon Society
Black Dragon Society
The was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
. In a subplot, Danny's brother Phil (Tom Brown
Tom Brown (actor)
Thomas Brown was an American child model, and later a film and television actor....
) has supposedly been dishonourably discharged from the US Navy but is working undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
to infiltrate the Black Dragons. Danny's brother's girlfriend Nora (Florence Rice
Florence Rice
Florence Rice was an American film actress.Florence Davenport Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Grantland Rice and Katherine Hollis, who became an actress during the early 1930s and after several Broadway roles, eventually made her way to Hollywood where she acted in almost fifty...
), (who is in the WAVES
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
) has a Japanese friend she went to high school with whom she seeks help from to translate the message. However he turns out to be Matsui's son, the leader of the spy ring and has her locked up in a cell in the basement of the shop.
The gang breaks into Matsui's shop that is filled with haunted house
Haunted house
A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
type secret passageways and trapdoors where they discover the Black Dragon Society dressed in hooded costumes that Glimpy refers to as "Japanese Halloween". The gang frees Nora and revenges the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
by beating up the saboteurs. The film ends with Nora and Phil getting married but as they walk down the church steps with a sabre arch of East Side Kids holding their captured Japanese swords (that are quickly confiscated by the police at the end of the ceremony!). Phil is told he has orders to report back to his base as soon as possible. Phil and Nora briefly lament their not going on a honeymoon, but Muggs and the gang pile in the car and gallantly offer to accompany Nora on her honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
unaware of what a honeymoon entails...
Overview
Made between Mr Wise Guy and Smart Alecks, the East Side Kids go from being a gang of punks to a group of, as Danny puts it, "Junior G-MenJunior G-Men
Junior G-Men was an American boys club and popular culture phenomenon during the late 1930s and early 1940s that began with a radio program and culminated with films featuring the Dead End Kids.-Origins:...
" (an in joke as that was the name of two serials the gang did for Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
). The film captures the attitudes many Americans felt towards Japanese but this is tempered with the boys being chastised and shamed for attacking an innocent shopkeeper. Japanese American internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
on the West Coast of America did not begin until Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346 was issued on May 3, 1942 authorized by Executive Order 9066
Executive Order 9066
United States Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones...
. The Black Dragon Society
Black Dragon Society
The was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist right-wing group in Japan.-History:The Kokuryūkai was founded in 1901 by Uchida Ryohei, and was descended from the Genyōsha. Its name is derived from the Amur River, called Heilongjiang or "Black Dragon River" in Chinese , read as Kokuryū-kō in...
was an actual Japanese espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
organization that first appeared in the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. On March 27, 1942 FBI agents arrested members of the Black Dragon Society in the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
The Black Dragon society also appeared in Black Dragons
Black Dragons
Black Dragons is a 1942 American film directed by William Nigh and starring Bela Lugosi, Loan Barclay, and George Pembroke. The Black Dragon Society also appears in Let's Get Tough! a 1942 East Side Kids film made by the same team of writer Harvey Gates and producer Sam Katzman.-Plot :It is prior...
a 1942 release starring Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
also written by 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:...
and filmed by Sam Katzman
Sam 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...
's production company.
Ernest Morrison who played Scuno in the film said that in a scene where the gang runs off he thought the filming had stopped and began counting his money he had in his pocket. The gang ad-libbed an attack on him.
The British Board of Film Censors who usually gave the East Side Kids series an 'A' (adult) rating gave Let's Get Tough! a rating approving it for all audiences, perhaps as a wartime morale booster.
At just over an hour, Let's Get Tough! is fast paced with the romantic subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
and comedy setpiece
Setpiece
In film production, a setpiece is a scene or sequence of scenes the execution of which requires serious logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term setpiece is often used more broadly to describe any important dramatic or comedic highpoint in a film or story, particularly...
s blending into the main plot of the sabotage ring. For example, Glimpy's incompetent violin playing grating on his teacher's nerves lead to the gang pawning the violin to buy flowers for Mr Keno's widow, that leads them to see Matsui's son take the pen that contains the secret message. The same violin case attracts Glimpy's attention to discover that it now contains magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
powder (that Glimpy steals a sample of) to be used for sabotage that the gang only discover when it explodes and burns when placed next to Glimpy's mother's stove. The film stands as a reminder of the attitudes and cultures of the time, such as a fear of sabotage from well known members of the community.
Cast
The East Side Kids:- Muggs - Leo GorceyLeo GorceyLeo 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...
- Danny Connors - Bobby JordanBobby JordanRobert "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:...
- Glimpy - Huntz HallHuntz HallHenry 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...
- Peewee - David GorceyDavid GorceyDavid Gorcey was an American actor and comedian best known as being a member of the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. He was the younger brother of Dead End Kids member Leo Gorcey.-Career:...
- Scruno - Ernest Morrison
- Skinny - Bobby Stone
Cast and Characters:
- Fritz Heinbach - Gabriel DellGabriel DellGabriel 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:...
- Phil Connors - Tom BrownTom BrownTom Brown may refer to:In sports:*Tom Brown , 19th-century baseball player and manager*Tom Brown , former NFL player and MLB outfielder/first baseman...
- Nora Stevens - Florence RiceFlorence RiceFlorence Rice was an American film actress.Florence Davenport Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Grantland Rice and Katherine Hollis, who became an actress during the early 1930s and after several Broadway roles, eventually made her way to Hollywood where she acted in almost fifty...
- Officer 'Pops' Stevens - Robert ArmstrongRobert Armstrong (actor)Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
- Heinback Sr. - Sam BernardSam BernardSam Bernard was a renowned stage, film and vaudeville star. He also performed comic opera and burlesque....
- Joe Matsui - Philip Ahn
- Music Master - Jerry Bergen