Boy of the Streets

In Michelle Vogel's 2006 book, "Marjorie Main: The Life and Films of Hollywood's 'Ma Kettle," the author lists BOY OF THE STREETS as one with: "Prints of this street kid drama seem to have disappeared, so the basic plot outline is all that exists today." BOY OF THE STREETS (Monogram, 1937), directed by William Nigh, is far from being a lost film, having turned up on cable television during its earliest years in the 1980s, to its availability on home video from Movies Unlimited, and finally its presentation on Turner Classic Movies where it premiered November 6, 2008. Jackie Cooper, former child star of such 1931 hits as THE CHAMP (MGM) and SKIPPY (Paramount), heads the cast not as a homeless teen living off the streets of New York but that of a tough high school drop out and gang leader living under the care of his parents in the city's poor district. To fill in the gap to what might have been described in the published tribute to Marjorie Main and her films, here's an analysis to this little known social drama.

The opening scene introduces kids gathered together in masks and costumes celebrating Halloween on the streets of New York's 9th Avenue district. The peaceful evening is soon disrupted by a series of prank phone calls leading the police and firemen arriving to what's turned out to be false alarms. In due time, Chuck Brennan (Jackie Cooper) and his gang are caught and sent to night court, with the desk sergeant to dismiss the case. O'Rourke (Robert Emmett O'Connor), the good natured cop raised in that district, believes all the boys need is a chance in life. While Chuck idolizes his father (Guy Usher), his long suffering mother, Mary (Marjorie Main) hides the fact that her husband, who hasn't worked in ten years, is nothing but a no good loafer. In spite of Brennan's goal forming a union for soda jerks, nothing really comes of it. Living in the same building is Nora (Maureen O'Connor), a sweet Irish girl whose mother has been sent by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of tuberculous. To help Nora, Chuck arranges for her to earn a living singing at Pete's Grotto, but soon loses the job because she's under age. With no place to go, the Brennans look after Nora rather than having her taken away by the Children's Aide Society. In an effort to support himself, Chuck learns the awful truth about his father acting as stooge or "Yes Man" to a local businessman (Fred Kelsey) rather than attending to business appointments. Losing his chance in joining the Navy, Chuck teams up with Blackie (Matty Fain), a racketeer who steers this rebellious teen to the wrong direction.

Also participating in the story is Julie Stone (Kathleen Burke), a rich girl who, after inheriting the building called "rat traps," not only gets her first hand view of poverty life, but teams up with Doctor Allan (Gordon Elliott) in an attempt to help make a difference for the tenement people.

Basically patterned upon the success of Sidney Kingsley's 1935 play and Samuel Goldwyn's 1937 motion picture, DEAD END (1937), each featuring Marjorie Main as the slum mother to a racketeer, BOY OF THE STREETS is simply routine melodrama. Main's performance here bears little difference from her role in DEAD END, from her uncombed pull-back hair to second-hand clothing, though lipstick and little make-up take away from the realism of her portrayal. The only time the familiar Main persona shines through is when she pretends to be Nora's mother in order to mislead the investigating social workers.

Nora, enacted by O'Connor, in her motion picture debut, provides much of the vocalization to such tunes as "Did Your Mother Come from Ireland?" (by Michael Carr and Jack Kennedy); "Carelessly," (by Charles and Nick Kenny); "Those Foolish Things Remind Me of You" and "Sweet Low, Sweet Chariot." Although resembling that of Universal's ever popular Deanna Durbin by way of singing and mannerism, no further O'Connor films were made by Monogram or any other studio.

With Jackie Cooper being the only familiar face in the group of kids, Paul White, the black member of his gang who later risks his life to save another, stands out with his secondary role. Predating Monogram's own "East Side Kids" series (1940-1945) featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Bobby Jordan by way of screenplay and dramatic situations, BOY OF THE STREETS, though never spawned any sequels of its own, did provide Cooper in similar boy of the streets theme with Monogram's GANGSTER'S BOY (1938) and STREETS OF NEW YORK (1939), yet nothing compared to the "East Side Kids" nor Leo Gorcey's charisma as leader of the pack.

Slightly longer than the usual 60 to 70 minute programmers, BOY OF THE STREETS, at 77 minutes, looks more like a Universal product than Monogram. In spite of certain situations depicted in the screenplay not fully resolved, and a chance to see Marjorie Main early in her career, the film makes a satisfactory Depression-era theme time capsule. (**1/2)

... I swear there is a supporting actor among the street kids in this one that is a spitting image of Jerry Mathers of Leave It to Beaver Fame, but I digress.

This is one of Jackie Cooper's first post-pubescent roles. Cooper had to leave MGM after he was no longer the cute little kid. Because there is a name for the 30s child stars MGM kept around after puberty, and that name is Mickey Rooney. He is actually 15 here playing a boy, Chuck Brennan, who is 16-17 years old. He lives in a New York tenement, has his own loosely organized street gang that frequently has it out with a neighboring street gang, plays pranks on the police, and partakes in some light thievery and fist to cuffs. His mother (Marjorie Main) is worn down by life and by the broken promises of her husband, who claims he is a political operative but is actually just a poser. Nora is a well liked neighborhood teen girl whose mother has been sent to a sanitarium for tuberculosis treatment, and she is in danger of being picked up by the authorities and sent to what amounts to a work house for orphans. Complications and social problems related to generational poverty ensue.

If I had a finer graded rating system I would probably give this one a 5.5 rather than a 5/10. The script is plodding and the dialogue has all of the finesse of Ed Wood, but there are three good actors here - Jackie Cooper, Robert Emmett O'Connor playing a cop as he so often and so skillfully did, and Marjorie Main just as she was getting noticed and before she got picked up by MGM. Their performances save the film. This was the only filmed appearance of Maureen O'Conner who plays Nora. Unfortunately, Monogram seems to be unsuccessfully trying to make her into their own Deanna Durbin with her operatic screeching. I can't blame Ms. O'Conner - This was something all of the studios were trying to copy, usually with very limited success.

It's Halloween in an Irish New York City slum. Sixteen-year-old hoodlum Jackie Cooper (as Chuck Brennan) and his gang get in trouble for making some prank telephone calls. Home from the police station, Mr. Cooper worries mother Marjorie Main (as Mary), who feels her son will grow up like boozy good-for-nothing father Guy Usher. The family's poor tenement is enchanted by young Maureen O'Connor (as Nora) singing "Did Your Mother Come from Ireland?"

Sadly, Ms. O'Connor's tubercular mother is taken to a sanitarium. When not scuffling with rival gang members, Cooper and his pals help O'Connor get a singing gig, but the moralistic "Children's Aid Society" interferes...

Cooper left MGM and the peroxide to continue his teenage career elsewhere. Monogram Pictures was a poorer studio, but Cooper gives this social consciousness drama a richer performance than anyone expected; he received good notices and won a "National Board of Review" award. "Boy of the Streets" obviously rides on the coattails of the recently released "Dead End" (with Ms. Main) but plays ahead of its curve by including Paul White (as Spike), a relatively admirable ethnic gang member.

******* Boy of the Streets (12/8/37) William Nigh ~ Jackie Cooper, Maureen O'Connor, Marjorie Main, Paul White

After years of being at M-G-M, Jackie Cooper was now a teen whose cuteness was no more though he did look pretty handsome growing up. Still, the studio no more wanted him, neither for awhile did the other major studios so for a while, he ended up at Monogram-a poverty row studio. This was his first movie for them. It has him portraying a member of a tough street gang who're playing phone pranks though he doesn't make the calls but an African-American member (Paul White) does. I'll stop there and just say Cooper wasn't too bad though the story seems to meander sometimes from his encouraging a girl teen (Maureen O'Connor) to audition for a nightclub singing job even though she's underage to a brief misunderstanding between a doctor (Gordon Elliot) and a society woman (Kathleen Burke) who's the new owner of the tenement building that seem to hint of some kind of romance though it's thankfully not carried through. Besides Cooper, the only other recognizable face here was that of Marjorie Main, who previously appeared in the play and film that inspired this one-Dead End, and who'd get more lasting fame as the Ma in the Ma and Pa Kettle films. In summary, Boy of the Streets was okay for what it was, nothing more.

Monogram tries its hand at producing a social drama on the order of DEAD END or ONE-THIRD OF A NATION. Jackie Cooper gives a high-energy performance as a leader of a street gang, but the entire production slides over into standard melodrama. Neither does the cheap production value help -- even though it might seem to for a film of this sort. However, the photography by Gilbert Warrenton is a little too glossy for the piece.

Guy Usher as Jackie's father and Margorie Main as his mother give fine performances, and the movie may be the first feature to use the standard "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" in its soundtrack, but despite its aspirations, director William Nigh never seems to manage much of either great significance or entertainment.