Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus

Mischievous teenager Tommy Kelly (as William "Bill" Peck) is sidetracked on his way to summer camp, when a traveling circus comes to town. Mr. Kelly and his pals sneak in to see the show, after a job putting up circus posters fails to gain them admission. Also attending is Kelly's badder boy rival Mickey Rentschler (as Herman Boggs). Both boys want to win the camp's annual decathlon cup. At the circus, Kelly meets pretty pre-teen bareback-rider Ann Gillis (as Fleurette de Cava). When circus politics derail Ms. Gillis, Kelly dons a dress and wig to perform in her stead - leading to laughter!

RKO wisely wooed Kelly and his "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1938) co-stars to this natural follow-up film. Kelly updates previous "Peck's Bad Boys" Jackie Coogan (1921) and Jackie Cooper (1934) well. Based on the characters (not a re-make), "Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus" provided young moviegoers with a fun and funny winter trip to both summer camp and the circus. You may recognize gruff manager William Demarest (as Daro) and rascally "Spanky" McFarland (as Pee Wee) in the cast. Edgar Kennedy, Billy Gilbert, and Grant Mitchell are always perfect, as is Louise Beavers (as Cassey).

****** Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (12/2/38) Edward F. Cline ~ Tommy Kelly, Ann Gillis, Mickey Rentschler, Edgar Kennedy

PECK'S BAD BOY WITH THE CIRCUS (RKO Radio, 1938), directed by Edward Cline, became producer Sol Lesser's second attempt with the "Peck's Bad Boy" stories captured on film. For this sequel of sorts to Lesser's own carnation of PECK'S BAD BOY (Fox, 1934), starring Jackie Cooper, this new variation to the George W. Peck stories originally published in the 1880s, was brought up to date with few alterations. While "Peck's Bad Boy" might have been simply a little boy never allowed to grow up as with the long running comic strip character of "Dennis the Menace, this latest edition matures its title character to adolescent age as he continues getting himself into various situations as well as trying the patience of his parents.

Set in the town of Bloomfield, the story starts off with Billy Peck (Tommy Kelly) seated outside his home looking over the trophies he's won during his two years in summer camp, now having his heart set on winning a third for 1938. At the dinner table, Bill gets himself in trouble with his parents, Henry (Grant Mitchell) and Martha (Nana Bryant) for placing a frog in the soup, causing him to be punished by not attending summer camp and remaining home with Cassie, the maid (Louise Beavers). Before the parents get to have their fishing trip in the country, each has a change of heart about their son's punishment by secretly giving Bill bus fare to go to camp. With the Gordon Brothers Circus coming to town, Bill and his pals decide to earn some money in exchange for free tickets, but are refused admittance by the ticket agent for presenting a false pass. Thanks to one of the circus employees, the boys are snuck in and given places to seat. Unfortunately, they are spotted by one of Bill's friends, having Bill forced to pay for the seats with his bus fare. Along the way, Bill encounters Bailey (Edgar Kennedy), a lion tamer who's out to get that certain someone who gave one of his lions sleeping pills (guess who?) as well as befriending Fleurette Decana (Ann Gillis), a child bareback rider, who, along with her mother (Fay Helm), must cope with Myrna Darrow (Benita Hume), a temperamental sideshow performer married to the show's manager (William Demarest). Highlight includes Bill filling in for Fleurette, following her slight leg injury, dressed up in girls clothes and doing her act himself.

Bearing no resemblance to the earlier stage play nor the 1921 silent movie version featuring Jackie Coogan that preceded this, PECK'S BAD BOY WITH THE CIRCUS could very well have been taken out of context from Mark Twain's beloved "Tom Sawyer" character, considering how this latest Peck's Bad Boy, Tommy Kelly, had previously scored so well in David O' Selznick's 1938 production of THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, opposite Ann Gillis (his co-star here) playing Becky Thatcher. As much as "Tom Sawyer" continued to acquire new adaptations om either television of television over later years, there were no further attempts made for another Peck's Bad Boy adventure. Overall, a programmer geared mostly towards the matinée crowd, this production contradicts many aspects used in the previous "Peck's Bad Boy" filmization. For the Jackie Cooper version, the story, set in Pleasonton, finds Bill Peck not only living with his widower father, but discovers he's adopted. As for this edition, Bill has both parents, with no indication of he ever being adopted. While Jackie Cooper, or Jackie Coogan for that matter, would have been way too old reprising their screen roles, Tommy Kelly makes a satisfactory substitute as the teenage Bill Peck.

Other members of the cast include Wade Boteler (Murphy); Mickey Rentschler (Herman); and Billy Gilbert as Herman's father cheering his son later on in the story on the cross country obstacle course. Spanky MacFarland, better known for his appearance in a series of "Our Gang" comedy shorts, doesn't have much to do as Bill's friend, "Pee Wee," but certainly makes whatever scenes he's in count. Louise Beavers, a fine actress, best known for her nominal co-lead in IMITATION OF LIFE (Universal, 1934), is sadly wasted in such a small role as the Peck's maid, Cassie. Her reaction, however, when she finds she's going to have Billy Peck for the summer while the parents are away, does come across as amusing.

Though most sources indicate the original running time for PECK'S BAD BOY WITH THE CIRCUS to be 78 minutes, many DVD and/or VHS copies, along with some local public television broadcasts, contain possibly reissue copies to this movie at 65 minutes. If that's the case, it would be interesting having a complete version in circulation, even with the possibilities of whatever missing material might deem unimportant to an overall average kids movie. (**)

This is the film Spanky McFarland made while missing the last three Hal Roach entries of the Our Gang series as well as the first two from new producer M-G-M. Besides him, former bully of the series Leonard Kibrick also appears here. Also, Edgar Kennedy-who was the cop in the early talkie entries when Jackie Cooper was the star-and Billy Gilbert-who played Spanky's father in one of his early entries-are also on hand here. Cooper had starred in the previous Peck's Bad Boy film from 1934. He and Spanky had missed each other when he left the OG series and the little toddler came in but they would both appear subsequently in O'Shaughnessy's Boy with McFarland playing Cooper as a little kid. They'd also, a few decades later, present their former boss Hal Roach with an honorary Oscar. Anyway, this version now has young teen Tommy Kelly playing Cooper's former title role with his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer co-star Ann Gillis as the leading lady. Plenty of funny stuff involving most of whom I mentioned especially when Kennedy confronts Gilbert. So on that note, Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus is worth a look if you're a fan of all of the above.

This is the third and final cinematic appearance of a character based upon a humourous series of newspaper tales written by George W. Peck in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Jackie Coogan and Jackie Cooper portrayed him in the first two films) with this Depression era RKO entry starring Tommy Kelly in an often silly but always briskly moving work offering, along with expected slapstick, some realistic dialogue, good direction from dependable Edward F. Cline, seamless ad libbing by beautiful Benita Hume, and other nice turns from William Demarest and Grant Mitchell.

It's too bad this movie isn't more well-known these days. It probably was a B movie in it's time but regardless, it is a gem. Very nice performances throughout with several alumni from the Little Rascals comedies (Spanky, Woim and Officer Kennedy) thrown in to make it a special treat for those who enjoy those classic shorts. The story is simple, a boy has won an obstacle race at a summer camp for two years in a row and if he wins the third year he gets to keep the trophy cup. The movie follows his adventures getting to the race by way of a circus. To say any more would just spoil your fun in seeing this movie. It is definite;y worth your time to seek out this film.