Pride of the Bowery

Joseph H. Lewis, who went on to become one of the leading directors of B movies in the 40s and 50s, here directed Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and the East Side Kids as they head for the country as members of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps. The story is a pot-boiler about bad-boy Gorcey's reformation, which takes place more in the boxing ring than in the work camp. The boxing scenes are pretty weak, but the rapid editing and a long tracking shot suggest Lewis's later stylishness. Not that much of a movie, but a reasonably diverting way to spend 61 minutes.

The East Side Boys lived in the poor section of Manhattan in the Lower East Side known as the Bowery. Leo Gorcey leads the cast and the gang as Mugs Malone. When somebody tricks him and the gang to sign up for the Civilian Conservation Corps in the country, he is at first arrogant that he is too good for them. But slowly, he manages to come around. He and the gang work all day with food and shelter provided for them. In exchange, they get to send some money home like $22.00 a month to their families which is a lot of money during the end of the Great Depression. Anyway, Mugs Malone is a good friend and will help out a friend in need. When a friend gets into trouble, Mugs comes to the rescue and boxes to help him out without explanation. This film is part of the East Side Boys film series.

One of the earlier features in the 'East Side Kids' series, "Pride of the Bowery" has the usual solid combination of youthful antics, rivalries, and action, with a few more serious moments along the way. Like a number of the features, it can be interesting to take note of the ways that the characters and the overall approach were developing.

The setup has Leo Gorcey as Muggs letting Danny (Bobby Jordan) trick him into entering a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, to get in shape. The story that follows has Muggs in a running battle of words with the camp captain, in a running battle of fists with another camper, and getting involved in trying to help a desperate pal. Much of the plot is predictable, at least for anyone familiar with the series, but there are some good sequences.

As this was still relatively early in the 'East Side Kids' series, the camaraderie among the gang members is still developing, and Muggs is really the only character with more than one side to him. It's interesting that, contrary to what is often the convention in movies about such characters, he makes quite a few mistakes and is at times pretty unlikable and small-minded, which tends to make him also a little more believable.

It can also be interesting to watch the various movies in the series to see how the group of generally sympathetic roughnecks is viewed by the adult characters. Here the script calls for the captain to make repeated statements to the effect that 'Muggs is a good kid who just needs a lot of discipline', probably to make sure that viewers don't take all of his behavior as a model to follow. As the series progressed, this kind of commentary became less commonplace, and the characters more often spoke for themselves.

Plot - Along with the guys, Gorcey gets sent to a forestry camp where he comes to exercise both his pugnacious boxing skills and a better inner self.

Oh my, only one skirt in the whole 60-minutes, and she doesn't show up until minute 35. Nonetheless, it's an entertaining Bowery Boys entry, giving Gorcey a real chance to parade his talents, especially his swagger. The plot's more dramatic than most, probably because there's no Huntz Hall for Gorcey to trade comedic swats with. Nonetheless, the rest of the gang's all there, this time as members of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), a government program meant to employ idled city boys into rural betterment projects.

Here the guys work in para-military fashion on forrest projects, giving them a chance to improve their skills for later employment, that is, if Roosevelt's New Deal programs can revive the larger Depression Era economy. In fact, the movie's first part gives us a flavor of what those camps were like. Importantly, such look-sees provide a lingering advantage for old-movie fans like me.

Anyhow, the entry may be short on BB's usual slap-happy antics, but it still keeps eyes glued, thanks also to director Lewis's fast-moving camera. All in all, the flick shows how Gorcey's many talents have been unfortunately ignored by critics too often absorbed with good looks and bigger productions. Too bad. Then again, I can always hope.

This East Side Kids Drama celebrates the Civilian Conservation Corps one of the best programs of FDR's New Deal of the Thirties. In fact when I wrote the review for Wild Boys Of The Road, I mentioned that the CCC was the New Deal answer to the homeless young men of America wandering the country looking for work.

In Pride Of The Bowery Leo Gorcey is a budding prizefighter of one of lighter weight classes and Bobby Jordan is his manager. Because Gorcey needs to train and doesn't, too many distractions in the big city, Jordan tricks him and friends into signing up for the CCC where he'll get plenty of exercise in dealing with the preservation of America's wilderness.

With the usual Leo Gorcey attitude he doesn't make too many friends in the camp other than the ones he brought with him from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Later on true to the street code Gorcey gets himself jammed up when he's accused of stealing and he won't rat out the guy who did.

Pride Of The Bowery is one of the better East Side Kids features awash with sentimentality, but still entertaining after over 70 years.