Mr. Wise Guy

This entertaining light feature offers plenty of good-natured mischief and banter from Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, and the rest of the 'East Side Kids'. The story puts together some elements that were often recycled in the various features of the series, and it is used to set up some confrontations that combine amusement and action. This feature came from the middle of the series, when the interaction of the characters plus a few familiar plot ideas had come together well enough to carry a movie like this without a lot of extra help.

The story setup has the gang getting wrongly blamed for a theft and being sent to reform school, while the older brother of Danny (Jordan) is also arrested for a more serious crime. There are also a number of other scenes, especially early in the movie, that use their humorous confrontations with adults to establish the boys as restless but misunderstood.

The familiar ad-libbing and horseplay from Gorcey and the other regulars in the series works particularly well here, and the script almost seems to have been written so as to provide as many opportunities for it as possible. Billy Gilbert also pitches in with his comic talents, as a befuddled crook, and Guinn Williams is a believable if rather stoic heavy. Overall, it's not really anything new, but it's a familiar combination that provides solid entertainment for an hour or so.

The "Eastside" kids - "Mr. Wise Guy" gang leader Leo Gorcey (as Ethelbert "Muggs" McGuiness), "left hand man" Bobby Jordan (as Daniel "Danny" Collins), "right hand man" Huntz Hall (as Glimpy Stone), "yes man" David Gorcey (as Peewee), "no man" Bill Lawrence (as Skinny), and "black-out warden" Ernest Morrison (as Scruno) - are railroaded into reform school, for stealing a truck. There, they encounter rival gang kid Gabriel Dell (as Charlie Manning) and sadistic shoe-wielding guard Dick Ryan (as Jed Miller).

Also, Mr. Jordan's supposedly reformed big brother, Douglas Fowley (as Bill Collins) is convicted of murder. Pretty girlfriend Joan Barclay (as Ann Mitchell) and the "kids" think Mr. Fowley is innocent. Bumbling Billy Gilbert (as Knobby) and Guinn Williams (as Luke Manning) are crooked adversaries. Jaw-dropping moments to watch for include: the gang's brief swimsuit scene, Mr. Morrison's "white-wash" after chicken-thieving (he cries out "Deliver me from temptation!" in the coop), and Mr. Ryan's scene-stealing shoe beating.

**** Mr. Wise Guy (2/20/42) William Nigh ~ Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Billy Gilbert, Dick Ryan

Monogram's Sam Katzman busted the studio piggy bank and came up with an unusually good and familiar cast of character players for the East Side Kids in Mr. Wise Guy. The story centers around the efforts of the lads to save Bobby Jordan's brother Douglas Fowley from the chair. That is if they can bust out of the reform school they're in.

Turns out the same guy Guinn Williams is responsible for the fix both brothers are in. The kids unwittingly help henchmen Billy Gilbert and Warren Hymer with Williams crashing out of Blackwell's Island and then are left with the stolen truck that was used. Then Williams and the gang stickup a drugstore and kill the clerk and Williams commandeers a car driven by Fowley for the getaway.

Billy Gilbert dusted off his eternally flustered character so familiar in major films like On The Avenue and His Girl Friday as the incredibly dopey henchman. Williams must keep him around for laughs because he really isn't much good for anything else. Williams gives him a chore to get the money for his getaway with a good sweepstakes ticket, but his moll Ann Doran decides to cash in herself with that one. Some days you can't trust anyone even if they're too stupid to think of a doublecross themselves.

Mr. Wise Guy is the usual East Side Kids Monogram programmer on the cheap side. But the character players especially Gilbert make this one a bit above average.

The casting in this East Side Kids film is pretty weird. Three guys star as a gang of killers and thieves---yet all three of these guys usually played bumbling idiots (particularly Billy Gilbert). Who would have thought of making Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams the gang leader as well as Warren Hymer as the other gang member?! Odd to say the least.'

Also odd are the occasional logical lapses in writing. For instance, when the boy help a truck driver, the police later arrest them because the truck and its contents were stolen. Instead of looking for the driver, they just assumed the boys were guilty despite no real evidence...and they are sent to reform school. Later, the same sort of thing happens when Danny's straight-arrow brother is accused of murder...there really isn't any evidence and so it's up to the boys to get out of reform school and investigate things themselves (in other words, find one of the crooks and beat him up). A rather dopey episode...but at least it isn't one where Muggs (Leo Gorcey) is so obnoxious and unlikable like he is in "Kid Dynamite" and a few other East Side Kids films!

MR. WISE GUY (Monogram, 1942), directed by William Nigh, became the eighth installment to the "East Side Kids" series. Taken from original story by Martin Mooney, the kids end up in trouble again. With Gabriel Dell making his debut in the series, usually playing an adversary to the gang, Bobby Jordan, a series regular, both acquires a new last name (Collins) and new brother, now played by Douglas Fowley rather than the usual Dave O'Brien. For the first time, the opening credits list the performers (featuring Guinn Williams and Billy Gilbert, minus "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison) rather than the usual actor names and their roles. A little longer than the usual 65 minutes (complete prints clock at 69 minutes), MR. WISE GUY, adding more hit and miss comedy than melodramatics, make this quite watchable.

Following the montage sequence of New York City's Bowery district, the story introduces the East Side Kids: Muggs Maginnis (Leo Gorcey), the leader; Danny Collins (Bobby Jordan), the "right-hand man," Glimpy Stone (Huntz Hall), the "lefty-hand man," Pee-Wee (David Gorcey), the "Yes" man; Skinny (Bill Lawrence), the "No" man; and Scruno ("Sumshine Sammy" Morrison), the "blackout warden." Almost immediately they run from the law fearing of being accused of breaking a bakery store window; then landing on the back of a truck driven by Nobby (Billy Gilbert) who evicts them after parking on the waterfront pier. At the same time, mobster Luke Manning (Guinn Williams) escapes from Blackwell Island and hides himself in a wine barrel. With the assistance of the East Side Kids, Copler (Warren Hymer) gets their help placing the barrel on the back of the truck driven by Nobby, who has disappeared after seeing a police car approaching. After Danny gives notice to his dock hand working brother, Bill (Douglas Fowley) being admitted into the Army, the East Side Kids get arrested for their involvement with Nobby's truck, reportedly stolen. They are then sentenced to Wilton Reform School where Bill once worked as a guard. Noticing improvements having Jim Barnes (Jack Mulhall) as its new superintendent, and Ann Mitchell (Joan Barclay) as his assistant, Bill finds the place might prove beneficial for both Danny and "Mr. Wise Guy" Muggs, until he finds brutal guard, Jed Miller (Dick Ryan) still in their employ. Things begin to change for Bill when, parked inside his car, being held at gunpoint in the back seat by Luke Manning following a drug store robbery and murder. The police give chase, only to find Bill the only one inside the car after Manning has made his escape. Found guilty and sent to prison to face execution, the East Side Kids discover that Charlie Nolan (Gabriel Dell) might know something that could help prove Bill's innocence. Featuring Bobby Stone ("Chalky" Jones); Ann Doran (Dorothy Melton, Luke's girl); Benny Rubin (The Waiter) and Sidney Miller.

With enough plot and subplot to make this a 90 minute production, being Monogram and not Warner Brothers, naturally scenes had to be briefed for pace purposes rather than story elements. It's a wonder why a brutal guard remains at an "honor system" type reform school after being taken over by those who want to help the boys rather than hurt them. Billy Gilbert, best known for his comedy performances for the Hal Roach/Laurel and Hardy unit, highlights as the double-talking bewildered stooge while Warren Hymer and Guinn Williams, who have played comic gangsters before with conviction, play it straight here. It's with MR. WISE GUY that the name of Ethelbert is revealed in juvenile court to be the birth name of Muggs Maginnis. Fans of the series, however, will overlook weakness and plot holes and simply enjoy for what and how it is.

Available on home video and DVD format, MR. WISE GUY has played on cable channels over the years as Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: May 17, 2004) and MGM Plus on Demand. Next installment: LET'S GET TOUGH (1942). (**)