Smart Alecks

I've seen about a dozen of the East Side Kids/Bowery Boys films and I guess that they are an acquired taste that I just haven't been able to acquire. Once again, the gang (particularly Muggs) is made up of jerks and you wonder why Danny would have anything to do with them. In this case, Danny accidentally apprehends a wanted criminal and collects a $200 reward. The gang inexplicably thinks they are entitled to 6/7th of the money...and end up stealing it from Danny. What these little juvenile delinquents don't realize is that Danny was planning on buying uniforms for the gang so they could have a baseball team. Instead of telling them, Danny just decides he's had enough of these jerks and leaves the gang...or, perhaps the gang just left him. Fortunately, by the end of the film the gang came through and all was forgiven.

The film works much better than KID DYNAMITE because although the gang was pretty difficult to like, they did come through in the end and Leo Gorcey's jerk routine wasn't as Muggs wasn't as pronounced as in other films. While not brilliant entertainment by any standard, it is worth seeing and is a bit above average in quality and entertainment value compared to the other films I've seen from the series.

East Side kids are a gang of old looking kids. Danny "the only half-way appealing" kid is rewarded $200 for tripping a wanted criminal thereby leading to the man's arrest. Rest of the East Side kids believe that the money belongs to them and take it away from Danny and throw him out of the gang. At this point you say to yourself "Danny, leave these bunch of hoods behind!" The person Danny sent to jail escapes and beats up Danny. He is on the verge of death. The East Side kids now care again for Danny and he recovers and all get new baseball uniforms with the $200. More happens but nothing very interesting. A dull film with characters that are not very likable. You are left asking - don't these "kids" ever plan on getting a job?

During a game of street baseball, angelic slugger Bobby Jordan (as Danny Stevens) scores a hit by capturing dangerous bank robber Max Rosenbloom (as Butch Brocalli). Young Mr. Jordan secretly plans to spend the $200 reward money on new baseball uniforms for "The East Side Kids". But, leader Leo Gorcey (as Muggs McGinnis) wants the money to be split seven ways, with fellow club-mates Stanley Clements (as Stash), Huntz Hall (as Glimpy), Bobby Stone (as Skinny), Ernest Morrison (as Scruno), and David Gorcey (as Peewee).

Misunderstandings put Jordan at odds with his former pals. And, bad becomes worse when former "East Side Kid" Gabriel Dell (as Henry "Hank" Salko) returns, to warn the gang that Mr. Rosenbloom is out of prison, and prowling for Jordan...

"Smart Alecks" uses its cast well. The film's line-up of performers is a classic, and the storyline is a good representation of this particular Bowery boy era. "Introducing Stanley 'Stash' Clements" leads the credits; a good addition to the team, Mr. Clements looks very much like he was brought in as a possible replacement for one of the Gorcey brothers (which is more precisely what happened, in 1956). And, Jordan's pretty sister Gale Storm (as Ruth Stevens) is a treat.

****** Smart Alecks (8/7/42) Wallace Fox ~ Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Stanley Clements, Gale Storm

Smart Alecks (1942)

*** (out of 4)

One of the better East Side Kids films has Danny knocking over a racket and getting a $200 reward. The rest of the gang turn their backs on him thinking he's sold them out. Like most of the others, this film suffers from a somewhat stale story but there are plenty of laughs with the best being the one where the gang poison's one of the crooks. The last fifteen minutes turn to drama and the actors handle this very well.

Clancy Street Boys (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Muggs' rich cowboy uncle is coming to town for the first time ever and he thinks Muggs' parents had seven kids instead of one. In order to full them Muggs has to get the gang to play his brothers and Hall to be his sister. Decent entry from The East Side Kids has the usual cheap story but we do gets some good laughs with the highlight being Hall in drag.

This is one of the better East Side Kids movies with Bobby Jordan playing the one who gets a reward for helping aid in the capture of a criminal because of that criminal refusing to give his baseball back. The leading lady is Gale Storm who a decade later would have a couple of hit TV shows in "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show". Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison does a couple of entertaining tap dancing routines. And then there's Leo Gorcey who does both comedy and drama in fine form throughout. And don't forget Huntz Hall with some of the funniest lines as well as great slapstick between him and Gorcey. It's easy to see why they'd become such a successful comedy team for years. So on that note, I highly recommend Smart Alecks.