Pride of the Bowery

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.

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.

It seems that as of late, I've gotten a sick addiction to the Bowery Boys. I'm actually starting to look FORWARD to seeing their movies. Although the movies don't really change from movie to movie (Leo Gorcy always begins tough but softens by the end, Huntz Hall is there to screech at Gorcy, and Bobby Jordan, the best looking one (he's a real hottie actually) is always there to neutralize everything. For some dumbass reason, and maybe I'm not the only one thinking this, I'm starting to detect a rather subtle homoerotic undertone to their movies too. That would be a real cool subject to study.

Anyways, on to the movie! In Pride Of The Bowery, for some odd reason, Huntz Hall is missing, not for the plot of the movie, just nada, he's not in the movie at all. It's just Gorcy and Jordan, plus a bunch of kids I didn't recognize. Anyways, Gorcy is training to be a boxer. And the gang decide the way to make some money is to go to a work camp. (smart move). Of course Gorcy is butting heads almost immediately with authority figures in the camp, and of course the obligatory boxing match between Gorcy and one of the authority figures there (who, coincidentally, is quite good looking) doesn't solve anything. But soon, yes, Gorcy's heart melts for a down-in-his-luck bunkmate's tale of woe about his Mom and how she needs money for something. So Gorcy agrees to fight for cash down at the stadium, and soon there's a goyle that wanders into the picture too.

So once again, hyper male-dominated situations, curious shirtless scenes (nearly all the Bowery Boys films has them) and suggestive dialogue.

Yeah, something is not quite right in Bowreyville

PRIDE OF THE BOWERY (Monogram, 1940) directed by Joseph H. Lewis, is the fourth installment of the "East Side Kids" franchise and third headed by series regulars, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey. This time Gorcey heads the cast, with this being HIS film. Regardless of its title, the story doesn't take place entirely in the Bowery of New York City but in the great outdoors outside their jurisdiction in the country.

Following its aerial view to neighboring district of the Bowery to the Vassey Street Boys Club, Danny Jackson (Bobby Jordan), manager and fight promoter to Muggs Maloney (Leo Gorcey), wants his arrogant friend to train for the Golden Gloves championship. Without his knowledge, Danny, along with his other pals, Skinny (Donald Haines) and Pee-Wee (David Gorcey) trick Muggs into spending six months in the country at the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This way Muggs not only can develop himself into a champion boxer, but to earn $22 a month to send to his mother back home. Upon their arrival to the camp, Muggs, living by his own rules, starts off by showing who's boss to group leader, Allen (Kenneth Howell). Although Muggs later rescues Allen from a falling tree, he still insists on settling matters with his fists. Though Muggs and Allan put up a good fight in the boxing ring, Captain Jim White (Kenneth Harlan) calls it a draw. Rather than becoming friends with Allan, Muggs becomes a bad sport, causing the other group members to give him the silent treatment. Regardless of his arrogance, Muggs shows sympathy towards Willie (Bobby Stone), a troubled youth needing $100 to send to his aunt for his brother. Having stolen the money from the captain's office, Muggs helps Willie by earning back the money by fighting at Norton's (Carleton Young) fight arena. Through his winnings, Muggs agrees to replace the stolen money, only to be caught and accused of theft while Willie runs away, leaving Muggs to take the blame. Co-starring Mary Ainsley (Elaine); Nick Stuart (The Ranger); and Lloyd Ingraham (The Doctor).

A sort of rehash of ON DRESS PARADE (Warner Brothers, 1939) starring Billy Halop and the Dead End Kids, where Leo Gorcey is the basic arrogant character. More drama than comedy, production values for PRIDE OF THE BOWERY are poverty-row material, typical for Monogram Pictures. With more scenes screened outdoors with few scenes inside offices and barracks, everything moves by very quickly in 60 minutes. See how fast its prologue opening goes only to blink and now into the very next scene. Bobby Jordan resumes his typical best friend quota to Leo Gorcey, but the other East Side Kids (Donald Haines and David Gorcey) are strictly background material and nothing else. It's interesting seeing Scruno (Sunshine Sammy Morrison), having played one of the East Side Kids in the previous two entries, to continue playing Scruno, but now a member of the CCC. He's seen here meeting with the East Side Kids for the very first time rather than as former acquaintances meeting up again. Morrison does have a couple of amusing scenes built around his character, but gets little time to shine considering how much Gorcey is around taking all the glory. Mary Ainsley, its only female characte, with facial features of Lyda Roberti and blonde hair style of Ginger Rogers, is quite impressive as the gal believing she can help Muggs, but as Danny says, "Women and fighting don't mix."

Distributed on video cassette and later DVD, PRIDE OF THE BOWERY did include broadcasts on public television, cable television's USA Network and years later Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 13, 2004). Next installment: FLYING WILD (1941) where Leo Gorcey resumes his Muggs character, assuming a new surname used for the series duration of Muggs Maginnis. (**)