Let's Get Tough!

LET'S GET TOUGH (Monogram, 1942), a Banner Production directed by Wallace Fox, becomes the ninth entry to the "East Side Kids" series featuring Leo Gorcey (Muggs Maginnis), Bobby Jordan (Danny), Huntz Hall (Glimpy), David Gorcey (Pee-Wee), Bobby Stone (Skinny) and "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison (Scruno). For this edition, the Danny character not only acquires a new last name, "Collins," but a new brother, now enacted by Tom Brown. Gabriel Dell reverts back to villain role, this time as a German-born Nazi named Fritz Heinbach Jr., stationed in the Bowery section of Manhattan with his father.

With the United States into war, the story opens with the East Side Kids and crowd of spectators watching a parade of soldiers marching down the street. Wanting to do something for their country, they first try to enlist in the Army, Marines and finally the Navy, but are all too young to enlist in active duty. Danny Collins (Bobby Jordan) has a brother, Phil (Tom Brown) in the Navy. When he returns home, it is learned that he has been dishonorably discharged. This news has Officer "Pop" Stevens (Robert Armstrong) forbid his sister, Nora (Florence Rice) from ever seeing him again. Wanting to be good citizens, the East Side Kids take the law into their own hands by stirring trouble among an antique shop managed by a Japanese couple, only to be told by Officer Stevens what they did was a serious mistake on their part. Later its owner, Mr. Keno, is found stabbed by the kids, with Glimpy lifting a note from the body with Japanese writing. Making themselves "Junior G-Men," The East Side Kids do some investigating for themselves, to later discover Danny's brother might have some connection with a spy ring known as the Black Dragon Society. Further complications ensue when Nora mysteriously disappears after entering a Japanese tea shop. Featured in the cast are Sam Bernard (Fritz Heinbach Sr.); Philip Ahn (Joe Matsui); and Pat Costello (Randall, the Navy Recruiter).

More drama than comedy, comedy scenes that put this otherwise straight drama off balance are Glimpy taking violin lessons from his music teacher (Jerry Bergen), and another involving the kids with Glimpy's mother (Patsy Moran). While certain scenes are out of character for the East Side Kids, namely bearing false judgment against those who are or happen to be mistaken for Japanese, the duration of the story, with fine mix of propaganda and mystery, improves during its last half hour. Robert Armstrong, best known as Carl Denham in KING KONG (1933), is an asset here, as are the familiar faces of Tom Brown and Florence Rice in support. Theatrically released at 63 minutes, beware of badly edited jump cut 55 minute edition which makes viewing impossible to comprehend.

Available on both home video and DVD format, cable television broadcasts for LET'S GET TOUGH have been on either Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: May 24, 2004) and MGM Plus. Next in the series: SMART ALECKS (1942). (**)

This is one of the more wretched East Side Kids films--mostly because it is really mean-spirited and racist. Now some of this isn't surprising--after all, it was meant as a WWII propaganda film and instilling hatred of the Japanese and Germans in the American public was the purpose of this and other Hollywood films of the day. However, this film goes MUCH further--and seems to encourage the persecution of German and Japanese-Americans. Because of this and bad writing, it's a nasty little film.

The movie begins with the Kids wanting to do their part for the war effort. However, they try to enlist but they are repeatedly turned away because they are underage. So, they do the next best thing--they pick out what they THINK is a Japanese-American business and break in and trash the place! Here is the rub--they find out that the guy is really a Chinese-American, so they feel bad about this--as if the film is saying this sort of vigilantism is FINE provided you carefully pick your targets!! Unfortunately, when they are destroying the place, they find the owner's dead body--and this eventually leads them into a Nazi-Japanese spy ring. And, given that this is a bad film, they take on the entire spy ring all by themselves and succeed in keeping America safe.

As I said, the film is amazingly jingoistic. While I am NOT a politically correct sort of person, even I felt offended by the film and it's shabby messages. Pretty bad from start to finish. Oh, and did I mention the fried chicken and watermelon remarks made to their Black friend, Sunshine Sammy?!

I can't say that I enjoyed this movie. It's anti Japanese propaganda made to look like a comedy. It didn't offend me in any way. It just wasn't funny. It was interesting where it shows how people thought 70 years ago.

Let's Get Tough is one of those movies that people probably regret years later that they made. Full of awful racist Jap talk and jokes, this East End Kids story details how the kids want to join the military to defeat the Japs. Since they're too young, they decide to clean the town out of those dastardly Japs. They find one, throw fruit at it (without anyone doing anything to stop them) and he pulls a short sword out to menace them! The cops say to stop annoying him! He's only Chinese! He's on our side! When the kids go back to apologize, the Chinese man's dead! It's all part of this huge Jap and German Spy ring! The kids see to it that this is stopped At All Costs! I'm sure all of this was fine when it was made (1942) but viewed now, you realize of course, that this is clearly a product of it's time. Full of stereotypes, German and Japanese. Funny how the East End Kids have a black kid in the group, and he's not spared either. Gee whiz.

Following the World War II Japanese attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, "The Eastside Kids": Leo Gorcey (as Muggs), Bobby Jordan (as Danny Connors), Huntz Hall (as Glimpy), David Gorcey (as Peewee), Ernest Morrison (as Scruno), and Bobby Stone (as Skinny) want to serve their country. But, both the U.S. Army and Navy reject them as too young. Still wanting to "knock off about a million Japs", the "boys" attack an Asian clerk, who turns out to be Chinese. The unfortunate incident does, however, lead the gang to help uncover some really nasty Japanese and German people.

If "too young" is defined as "under twenty-one", only Mr. Jordan and Mr. Stone would be rejected for military service. But, it's possible recruiters were turned off by the office manners displayed by Mr. Gorcey and Mr. Hall. "Let's Get Tough!" was made during what the script accurately describes as "open season on Japs" - for this and other reasons, it hasn't aged well. It's a wasted effort, but the regulars performs ably, with Tom Brown moving the storyline along, as Jordan's spy brother.

*** Let's Get Tough! (5/29/42) Wallace Fox ~ Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Tom Brown