East Side Kids

Officer Pat "Leon Ames" starts a junior police club to get the youth off the streets. Pat believes from experience that "idle hands leads to trouble" so he finds donors that give equipment for the youth to "hang out." Knuckles is now on death row for killing a cop but Pat believes he is innocent. So Pat recruits knuckle's brother Danny who is the leader of the east side kids to find the real killer. Counterfeiters somehow fit into the killing of the cop. An engrossing tale of this officer and the gang battling for the truth. Film is highlighted at the end by a chase to the death, but for whom?

When you hear East Side Kids you think of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall but this was made before their appearances and definitely is a better film. Kids that look the right age, good acting and a good plot make this film a worthwhile film to watch. An exceptional performance by Leon Ames.

A lot of folks don't have much great to say about this or any of the East Side Kids films, but this was the first entry into the series and it wasn't as bad as its touted to be. Plenty of action and intrigue, though quite dated. No Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall or even Bobby Jordan...this was the adjustment period for those coming fresh from being the Dead End Kids and cast wasn't settled. Though you do have a familiar face...Frankie Burke, from "Angels with dirty faces" and other Dead End Kids films. He mugs it up heavily for this film and has some decent lines, which he didn't often receive. This is a film definitely worth watching! If for nothing else, simply for the mere fact that this is the first entry into the East Side Kids serial. If you are a fan of the Dead End Kids, this is a must see.

I'm glad I decided to ignore Leonard Maltin's really bad review and buy this video. Not that it's really good, but it has much that I like. True, it has none of the original Dead End Kids and very little humor. But it's my first time to see Harris Berger, the actor who replaced Huntz Hall in the Broadway version of Dead End when Huntz went to Hollywood to be in the movie version, and Hally Chester. Frankie Burke is good, too--that kid from Angels With Dirty Faces who looks so much like James Cagney.

The first "East Side Kids" feature reaches back to the original "Dead End" formula, as another movie studio decides to cash in on the kids. "Monogram" couldn't obtain any of the six original young scene stealers, so they built their team around second stringers. The leader role, usually assigned to Billy Halop, went to Harris Berger (as Danny Dolan). Mr. Berger had joined the original stage play, and was already appearing in Universal's "Dead End" features.

The Bobby Jordan-type role is played by Hal E. "Hally" Chester (as Fred "Dutch" Kuhn), who was featured most prominently (of this cast) in previous "Dead End" films. Leo Gorcey and the others are replaced by: Frankie Burke (as Skinny), Donald Haines (as PeeWee), Edwin "Eddie" Brian (as Mike), and Sam Edwards (as Pete). And, for one film only, Jack Edwards (as Algernon "The Mouse" Wilkes) joins the group, playing the well-heeled "sissy" who wants to be "tough".

The "Dead End" plot variation involves grown-up juvenile delinquent Leon Ames (as Pat O'Day) trying to help out some young "Angels with Dirty Faces". Now a policeman, Mr. Ames decides to open a club for "Danny's Gang", to keep them out of trouble. Ames recalls his youth as a young gangster, with Dennis Moore (as "Mile-Away" Harris) and Dave O'Brien (as "Knuckles" Dolan). Although they are still friendly, Mr. Moore is on the wrong side of the law. Mr. O'Brien, Danny's big brother, is falsely imprisoned.

The film is rushed and rough - which, on one level, helps. With re-takes, Mr. Burke's background "scratch and sniff" scene would be "corrected", but it fits the "Dead End" kid atmosphere perfectly. The film, with some additional work, would be on par with the "Warner Brothers" features. The real Bobby Jordan took over the role of "Danny Dolan" for this film's sequel, "Boys of the City"; and, early in this "Monogram" series, some continuity between films in attempted.

****** East Side Kids (2/10/40) Robert F. Hill ~ Harris Berger, Hal E. Chester, Frankie Burke, Leon Ames

First film in Monogram's East Side Kids series, although you wouldn't know it at first glance. None of the more recognizable Dead End Kids who would later make up the ESK during the series and the later Bowery Boys series are present here. No Leo Gorcey, no Huntz Hall, no Bobby Jordan, no Gabriel Dell even. We do get former Little Tough Guys Harris Berger and Hally Chester. Whoop-de-doo.

The plot to this one has a mustacheless Leon Ames playing a cop trying to nab some gangsters and prove tough guy Knuckles (Dave O'Brien) is innocent of murder. Knuckles' younger brother is one of the street yutes that makes up our title gang. They help Ames prove Knuckles is innocent by nabbing the real killer, gangster Mileaway Harris (great name), played by Dennis Moore. Cheap-looking B movie that is surprisingly better than some of the later East Side Kids pictures, although that's nothing to brag about. Worth a look as a time-killer I suppose.