Gallant Sons

Jackie Cooper leads a cast of young actors in "Gallant Sons," from 1940.

A group of friends (Cooper, Leo Gorcey, Gene Reynolds, Bonita Granville, William Tracy, Tommy Kelly) set out to prove that Johnny's (Reynolds) father (Ian Hunter), who runs a gambling house, did not murder a woman. He was caught by the police standing over the body holding the murder weapon and was convicted.

Byron's (Cooper) dad (Minor Watson) is a newspaper man and naturally covers it in the paper. Johnny and Byron are then on the outs.

Byron asks Johnny, if they can find out what really happened the night of the murder, can they just shake hands and forget it, no matter the outcome? Johnny agrees.

The kids soon become involved in what turns out to be a case with some interesting clues that also expose a long-held secret that Kate's (Granville) mother (Gail Patrick) knows, which concerns Johnny.

Ultimately they take a page out of Hamlet's book in order to solve the case.

It's a good story, given energy by the young talent. Jackie Cooper, who was a beautiful little boy and effective actor, made the transition to adult actor, as well as directing and producing and continued until retirement in 1990.

In his grown-up years, he played likable men who did not seem to have a lot of angst,as opposed to the roles he played in childhood, and he was always very natural.

Leo Gorcey gives the film his "Dead End Kids" performance, and Bonita Granville is her usual pretty and vivacious self. Gail Patrick, with her beautiful speaking voice, is elegant and lovely.

Both Granville and Patrick are known for off-camera work -- Granville being the owner of TV's Lassie, and Gail Patrick as the producer of TV's Perry Mason.

Enjoyable. I admit to loving Jackie Cooper - my mother used to talk about seeing him in the movies when she was a child, and I watched him faithfully on "The People's Choice" and "Hennessy."

Some well known kid stars in this one. Jackie Cooper was nominated at age nine; Tommy Kelly was Tom Sawyer; Leo Gorcey was one of the dead end kids and bowery boys. When Johnny's dad goes up the river, the kids band together to track down the real murderer. It's all a bit over the top, but probably aimed at the younger generation. Similar to one of the bowery boys films. It all kind of works. Directed by George Seitz. Directed most of the sappy andy hardy films eccchhh. Died aged 56, but no-one seems to know the cause of death.

... says the villain, figuratively if not literally, in true Scooby Doo tradition in this entertaining and amusing entry from MGM and director George Seitz.

Local newspaper editor Barton Newbold is always talking about the exploits of local gambling house owner "Natural" Davis (Ian Hunter), who always manages to avoid getting raided. But Davis can't avoid being arrested, charged, and convicted for murder when he visits a woman who has been blackmailing him and finds her already dead from a gunshot wound. The police had been following him and catch him standing over the body, gun in hand. He is given a life sentence.

Davis' son, Johnny (Gene Reynolds) and the newspaper editor's son, Byron (Jackie Cooper) decide to team up along with their friends and solve the murder. Whether Johnny's dad is proven to be the killer or not they say they will shake hands and stay friends. Causing a bit of discord is the fact that they are both sweet on a local girl, Kate (Bonita Granville), who is also helping with this investigation.

This turned out to be a pretty interesting film, from the kids following the clues that help them find the murderer, to the camaraderie depicted among this diverse group of teens, to the interesting way in which they bring said murderer down. After all, the murderer is not going to be stressed out by what a bunch of kids happen to think with no proof - or will he?

Being a pre-war production code MGM family film of the period, don't expect much gritty reality. Take professional gambler Natural Davis. To begin with, wholesome looking Ian Hunter just doesn't give off the vibe of a professional gambler. Plus note his lecture to son Johnny about how he should not try to be like him and to keep his nose clean and in books. And I have to wonder about where the character name "Natural Davis" came from. It's odd because in 1930 William Powell played a professional gambler with the exact same name, although being a pre-code he was not cast from the same wholesome mold as Ian Hunter's interpretation. I can't find a real person who was a gambler who had this name.

I'd recommend this for the ensemble acting as well as for seeing Gail Patrick play a likeable person for a change, although I have to wonder how she felt about, at age 29, having 17-year-old Bonita Granville call her "mommy" throughout the film.

Gallant Sons (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent teen drama has Johnny (Gene Reynolds) having a fall out with his best friend By (Jackie Cooper) after his father is sent to prison for murder. Johnny believes that By's father, a newspaper man, mistook some evidence and was the main reason his father was sent up. By, wanting to save their friendship, comes up with an idea to try and see if his father really was guilty or not. GALLANT SONS isn't a great movie and there are countless plot holes in it but I think fans of the cast members are going to have a good time. It seems like MGM wanted to get just about every kid star on their lot with the exception of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney who were off doing bigger projects at the time. Not only do we get Reynolds and Cooper but there's also Bonita Granville from Warner's Nancy Drew series, William Tracy and Leo Gorcey who was doing time before the East Side Kids. I've always enjoyed watching these actors in their own films so it was another treat seeing them all together even if the screenplay doesn't hold up too well. The direction is also a tad bit off the mark because it's never quite clear if they're wanting this to be a dark drama or some light comedy with a few dramatic elements. There are moments where we get all sorts of silly slapstick including a scene where the boys are trailing the possible real killer and one of them falls down a flight of steps after seeing a black cat. These comedy bits really don't work too well but the drama is pretty good because the actors sell that. I thought Cooper and Reynolds were both quite good in their roles and the best moments of the film happen early on after the father is in jail and the two have a falling out. I've always enjoyed Granville's performances and it always shocked me she was never able to get out of these "B" roles because she was a fine little actress and she also had the looks. Gorcey offers up the type of performance that you'd expect from him but I'm guessing this is because he really couldn't give any other type. His "Dead End" type performance goes against what the other kids are acting but his fans will still get a kick out of him. GALLANT SONS ends in a rather silly manor but fans of the stars will at least be entertained throughout, which is a lot more than most movies can say.

B-mystery films were quite the rage in the 1930s and 40s. So were the films of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in which they played precocious teens who wanted to put on a who. Well, "Gallant Sons" is much like combining the two types of films and it's pleasant and entertaining.

The story centers around a group of teenagers and a variety of famous child actors were used in the film, such as Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and William Tracy. Well, one of the kids has a father who is sent to prison for murder and this causes friction in the gang. Later, however, the teens all put their differences aside and work together to prove that the man was framed. And, to do this, they need to figure out the real killer and get them to incriminate themselves.

Enjoyable and filled with some nice young actors who do a good job in their various roles. Not brilliant but fun and worth seeing.