That Gang of Mine

Plot-- Gorcey's convinced beyond reason that he's a born jockey and can win a trophy race if he can just ride his favorite horse. And that's despite the riding mistakes he keeps making and the Kids' own doubts. So what's the outcome going to be.

The flick's more dramatic than most Kids entries. The slap-happy's at a minimum, while Gorcey's efforts at becoming a jockey aboard promising race horse Blue Knight takes over the storyline. Gorcey shows his acting chops, going through more moods than usual as he confronts many horse-riding set-backs. Movie really belongs to veteran Black actor Clarence Muse as Blue Knight's loving care-taker. Significantly, Black-man Muse's character remains sympathetic, worldly wise, and not mocked for laughs in the style of the day. Still, there are some amusing lines as when one Kid says he has an idea while another Kid wonders if it hurts! Anyway, the entry has its own particular merits, along with a rather surprise ending that I wasn't expecting. But don't look for many humorous head-swats, or antics from that great looney, Huntz Hall.

In That Gang Of Mine, the East Side Kids get themselves involved in the horse racing game when they offer shelter to Clarence Muse and the thoroughbred horse he won in a poker game. Muse has been around the race tracks for a long time and he's convinced he's got a winner on his hands. As it turns out Leo Gorcey has ambitions to be a jockey and the horse and Gorcey's ambition form the basis for the plot of this film.

The horse may be talented and Milton Kibbee whose son Eugene Francis hangs out with the East Side Kids agrees. They pony up the entry and stabling fees and then later takeover the training of the horse itself with their stable string and their professional trainer. Clarence Muse however is not cut out of the picture at all.

The problem is Gorcey who just hasn't got the experience and maybe not the raw talent needed to be a jockey. But he doesn't want to hear that from anyone. Both Gorcey and Muse deliver some really great performances in That Gang Of Mine, making it maybe the best of the East Side Kids features.

Also in the cast is Canadian jockey Nick Wall playing a rather arrogant top jockey who came from the East Side and forgets his roots or would like to. When Gorcey finally wakes up and smells the coffee he gives Wall an attitude adjustment and Wall rides him in the big race at the finale.

Definitely the best or one of the best of the East Side Kids features.

Streetwise Muggs Maloney (Leo Gorcey) has dreams of becoming a world class jockey and finally gets his chance after befriending a kindly old poor black man named Ben (Clarence Muse) who just happens to possess and take care of a championship thoroughbred race horse.

This movie proves far more dramatic than most East Side Kids films with a fine performance from Clarence Muse as wise old Ben, who acts as a sort of adviser/mentor for Muggs and shows considerable care for him, something which is not lost on Leo Gorcey's Muggs either. The type of friendship displayed here was arguably ahead of its time in many respects. Leo Gorcey too does surprisingly well in this more dramatic role displaying the inner struggle going on in Muggs when he has to try and come to grips with his fear of racing and also his fear of letting everyone down.

While no doubt some may be a bit disappointed the humor more or less takes a back seat to the drama in this one, it actually proves a far more effective drama, and director Joseph H. Lewis does manage to keep an exciting focus on the horse racing too, than I thought was possible from many involved.

I have never been a huge fan of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids or the Bowery Boys--they just aren't the sort of films I enjoy. However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by this little public domain film--it's well worth your time and not 100% predictable.

The film begins with Muggs (Leo Gorcey), out of the blue, announcing that he wants to be a jockey! Where this idea would come from is a tad hard to believe--as it is when they stumble upon a guy who just happens to have a horse that can't help but win! At this point in the film, I was far from impressed as it all seemed incredibly contrived. Fortunately, it did get better. In the crazy world of films, you'd expect that by the end of the film Muggs and the horse would be a huge success--and fortunately that is NOT where it went. The idea of an untrained knuckle-head learning overnight to be a top jockey is patently ridiculous--and fortunately the film does NOT go there. Where exactly it goes is something you'll have to see for yourself.

Another thing you may want to pay attention to is the treatment of black performers in the film. While the owner of the horse is occasionally a walking stereotype, he's also an amazingly decent and complex character--and very sympathetic. He's not just another 'dumb black man'--but someone with kindness and intelligence--something you don't often see in films of the era.

Overall, the film offered a few surprises and taught me that the best way out of your problems is to beat someone up--probably NOT the best object lesson, but entertaining nonetheless. A notch above the norm for East Side Kids films.

THAT GANG OF MINE (Monogram, 1940), directed by Joseph H. Lewis, the third in the "East Side Kids" series, should have been titled THAT HORSE OF MINE. Rather than a story dealing with rival gangs with street rumbles, it more about horse racing set outside New York City's Bowery section where the East Side Kids reside. For its second official installment featuring series regulars as Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Donald Haines, David Gorcey, "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison and Eugene Francis, it also became Dave O'Brien's final role as Danny's older brother and guardian, "Knuckles." O'Brien would return for three more installments playing different characters. Though Bobby Jordan (the one with the striped shirt) continues to head the cast, the story, as in most of the series, centers mostly on the second-billed Leo Gorcey.

The story opens with the Eastside Kids, Danny Dolan (Bobby Jordan), Pee-Wee (David Gorcey), Skinny (Donald Haines) and Scruno (Sammy Morrison) fooling around while supposedly to be painting their club. Muggs Maloney (Leo Gorcey), who feels "work is for suckers," is seen waiting for a letter from Jimmy Sullivan, a notable jockey, which doesn't get delivered. It's soon learned that Muggs ambition is to become a jockey. With the suggestion of Danny's brother, "Knuckles" (Dave O'Brien), the boys get some racing atmosphere by coming to the Acme stable. While there, they meet Ben (Clarence Muse), an old horseman from Kentucky down on his luck living in the barn with his prized possession thoroughbred racehorse, Blue Knight. It's Ben who becomes Muggs' trainer with Algernon "Algy" Wilkes (Eugene Francis), a sophisticated friend of the East Side Kids, to have his father, Conrad (Milton Kibbee) put up the $100 entrance fee for Muggs. Though the horse is recognized by Morgan (Forrest Taylor) to have great racing potential, Muggs loses his confidence as a jockey to later find his idol Jimmy Sullivan (Nick Wall) to be a major disappointment; and gamblers, Nick Buffalo (Wilbur Mack) and "Blackie" Towne (Richard B, Terry) entering the scene to throw the race. Co-starring Joyce Bryant (Knuckle's Girl, Louise) and Hazel Keener (Mrs. Wilkes) in supporting roles.

Clocked at 62 minutes (with Savoy Pictures reissue being five minutes shorter), THAT GANG OF MINE is a satisfactory time filler. Little comedy to this straight-laced drama. There is a moment where deep singing voice of Clarence Muse vocalizing "All God's Children" while Scruno goes into his dance. The idea of placing Muggs as a jockey would turn up again in MR. MUGGS RIDES AGAIN (Monogram, 1945), one of the last films of the "East Side Kids" series.

Although the movie contains some interesting tracking and camera shots, some portions are still poorly edited, the true charm of Monogram Pictures. Regardless of its faults, this series did improve from one film to the next before coming to a close in 1945, and revamped far more successfully as "The Bowery Boys" series (1946-1958) headed by Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hal respectively.

Available on video cassette and DVD format, THAT GANG OF MINE turned up on cable television, notably Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 13, 2004). Next installment: PRIDE OF THE BOWERY (1941) starring Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan in that order. (**1/2)