Clancy Street Boys

"The East Side Kids" are looking for leader Leo Gorcey (as Ethelbert "Muggs" McGinnis), who is celebrating his 18th birthday (several years too late, obviously). "Clancy Street" pals Huntz Hall (as Glimpy Freedhoff), Bobby Jordan (as Danny), Benny Bartlett (as Benny), Ernest "Sammy" Morrison (as Scruno), Dick Chandlee (as Stash aka Skinny), and Eddie Mills (as Dave aka Eddie) give Mr. Gorcey's hind quarters 18 whacks with a paddle. To make it a gang-banging he won't forget, rival "Cherry Street" kid Billy Benedict (as Butch) forces Gorcey to bend over for 19 more bare-handed and paddle hits (the 19th isn't one to grow on; Mr. Benedict can't count).

After taking some additional hits, from a policeman's stick, Gorcey learns his wealthy Texas uncle, Noah Berry (as Pete Monahan), is coming to visit. Gorcey must produce the five brothers and a sister that he lied about having. He uses his "East Side Kids", of course. Mr. Morrison offered up as "adopted". And, Mr. Hall dons a dress and wig to become "little Annabelle". Then, greedy gangsters discover the ruse. - "Clancy Street Boys" isn't much of a movie; but, Gorcey's spankings and Hall's posing as a woman are amusing. Later, Gorcey married lovely guest-star Lita Ward.

**** Clancy Street Boys (4/23/43) William Beaudine ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Noah Beery

A funny film from a funny franchise. Great to watch on Saturday morning when you're growing up. These movies deserve more credit than they get.

Clancy Street Boys as a film is notable for two reasons. First Noah Beery, Sr., a villain in countless westerns is playing a good guy for a change. Secondly in this East Side Kids outing we get a chance to see Huntz Hall in drag.

What should be good news for Leo Gorcey's mother has Martha Wentworth depressed and Gorcey wants to know why. They're getting a visit from his father's old friend Uncle Pete Monahan as played by Beery and his daughter Amelita Ward. While the father settled on the East Side of New York, Beery went to Texas and got fame and fortune and always sends a little money the McGinniss family way for special occasions. And Wentworth has gilded the lily. She's not just had one special occasion, she's had seven more and now how to account for them.

That's easy as Gorcey gets others of his gang to fill in as kids. And for the one girl we just get Huntz Hall into drag. Sounds easy enough.

Things go wrong when the local crook Rick Vallin makes Beery and Ward out as rubes for an easy mark. That's where the street smart East Side Kids go into action.

Clancy Street Boys is done with the usual posh production values that so characterized a Monogram Studio product. The plot, well why didn't Gorcey get one of the neighborhood girls for the masquerade. Answer is that would have killed the gag of Hall in drag. And also they wouldn't need to explain Sammy Morrison as an adopted McGinniss or as Beery puts it, 'a maverick from another herd'.

Dopey, but with a certain charm as the East Side Kids save Beery and Ward from what could be a last roundup.

This East Side Kids film shows where the group of actors are heading with the franchise. While Bobby Jordan was initially the leader of the gang, his screen time kept decreasing as Leo Gorcey's and Huntz Hall's increased. Here, Jordan is present...but seems to have nothing to do. So, in many ways it seems a lot like the later Bowery Boys films.

In this story, Mugs (Gorcey) finds out that his Uncle Pete (Noah Beery) is coming to town...which would be great if it wasn't for a few lies. Little did Mugs know that his father long ago told Pete he had seven kids....and this rich Texas uncle has been sending birthday money to all seven for many years and Mugs' mother has been pocketing it! To save face, Mugs decides to create six siblings---including Glimpy (Hall) as a girl and Sunshine Sammy Morrison one of the kids, even though he's black! Amazingly, the uncle believes it...and insists on painting the town red with Mugs and the family. Not surprisingly, eventually the truth comes out...and there are dire consequences.

This is worth seeing just to see the tall and gangly Huntz Hall playing a girl. It's far from intellectual fare...but manages to elicit a few laughs. The biggest deficit are the way overdone Texas accents out of the uncle and his daughter...they really laid in on thick!!

Hawk-nose Huntz Hall dressed up as an ugly girl-- I didn't know whether to laugh or barf. It's a good gag-filled East Side Kids fun-fest. Seems Mugs' (Gorcey) mom is in trouble. She's pretended to have a bunch of offspring boys and a girl to impress a rich Texan who thinks they're all in the same family. That means getting Mugs's roughhouse gang to pretend to be her civilized offspring. It also means Glimpy (Hall) gets to play the one girl if, that is, he can keep his skirt down. More complications arise when a con-man tries to kidnap the rich Texan, a sub-plot they could have left out. Anyway, the gags fly fast, as when Mugs mangles his grammar in hoodlum malaprop style. And more chuckles ensue as the Texas cowboy and his cowgirl daughter culture clash with the New York toughies-- after all, why take a taxi through city traffic when a horse will do.

Notable for its time is Black actor Morrison playing Scruno. Though non-white, he fits right in with the loony antics and is not parodied any more than the others. He's simply one of the boys. Then too, see if you can catch the brief instant near the end where Gorcey and Hall appear to glance at the camera, thus breaking character-- perhaps sloppy editing. Also, I'm not sure about the title, Cherry Street Boys, since the rival gang is peripheral to the story itself. Likely, that was for commercial reaons. Nonetheless, the cheapo's a fun filled hour, featuring one of Hollywood's most enduring series, so don't pass it up