Million Dollar Kid

After Leo Gorcey (as Muggs McGinnis) laments the rise of muggings in the city, "The East Side Kids" admit Al Stone (as Herbie), a cousin of Huntz Hall (as Glimpy McClosky), into the club. They join mates William "Billy" Benedict (as Skinny), David "Dave" Durand (as Dave aka Danny), Bobby Stone (as Rocky), Jimmy Strand (as Lou aka Pinkie), and Buddy "Bud" Gorman (as Stinkie aka Slug) to save millionaire Herbert Hayes (as John H. Cortland) from a mugging.

Befriending the grateful Mr. Hayes, Gorcey and the Kids discover the wealthy man's young son is a closeted juvenile delinquent. For kicks, Johnny Duncan (as Roy Cortland) aka the "Million Dollar Kid" hangs out in pool halls with derelicts like Gabriel Dell (as Lefty). Moreover, young Duncan's pretty sister, Louise Currie (as Louise Cortland), may be engaged to a gangster. Out of respect and admiration for the older millionaire, Gorcey and pals decide they must reform young Duncan, and investigate his sister's French fiancé.

This one is predictable, but fun. The subtle, satirical humor works very well - it starts with Gorcey quizzing club applicant "Herbie" about his age (obviously more than two times 14 years old) and reaches a peak as Gorcey has a great "bit" with his (real) father, playing a short messenger with a chip on his shoulder. It's also nice to see Duncan featured; he becomes an official "East Side Kid" herein, and will play "Robin" in the 1949 "Batman" series.

***** Million Dollar Kid (2/18/44) Wallace Fox ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Johnny Duncan, Herbert Heyes

One of the milder Kids cut-ups from that generally hilarious series. There're still chuckles aplenty from the trademark fractured grammar to the slappy roughhousing. As usual, Gorcey and Hall shine in their comical roles, though Hall trades more slams with Herbie (Stone) than with Gorcey-- Stone acting and looking like goofus Curley from The Three Stooges. My favorite part is with the brassy, blonde Iris Adrian as cheap floozie Mazie. She's a perfect female counterpart to the crack-up boys. I wish they had more scenes together, the comedic potential is certainly there.

Still, there's more serious plotting to the story than the usual comedic throw-aways. Unfortunately, however, the serious side doesn't always blend well with the usual nonsense humor. Still, the non-comedic side is understandable since 1943 was war time, so things had to serious up a bit. Note the close relationship between the wealthy, non-comical Cortland family and the comical poor-boy East-siders. That's likely a touch of needed class solidarity during those trying times when such was needed. At the same time, I expect that also accounts for the Kids becoming self-proclaimed 'do-gooders', a departure from their usual 'just a bunch of tough guys' behavior. That too's understandable given the overall need for not only class solidarity but national solidarity, as well. However, these serious sides don't always complement the kind of throw-away humor that elevated the series to sheer escapist entertainment.

Despite this sober side, fans can't help but be amused by the priceless lunacy of stars Hall and Gorcey-- always a sure bet. So, catch it up anyway. (In passing-- I couldn't help noticing a surprising resemblance between actor Durand (Dave), a striped sweater gang member, and a young Marlon Brando. See what you think.)

They should have been called the Bowery Boys in my opinion. This film takes place during World War II in New York City and doesn't forget that there is a war going on the world at the time. Leo Gorcey plays Malone, the leader of the East Side Boys who live in the Bowery which was the poor side of Manhattan. In this film episode, the East Side Boys help a millionaire when he is attacked by thieves. The East Side Boys save the day and the millionaire's gratitude is quite generous. He invites the boys to his wealthy home and introduces him to the pretty young lady who is engaged to a questionable foreigner and his son who lives at home. The millionaire's other son is off in the war. There is a party and the boys help out. This film was cute for it's time period and doesn't shy away but also entertaining with some laughs along the way.

An east side kids story, as they were known before they were the bowery boys. The sound quality is pretty terrible, but the story is solid, if you stay with it. The version showing on tubi streaming is a copy of a copy, so hopefully you can find a better copy. The east side kids help a millionaire when he gets mugged. When his family experiences even more drama in the next couple days, the gang sticks around to help out. Co-stars noah beery, who died in 1946, just a couple years after this. Keep an eye out for the telegram messenger... that was bernard gorcey, leo's real pop, in one of his many, early, uncredited roles. Later in the bowery boys films, he would run the shop where they kids hung out. It's pretty good, if you can get past the ambient sound issues. Directed by wallace fox for monogram pictures, in a 65 minute shortie. Fox directed a bunch of the east side kid films in the 1940s. The war was still going, so that is part of the story too. Keep an eye out for john duncan (roy)... he was robin, in the 1949 version of batman and robin!

This installment of the East Side Kids finds the gang very much reformed and even, dare I say it, kind of sweet! Early in the episode, the gang see an old guy getting mugged...and they save the guy. Given the gang's reputation, the police immediately think THEY mugged the guy but the man speaks up for them. In fact, he's quite rich and invites them to use his gymnasium any time they want! The man seems great...and that's why things get tough later in the show. The gang realizes that one of the muggers was actually the man's own son!! But, learning that his oldest son was just killed in the war, Muggs and the rest conspire to not only reform the young man but beat the tar out of his 'associates'! Yes, the East Side Kids are, in effect, social workers!!

This is an enjoyable installment--one of the better ones in the series. I think most of this is because too often, Muggs was a complete jerk but here he's more likable and less jerkish! A definite improvement and an interesting story. My only real complaint are that a few of the 'kids' are really, really old...especially Herbie...who was really about 35 and supposed to be a teen!!!