On Dress Parade

Slip Duncan (Leo Gorcey) is on the path to reform school. His dying father is concerned about his future. With his father's friends and the grandparents, they decide to trick him into military school. Initially, he does not get along with anyone including the other cadets like Cadet Johnny Cabot (Huntz Hall).

This is The Dead End Kids leading their own movie. I'm not sure if I like this movie or not. I don't particularly like the message. Right from the start, Slip is tricked into joining. I don't know if reforming The Dead End Kids with military school is the best option. It is important that Slip learns from a mistake leading to some more compelling life lessons. The rest is simply not that compelling. Also, this is 1939 with war on the horizon. I can see the appeal of being a pro-military movie.

On Dress Parade (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Slip Duncan (Leo Gorcey) is a street-tough kid from New York who does what he wants when he wants. The father he never knew had a dying wish that he go to military school and he's eventually tricked into going. Once there he keeps his rebel ways until it nearly costs someone their life.

ON DRESS PARADE was the seventh and final film in The Dead End Kids series. If you've seen the previous entries then you should know that the tone to these films were a lot darker than future version of the kids under The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. While this entry isn't the greatest film in the world it's at least entertaining enough for fans.

I will start off with the biggest flaw and that's the fact that there's really nothing shocking or too uncommon. In other words, all of the films followed the same basic formula so once the movie gets going you'll know exactly where it's going. Slip is a jerk to everyone, something bad happens and then he changes his way. There are some good moments scattered throughout including the fact that Slip gets pushed around quite a bit.

Gorcey certainly deserves a lot of credit here as he delivers a nice performance and there's no doubt that he was perfect at playing this type of obnoxious jerk. The supporting cast includes nice turns by Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, John Litel and Billy Halop among others. The direction is good enough to keep the 61 minute running time running smoothly and there are a couple nice laughs to go along with the drama.

Huntz Hall told a super story about his old pal Leo Gorcey, along with Gabe Dell, to Mike Douglas on his tv show back in the 70s. You can find this on YOUTUBE. He said both on and off the screen Leo was the boss of the gang, at least the one with all the chutztpah! He drove Jack Warner and the rest at Warner Brothers nuts, but he also had the talent, especially for snappy one liners. The story goes that one night Gorcey, he and Gabe happened upon a lot of cars that were used in the movies. Leo picked the biggest sedan, they all hopped in and went for a drive around Burbank! Huntz Hall asked him how long he was driving, to which Leo replied "This is the first time I ever drove a car!" This kind of sums up this movie, which was the last the gang made for Warners, before the East Side kids and the famous Bowery Boys. Gorcey plays Slip (the same character name he had in the Bowery Boys) who is a problem teenager! There's some very dramatic moments at play here which leads to Slip re-evaluating his past (redemption) and going to military school, hence the title ON DRESS PARADE. True, it's an old storyline, long used by the Dead End Kids, but its fun to watch Gorcey (who knew his stuff on camera) get in and out of another mess and admit he needed an attitude adjustment. Great support from all the familiars, including Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Gabe Dell and Huntz Hall, who isn't as goofy as he was in the Bowery Boys, but he has his moments. Interestingly, this was written by veteran Tom Reed, whose career spanned back to the silent era, beginning with the original PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (starring Long Chaney). He also was a contributing writer to the iconic BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), before working at Warner Brothers. The gang's all here, but Leo is da man! Remastered on dvd WB box sets. Warners later acquired all the Bowery Boys movies and also remastered them into super box sets.

As Donald Douglas lays dying, he asks WWI buddy John Litel to succor his delinquent son, Leo Gorcey. As Litel is the commanding officer of a military academy, he grabs Gorcey and takes him to the academy, where the other members of the Dead End Kids are cadets.

The last of seven movies featuring the Dead End Kids is basically a remake of Boy's Town, with Litel as Spencer Tracy and Gorcey as Mickey Rooney. With Bryan Foy the producer, you know you're deep in B territory, and while the time passes without boredom, it doesn't offer much more.

After this, the troupe of young men went various ways, into two successor groups. After the War, Gorcey and Huntz Hall were the two leaders in a long-running B series for Monogram, "the Bowery Boys", which played for decades on television, and about which director William Beaudine said "There's someone waiting for this c**p?"

Of the more than 60 + Dead End Kids to Bowery Boys movies I've soldiered through this is by far the worst. The drama is flat and violin filled. It's unfunny and tedious. It's basically a pro-military propaganda movie and a bad one at that.

I've even watched the four hour long movie serials and as bad as they are I'd watch them all over again rather than watch this one hour mess.

I've got to repeat the first paragraph to meet the required characters of this review Of the more than 60 + Dead End Kids to Bowery Boys movies I've soldiered through this is by far the worst. The drama is flat and violin filled. It's unfunny and tedious. It's basically a pro-military propaganda movie and a bad one at that.