The East Side Kids: A Slight Case of Sabotage
FLYING WILD (Monogram, 1941) directed by William West, marked the fifth installment to the "East Side Kids" series featuring regulars Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Sunshine Sammy Morrison, David Gorcey, Donald Haines, Eugene Francis and Bobby Stone in leading roles. Though basically a Gorcey-Jordan story, it plays more like a chaptered serial minus the "To be continued next week" title card, along with some humor and suspense added.
After a brief image of the neighborhood streets in New York City, Mugs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) calls out his friends, Skinny (Donald Haines), Danny Graham (Bobby Jordan) Pee-Wee (David Gorcey), Algy (Eugene Francis) and Scruno (Sunshine Sammy Morrison) so he can drive them to work at the Reynolds Aviation Company outside the city limits. Algy's father, Mr. Reynolds (Herbert Rawlinson), who has hired the boys at his advice, wonders about Mugs, who feels he doesn't need to work and is quite satisfied just hanging around the plant while the other boys make good earning a living. Because plans and blueprints are being stolen, and Mugs believing a series of "accidents" could be sabotage from within the company, Reynolds selects Danny to act as decoy to expose the ring leader. Though Mugs has his suspicions, both he and Danny are abducted and left tide up upside down in a barrel. With the help of Tom Larson (Dave O'Brien), the pilot of the flying ambulance, and Helen Munson (Joan Barclay), the flight nurse, the boys go undercover for further investigation. Co-starring George Pembroke (Doctor Richard Nagel III); Bobby Stone (Louie); Dennis Moore (George); Forrest Taylor (Mr. Forbes) and Mary Bovard (Maisie).
For its cast, it's interesting seeing former "East Side Kids" regular Dave O'Brien, who had played Danny's older brother and guardian, "Knuckles" Dolan in the first three 1940 installments (EAST SIDE KIDS, BOYS OF THE CITY and THAT GANG OF MINE) to continue in the series in a different role. Bobby Jordan, who had played Danny Dolan in two installments, is now Danny Graham. "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison returns as Scruno (who not part of the East Side Kids in PRIDE OF THE BOWERY), now back with the kids for comedy purposes. One scene has him smelling ether and running about in slow motion.
More drama than comedy, the only time the movie consists of airplane to be flying wild is when Mugs knocks out the pilot. Overall satisfactory entry, especially when spending more time at the aviation company than the local streets of the Bowery. Even though Gorcey's Mugs is the only one not working, he does more work through his sense of reasoning than with his hands. At 63 minutes, FLYING WILD sometimes suffers from poor editing and low-budget production values. It's interesting picking scenes and errors not scripted that remain in the final cut.
Available on both video cassette and DVD formats, FLYING WILD was one of the many "East Side Kids" entries to broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 13, 2004) during its "East Side Kids" movie marathon. Next installment: BOWERY BLITZKREIG (1941). (**)
After a brief image of the neighborhood streets in New York City, Mugs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) calls out his friends, Skinny (Donald Haines), Danny Graham (Bobby Jordan) Pee-Wee (David Gorcey), Algy (Eugene Francis) and Scruno (Sunshine Sammy Morrison) so he can drive them to work at the Reynolds Aviation Company outside the city limits. Algy's father, Mr. Reynolds (Herbert Rawlinson), who has hired the boys at his advice, wonders about Mugs, who feels he doesn't need to work and is quite satisfied just hanging around the plant while the other boys make good earning a living. Because plans and blueprints are being stolen, and Mugs believing a series of "accidents" could be sabotage from within the company, Reynolds selects Danny to act as decoy to expose the ring leader. Though Mugs has his suspicions, both he and Danny are abducted and left tide up upside down in a barrel. With the help of Tom Larson (Dave O'Brien), the pilot of the flying ambulance, and Helen Munson (Joan Barclay), the flight nurse, the boys go undercover for further investigation. Co-starring George Pembroke (Doctor Richard Nagel III); Bobby Stone (Louie); Dennis Moore (George); Forrest Taylor (Mr. Forbes) and Mary Bovard (Maisie).
For its cast, it's interesting seeing former "East Side Kids" regular Dave O'Brien, who had played Danny's older brother and guardian, "Knuckles" Dolan in the first three 1940 installments (EAST SIDE KIDS, BOYS OF THE CITY and THAT GANG OF MINE) to continue in the series in a different role. Bobby Jordan, who had played Danny Dolan in two installments, is now Danny Graham. "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison returns as Scruno (who not part of the East Side Kids in PRIDE OF THE BOWERY), now back with the kids for comedy purposes. One scene has him smelling ether and running about in slow motion.
More drama than comedy, the only time the movie consists of airplane to be flying wild is when Mugs knocks out the pilot. Overall satisfactory entry, especially when spending more time at the aviation company than the local streets of the Bowery. Even though Gorcey's Mugs is the only one not working, he does more work through his sense of reasoning than with his hands. At 63 minutes, FLYING WILD sometimes suffers from poor editing and low-budget production values. It's interesting picking scenes and errors not scripted that remain in the final cut.
Available on both video cassette and DVD formats, FLYING WILD was one of the many "East Side Kids" entries to broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 13, 2004) during its "East Side Kids" movie marathon. Next installment: BOWERY BLITZKREIG (1941). (**)
- lugonian
- May 8, 2023