After their success in the Broadway play of the same name, The Dead End Kids sprang upon an unsuspecting movie-going public in Samuel Goldwyn's 1937 film Dead End, a crime drama featuring Humphrey Bogart.
The success of this film led Warner Brothers to sign the Kids and feature them in six films which starred such screen luminaries as Ronald Reagan, Pat O'Brien, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield and Claude Raines.
The films were the typical Warner fare of serious social/crime dramas with the Kids heavily involved in the plot and also lending some comedy relief. The quality of the films declined until Warner's threw in the towel and the Kids were reborn as the East Side Kids at the king of the poverty row studios, Monogram.
Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop and Bernard Punsley played the Kids. Despite the fact that they played the same basic roles in every picture, their characters were given different names in many of the films, although Billy Halop was always the leader and featured "Kid" in these movies.
Generally, these films are the best made of any of the four series. Dead End and Angels With Dirty Faces are considered classics of the genre. They Made Me A Criminal is notable for its strong performance by future superstar, John Garfield. (Garfield would team up with Halop & Jordan in Warner's 1939 Dust Be My Destiny and with Leo & Bernard Gorcey in Warner's 1941 Out Of The Fog) The last two Warner's films are pretty bad though.
Dead End Kids Films Are Available For Sale - Click Here For A Complete List
Dead End - August 1937 - United Artists
The story of one day in a slum area of New York. Noted gangster Baby Face Martin, who grew up in the neighborhood, decides to come home to visit his mother and the girl he left behind when he was sentenced to reform school. While he is there he hooks up with Dave Connell, a former friend who is now a struggling architect. At first Connell is a little disturbed that "Marty" is back in the neighborhood, but he goes along with him. When Marty sees his mother, she rejects him because of what he has become. He later sees his girl Francie, who is now a prostitute in the throes of syphilis. All this turns drives Marty to the edge, which leads to the plot to kidnap the nephew of a prominent judge. When Dave finds out about this, he decides to take matters in his own hands and try to stop Martin's plot.
Crime School - May 1938 - Warner Brothers
Deputy Commissioner of Correction Mark Braden finds a reform school in terrible condition and assumes control himself. He wins the boys' cooperation by being fair and falls in love with gang leader Frankie's sister Sue. This aides disgruntled employees in unsuccesfully challenging Braden.
Angels With Dirty Faces - November 1938 - Warner Brothers In New York, the boys Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly are best friends and small time thieves. After a robbery, Rocky is arrested and sent to a reformatory school, where he begins his criminal career. Jerry escapes and later becomes a priest. After three years in prison, Rocky is released and charges his former partner, the lawyer James Frazier, his US$ 100,000.00 and his share in the society, and is betrayed. Meanwhile, he becomes the idol of the street kids in the neighborhood. Although following opposite paths in life, Rocky and Jerry are still friends. When Jerry decides to fight against the corruption, Rocky is put against the wall between his friendship with the priest, and his society in dirty businesses with his criminal partners.
They Made Me A Criminal - January 1939 - Warner Brothers Johnnie, a prizefighter, is unwittingly involved in a murder, and, unable to prove his innocence, quits boxing and flees to Arizona. He obtains work at a fruit ranch run by a kindly woman known as Grandma. The ranch is worked by delinquent boys for whom Grandma provides a home. Johnnie teaches the boys to box and begins to gentle under the influence of the old woman and her daughter, Peggy. Then a New York police detective shows up...
Hell's Kitchen - July 1939 - Warner Brothers A paroled convict's efforts to improve conditions at a boys' reform school alarm the school's corrupt warden, who has been embezzling funds from the institution. He hatches a plan to derail the reformed convict's efforts and have him sent back to prison, and part of that scheme involves cracking down hard on the reform school's inmates.
Angels Wash Their Faces - August 1939 - Warner Brothers A young man just released from a reformatory moves to a new neighborhood with his sister, intending to start a new life. However, he gets mixed up with the local mob boss and corrupt politicians and soon finds himself being framed for an arson and murder he didn't commit.
On Dress Parade - November 1939 - Warner Brothers WWI hero Colonel Riker now heads Washington Military Academy. His dying pal, Bill Duncan, requests him to school his son Slip, a juvenile delinquent. Slip starts fights, disputes all regulations, but Riker believes in him. When the truth comes out, that Slip got into the academy as a means of evading reform school, Slip leaves, but Jack Rollins tries to stop him. The squad roughhouses Slip, but in the mêlée, Jack is pushed out a window. Hurt badly, he nevertheless begs that Slip be kept. Slip has a change of heart, but now must contend with the boys who hate him.
Little Tough Guys
At the same time that Warner's was cranking out the Dead End Kids series and Monogram doing the same with the East Side Kids, Universal Studios signed four of the Kids (Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsley) and released a series of mostly bad (OK OK just plain awful!) "B" movies and three 12-part serials. Leo Gorcey's brother, David, was featured in several of these unmemorable films.
Generally, the boys retained the same names throughout the series (except the serials). Billy Halop was first Johnny, then Jimmy before becoming Tommy for the duration. Huntz Hall played Pig, Bernard Punsley played Ape, Gabriel Dell played String. Not all the characters appeared in all the pictures. Dead End Kid Bobby Jordan played Rap in 2 of the films and became Tommy(!) in the last entry in the series.
The first film, Little Tough Guy, bad as it may be, is the best of the lot. It's a social/crime drama in the Warner Brothers style. After this the quality of the films falls right off the chart. I can recommend this series only to die-hard fans of the Boys.
Note: In the three films after Little Tough Guy the kids were billed as "Little Tough Guys" and did not feature any of the Dead End Kids. After the Dead Enders re-joined, the kids were billed as "Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys".
Little Tough Guys Films Are Available For Sale - Click Here For A Complete List
Little Tough Guy - July 1938 The son of a man sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit vows to become a criminal himself. He starts his own street gang, and their crime spree is financed by a mysterious young man--who turns out to be the son of the District Attorney who sent the boy's father to the electric chair.
Little Tough Guys in Society - November 1938 A society matron invites the gang to her estate as playmates for her spoiled brat son. None of the original "Dead End Kids" appear in this film and it is not considered canonical by most fans.
Newsboys' Home - December 1938 A beautiful girl inherits a newspaper that sponsors a charity home for boys. None of the original "Dead End Kids" appear in this film and it is not considered canonical by most fans.
Code of the Streets - April 1939 The kids must find evidence for a friend framed for murder. None of the original "Dead End Kids" appear in this film and it is not considered canonical by most fans.
Call A Messenger - November 1939 The boys become postal messengers, fight with criminals and try to get the attention of the beautiful postal manager.
You're Not So Tough - July 1940 The boys are hobo's who travel from ranch to ranch to grab meals and win money at crooked dice games. Gabe Dell joins the series. Tommy tricks Mama Posita, the ranch owner into believing he is her long lost son.
Junior G-Men - August 1940 12 part serial that has the boys joining with the F.B.I. to track down the Order Of The Flaming Torch.
Give Us Wings - December 1940 The kids build airplane engines but they want to fly planes. Carter, a crooked crop dusting agent who uses dilapidated planes and illegal pilots to cut costs, hires the boys to fly for him.
Hit The Road - June 1941 Tom, Pig, Ape, String and Pesky, four of whom are parentless after their fathers are killed in a mob massacre, are paroled into the custody of the father of the fifth. They go to live on a ranch owned by the ex-con pal of the boy's father's.
Sea Raiders - August 1941 12 part serial where the boys work to learn the identity of the dreaded 'Sea Raider' who has been sinking allied merchant ships.
Mob Town - October 1941 Tom Barker idolizes the memory of his brother, Eddie, who was sent to the death house. He and his gang look also look up to gangster Monk Bangor. Policeman Frank Conroy tries to keep the boys from turning bad but fails to motivate the angry Tom.
Junior G-Men Of The Air - June 1942 12 part serial. After warring with spies on land and sea, now the boys take to the air to learn the identity of the Black Dragon saboteurs.
Tough As They Come - June 1942 Law school student Tommy Clark gets a job with the crooked Apex Financing Company instead of a $3.00 a week job as a legal aid attorney. Tommy is hired to repossess a friend's father's cab and the neighborhood turns against him.
Mug Town - January 1943 The boys check into a flop house and meet a sick boy. They take the kid with them on the trains but he gets killed. The boys locate the mother and all their troubles start.
Keep 'Em Slugging - August 1943 During school vacation the boys get a real job at a fancy department store but Tommy gets framed for stealing jewelry. The boys all get fired and Tommy gets arrested, so they have to clear his name.
East Side Kids
This series of films by Monogram featured the boys first in crime melodramas with comedic overtones then in comedies with some serious (usually criminal) overtones.
The plots almost always cast the Boys as lower class street urchins in conflict with the criminal element that surrounded them. Occasionally the criminal element was replaced by Nazi or Japanese fifth columnists.
Billy Halop was gone by this time and Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan took over as leaders and featured "Kids".
As the series progressed, the comedy duo of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall became the focus of the films.
Making steady appearances as East Side Kids were:
Leo Gorcey as Mugs (or Muggs)
Huntz Hall as Glimpy
Bobby Jordan as Danny
David Gorcey as Peewee
Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison as Scruno
Donald Haines as Skinny
Billy Benedict later took over the role of Skinny (AKA Benny, Pinky)
Bobby Stone with a variety of names
Gabriel Dell appears in many of the films as a non-gang member, usually an adversary or authority figure.
Dave O'Brien (featured in dozens of "B" movies & shorts and star of Reefer Madness) appears in several films.
Other actors cast as East Side Kids include Bennie Bartlett, Harris Berger, Frankie Burke, Hally Chester, Stanley Clements, Johnny Duncan, Dave Durand, Eugen Francis, Buddy Gorman, Mende Koenig and Jimmy Strand
The production values of many of these films are low, even by Monogram standards, although they seemed to get better as the series progressed. A couple of the early films are so bad as to be virtually unwatchable, even by die-hard fans.
East Side Kids Films Are Available For Sale - Click Here For A Complete List
East Side Kids - February 1940 The kids try to find the real culprit when the brother of one of the boys is framed for murder. None of the original "Dead End Kids" appear in this film and it is not considered canonical by most fans.
Boys Of The City - July 1940 The kids discover a murder in an old house on their way to a mountain camp.
That Gang Of Mine - September 1940 Muggs decides to become a jockey despite the ridicule of the other gang members.
Pride Of The Bowery - January 1941 Muggs tries to further his boxing career and the gang end up at a CCC camp when the gang dupes him into believing it’s a free training camp.
Flying Wild - March 1941 The kids stumble across a sabotage ring while working at an airplane factory.
Bowery Blitzkrieg - September 1941 Muggs is threatened by gamblers who want him to throw an important boxing match.
Spooks Run Wild - October 1941 he gang meet a mysterious man played by Bela Lugosi and his dwarf companion in an old haunted mansion.
Mr. Wise Guy - February 1942 The boys are sent to reform school after they are wrongly convicted of stealing a truck.
Let's Get Tough - May 1942 The boys manage to stop a spy ring who are planning to sabotage U.S. war production.
Smart Alecks - August 1942 The gang wants to buy baseball uniforms. Danny gets a reward for capturing a crook and the crook breaks out of jail for revenge.
'Neath Brooklyn Bridge - November 1942 The boys help a girl track down the murderer of her guardian.
Kid Dynamite - February 1943 Mugg’s is kidnapped by crooks right before his championship fight.
Mr. Muggs Steps Out - October 1943 Mugg's is ordered by the Court to get a job and he is hired to be a chauffeur. During a party a valuable necklace is stolen. Muggs and the gang try to retrieve it.
Ghosts On The Loose - July 1943 Bela Lugosi and Ava Garner star with the Boys in this 'Haunted' house mystery about Nazi spies.
Clancy Street Boys - April 1943 Muggs and the gang try to deceive a rich uncle who has been sending money to his non-existent family for years.
Million Dollar Kid - February 1944 The boys put a millionaire’s son back on the right path after they find out he is mixed up with gangsters.
Follow The Leader - June 1944 Back from the army, Muggs and Glimpy learn that Danny was sent to jail for a robbery he didn't commit. They try to make things right.
Block Busters - July 1944 A French boy proves his worth at the gang's big baseball game.
Bowery Champs - November 1944 Mugg's works at the Evening Express as a copyboy with aspirations of being a top reporter. He gets his chance locking in battle with criminals.
Docks Of New York - February 1945 The boy's stir up excitement when they decide to take over and establish their authority at the docks.
Mr. Muggs Rides Again - July 1945 The boys try to help a jockey who is framed after he refuses to throw a race for a gangster.
Come Out Fighting - September 1945 The boys give boxing lessons to the police commissioner's son and get involved in a gambling ring.
Bowery Boys
Huntz Hall, Billy Benedict, Leo Gorcey, David Gorcey, Bobby Jordan
This series of comedies found the Boys in a variety of situations, always with the underrated (and critically unappreciated) comedy duo of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall as the focus. The earlier films (1946-1950) had an overtone of gangster melodrama, while the later films were pure slapstick.
Leo Gorcey began to drink heavily after the death of his father, Bernard Gorcey, in late 1955. In fact, he appears to be intoxicated in his final film, Crashing Las Vegas. The producers of the series replaced Gorcey with former East Side Kid, Stanley Clements, for the last seven films. The chemistry that worked so well between Gorcey and Hall never materialized with Clements and this, along with the fact that the "Boys" were now well into their 30's and the lack of demand for programmer type films such as these due to TV, proved to be the death knell of the series.
Making steady appearances in this series were:
Leo Gorcey as Terrence Aloyius "Slip" Mahoney
Huntz Hall as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones
Bobby Jordan as Bobby (last film: Bowery Buckaroos - 1947)
Billy Benedict as Whitey
David Gorcey as Chuck
Bennie Bartlett as Butch
Bernard Gorcey as Louie Dumbrowski, proprietor of Louie's Sweet Shop in most of the films. Gabriel Dell appeared in a variety of roles, once again usually as an authority figure peripherally connected with the gang.
Stanley Clements appeared as Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleske in the last seven pictures.
The production values of these films are far higher than any of the Little Tough Guys and East Side Kids. Most fans agree that the Bowery Boys series is the best of these three.
I feel that Live Wires (which features gigantic tough guy, Mike Mazurki), Mr. Hex and Blues Busters are among the best in this series.
Bowery Boys Films Are Available For Sale - Click Here For A Complete List
Live Wires - January 1946 64 minutes Slip and Sach are process servers and meet up with the giant gangster Patsy Clark. Bernard Gorcey appears briefly as a small time bookie.
In Fast Company - June 1946 65 minutes The Red Circle Cab Company is wrecking other cabs, so Slip and the gang take matters into their own hands.
Bowery Bombshell - July 20 1946 65 minutes While Sach is having his picture taken near a bank, a robbery is committed and Sach becomes the prime suspect
.
Spook Busters - Aug. 1946 68 minutes The boys went to school to learn exterminating and have opened shop. Gabrielle Dell is back and plays a mature friend of the boys. Their first assignment is to exterminate ghosts in a spooky mansion.
Mr. Hex - November 1946 63 minutes Sach takes on superhuman strength when put into a trance by a magician
Hard Boiled Mahoney - April 1947 63 minutes Slip and Sach go to a detective's office to collect salary earned there by Sach. A woman mistakes them for sleuths and hires them to find a missing woman
News Hounds - Aug. 1947 68 minutes Slip and Sach work for the Daily Chronicle. They try to find evidence about underworld fixing of sports events.
Bowery Buckaroos - November 1947 66 minutes Sach can't understand why Louie gets nervous when a western sheriff comes looking for Louie The Lout. Louie then tells the boys he is Louie The Lout, who 20 years earlier had left the west to escape a murder charge. The boys set out to clear Louie.
Angels' Alley - March 1948 67 minutes Slip hopes his cousin ex-convict Jimmy will be a good addition to the family but trouble ensues.
Jinx Money - June 1948 68 minutes A gambler wins $50,000 and turns up dead. Slip and Sach find the money in the gutter and all types of trouble begins.
Smugglers' Cove - October 1948 66 minutes While Slip and Sach are working as janitors, Slip accepts a telegram informing him that Terrance Mahoney Esquire has inherited an old estate. Confusing himself for that person, Slip takes the boys to the Long Island mansion where a smuggling ring is in operation.
Trouble Makers - December 1948 69 minutes While looking through a telescope, the boys witness a murder. Gabe plays a Police Officer.
Fighting Fools - April 1949 69 minutes Slip convinces Louie to loan him the sweetshop loft to train a fighter whose younger brother was killed in a fixed fight.
Hold That Baby! - June 1949 64 minutes The boys are operators of a laundromat and find a baby in the linen.
Angels In Disguise - September 1949 63 minutes The boys aid the Police to capture the gangster that shot their friend Gabe the cop.
Master Minds - November 1949 64 minutes Sach's toothache gives him psychic abilities.
Blonde Dynamite - February 1950 66 minutes The boys turn Louie's sweetshop into an escort service.
Lucky Losers - May 14 1950 69 minutes Slip and Sach work in a Wall Street brokerage firm when their boss allegedly commits suicide. The boys tangle with gamblers and gangsters.
Triple Trouble - Aug. 1950 66 minutes While coming home from a masquerade party at midnight, the boys try to stop a warehouse robbery and are themselves accused by the police of robbing it.
Blues Busters - October 1950 67 minutes Sach's tonsillectomy leaves him with a good singing voice ("The Bowery Thrush") and Louie's Sweetshop is converted into the Bowery Palace Nightclub.
Bowery Battalion - January 1951 69 minutes The Boys are privates in the Army who are assigned to guard Louie, who is being used to bait spies. Louie is kidnapped under their noses, but the boys get on his trail and round up the spies.
Ghost Chasers - April 1951 69 minutes Slip becomes interested in communication with spirits when a spiritualist moves into his neighborhood and fleeces old woman of their money. Slip and the boys go out to expose this fake
Let's Go Navy! - July 1951 68 minutes $1600 raised in the Bowery for charity and entrusted to the boys is stolen by two men in sailor suits. To vindicate themselves, the boys join the Navy to find the crooks.
Crazy Over Horses - November 1951 65 minutes Louie is mad when the boys bring him a horse as repayment of a debt owed by stable owner Flynn. But Slip thinks the horse, 'My Girl', is a thoroughbred. The former owners of the horse, a bunch of gangsters want the horse back!
Hold That Line - March 1952 - 64 minutes The boys are sent to Ivy University by two trustees to see what effect the boys will have on the student body. Sach develops a vitamin mixture that turns him into a star athlete
Here Comes The Marines - June 1952 66 minutes Slip is drafted into the Marines and the other boys get their notices soon after. On his first day Sach impersonates a cook and almost kills a Colonel. The boys get involved without a deadly gang of gamblers who are preying on other Marines.
Feudin' Fools - September 1952 63 minutes Sach inherits a farm in Hogliver Hollow, Kentucky. On their first day in the country the boys learn that the 'Jones' family is mortal enemies with their neighbor 'The Smiths'. Bank robbers end up at the Jones Ranch and the fun begins.
No Holds Barred - November 1952 65 minutes Sach's cranium hardens bizarrely so that it can withstand any pain. Slip enters him into wrestling matches but the power begins to move to other parts of his body like his elbow, finger etc.
Jalopy - February 1953 62 minutes Slip enters the boys jalopy in an auto race hoping to pay off Louies bills but comes in last. Sach develops a super fuel and the competition will do everything to get the formula
Loose In London - May 1953 62 minutes Lawyers determine that Sach is a relative of a rich dying British Earl. The boys head to jolly old London and end up rescuing the Earl from the other relatives who want him dead.
Clipped Wings - Aug. 1953 65 minutes Slip and Sach go to the Air Force headquarters to visit their pal Dave Moreno who is being held for treason. The boys end up in the Air Force and help uncover spies.
Private Eyes - December 1953 64 minutes After being punched in the nose by 10 year old Herbie, Sach develops mind reading capabilities. The boys open up a detective agency and their first case involves a beautiful blonde and of course, gangsters.
Paris Playboys - March 1954 65 minutes French Professors mistake Sach for a missing world renowned French scientist who is developing a secret fuel formula, Professor Le Beau. The boys agree to allow Sach to impersonate Le Beau. They head to Paris to assist the Professors in locating the missing Professor only once again to get involved with spies who want the secret formula.
The Bowery Boys Meet The Monsters - June 1954 65 minutes Slip and Sach think the empty lot owned by the Graves family would be ideal for the neighborhood kids to play baseball. They head to the spooky mansion to talk to the Graves only to get involved with mad scientists, monsters, robots, vampires and man eating trees.
Jungle Gents - September 1954 64 minutes Sach has the ability to smell diamonds because of his sinus medicine. The boys go to Africa to locate diamonds and get mixed up with criminals and cannibals. Sach falls in love with 'Jane' only to eventually meet 'Tarzan'.
Bowery To Bagdad - January 1955 64 minutes The story of Aladdin's lamp begins in the Middle Ages where the lamp is stolen. Hundreds of years later it ends up in the Bowery and in the hands of the boys.
High Society - April 1955 61 minutes While Slip and Sach are working in an auto garage, Sach is told that he is the heir to the fortune of the late Terwillinger Debussey Jones. Sach is invited to the mansion for a weekend of paper signing only to learn that the real heir is a 10 year old boy, Terwillinger III. The boys help the righful young heir fight against his scheming cousins for control of his fortune.
Spy Chasers - July 1955 61 minutes Slip, Sach and the boys come to the aid of Princess Ann of Truania and her Father, the exiled King. The King ask ex-Truanina Louie to hide a secret half-coin until the time is right for the return of the exiled King. Slip and Sach distrust the Kings right hand man, Colonel Baxis, who is plotting against the King.
Jail Busters - September 1955 61 minutes After newspaper employee Chuck suffers a beating while undercover in prison, the boys decide to enter prison to find the culprits.
Dig That Uranium - January 1956 62 minutes The boys discover that the Uranium mine that they talked Louie into buying isn't filled with riches but instead find themselves fighting with outlaws.
Crashing Las Vegas - April 1956 62 minutes Sach is able to predict numbers after receiving an electric shock. The boys head to Las Vegas after he wins a hotel stay on a game show. Gangsters blackmail Sach to give them all his winnings. This is the last film with Leo Gorcey.
Fighting Trouble - September 1956 61 minutes The first film with Duke (Stanley Clements). Sach and Duke attempt to photograph notorious gangster Frankie Arbo for the New York Morning Blade and they succeed. But Sach exposes the negative. They continue to try and get the picture by infiltrating the gangsters gang.
Hot Shots - December 1956 61 minutes Sach and Duke acquaint themselves with television executives after an 8 year old Joey Monroe, the TV star steals the boys car. Sach and Duke are hired to baby sit the star and find out that the stars Uncle is stealing money.
Hold That Hypnotist - February 1957 61 minutes The boys want to expose hypnotist Dr. Noble as a quack. He has already taken Mrs. Kelly’s money. Sach is hypnotized and learns in his past life that he hid a treasure.
Spook Chasers - June 1957 62 minutes The boys go with Cafe owner Mike Clancey to a mountain house that he bought to help him rest his nerves. Sach discovers a fortune hidden away. Gangsters want their money back.
Looking For Danger - October 1957 62 minutes Duke tells an officer of the War Department how he lost a pot during World War II. Disguised as Nazi officers, the boys battle the Nazis.
Up In Smoke - December 1957 - 61 minutes Sach sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for horseracing tips. The gangsters want the tips.
In The Money - February 1958 - 61 minutes Sach is hired to cross the Atlantic as the escort of a pedigree poodle. Unknown to the boys, the poodle is carrying a fortune in gems and is pursued by Scotland yard and gangsters.
Trivia
Huntz Hall appeared in the most series films.
Surprisingly, it's David Gorcey, not his brother Leo, who comes in second in series' appearances.
Bernard Punsley went on to become a doctor after leaving the series.
Louie's Sweet Shop was located at 3rd Street & Bowery.
Billy Halop had a recuring role as Bert Munson the cab driver on the TV series All In The Family. He also had bit parts in many other series throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's, including a few bits on Perry Mason.
William 'Billy' Benedict also appeared in several episodes of All In The Family as the Bunker's neighbor Jimmy McNabb
Huntz Hall made numerous TV appearances from the 1960s through the 1990s.
Gabe Dell also made many TV appearances from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Huntz Hall appears on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album by the Beatles. Leo Gorcey was to appear but he demanded $500 and consequently was dropped.
Sunshine Sammy Morrison was one of the original "Our Gang" child actors.
East Side Kid Hally Chester went on to become a movie producer.
Bela Lugosi, his career already on the skids, appeared in two East Side Kids features, Spooks Run Wild and Ghosts On The Loose.
3 Stooges fans should be on the lookout for Shemp Howard in three of the Little Tough Guys films, Give Us Wings, Hit The Road and Keep 'Em Slugging.
All together, there were 85 films and 3 serials. 7 were Dead End Kids, 12 Little Tough Guys (including the 3 serials), 21 East Side Kids and 48 Bowery Boys. It would take about five days of continuous viewing to see every film and serial!
1941 saw the most films released: seven. Three were Little Tough Guys and four were East Side Kids. 1942 and 1943 came in second with six. 1939, 1940 and 1946 each had five.
Counting the 3 serials, there were 9 films made in the 30's, 47 made in the 40's, 32 in the 50's.
Auteur film producer/director/actor, Ray Dennis Steckler, filmed a parody of the Boys, The Lemon Grove Kids. It should be noted the Lemon Grove is the name of a street which runs near the back lots of several film studios in Hollywood.
Four different studios produced films in the series: United Artists, Warner Brothers, Universal and Monogram (AKA Allied Artists).
The Bowery Boys For Sale
Dead End Kids - Little Tough Guys - Eastside Kids - Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys Are Finally On DVD!
Bowery Boys Set #1 Live Wires, In Fast Company, Bowery Bombshell, News Hounds, Fighting Fools, Hold That Baby!, Master Minds, Blonde Dynamite, Lucky Losers, Blues Busters, Crazy Over Horses, No Holds Barred
Bowery Boys Set #2 Spook Busters, Hard Boiled Mahoney, Bowery Buckaroos, Smuggler's Cove. Ghost Chasers, Let's Go Navy!, Hold That Line, Loose In London, Clipped Wings, Private Eyes, The Bowery Boys Meet The Monsters, High Society
Bowery Boys Set #3 Angel's Alley, Jinx Money, Angels In Disguise, Feudin' Fools, Jalopy, Paris Playboys, Dig That Uranium, Crashing Las Vegas, Hot Shots, Spook Chasers, Looking For Danger, Up In Smoke
Hollywood's Made-to-Order Punks: The Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys by Richard Roat (Author), Mendi Koenig (Foreword), Brandy Gorcey-Ziesemer (Foreword)
Meet and become friends with many of the actors from the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys! Since he began collecting Movie Memorabilia on the Dead End Kids in 1964, author Richard Roat has had the great fortune to develop personal relationships with David Gorcey, Stanley Clements, Gabe Dell, Bernard Punsly, Huntz Hall, Billy Benedict, Frankie Thomas, Eddie Le Roy, Brandy Gorcey (daughter of Leo Gorcey), Gary Hall (son of Huntz Hall), and Leo Gorcey Jr. (son of Leo Gorcey). This book draws upon those acquaintances and his talking with Billy Halop, Bennie Bartlett, Johnny Duncan, Ward Wood, Dick Chandlee, Eugene Francis, Harris Berger, Charles Peck, Ronald Sinclair, and more! Lavished with many photos from the films from the author's personal collection, this is one book you'll need to have in your collection, tough guy!
Films Of The Bowery Boys: Hardcover - Paperback by David Hayes & Brent Walker Detailed information on all the films. Filled with 100's of photos, it accurately describes every film in every series. Also included is much interesting information about the stars of the series and the making of the films.
Beyond Dead End: The Solo Careers of the Dead End Kids by Joseph Fusco
No one exemplifies the angst of the Depression era street kid more than The Dead End Kids. They were the stars of Sidney Kingsley's 1935 play, Dead End and reprised their roles in Samuel Goldwyn's 1937 Hollywood film version. The movie defined the theme of slum dramas for the juvenile rebellion films of subsequent decades. The Dead End Kids were Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsly. The best of their films were the gangster movies where the boys collided with the likes of Humphrey Bogart in Dead End and Crime School , James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces and John Garfield in They Made Me a Criminal. They bandied about light weights like Ronald Reagan in lackluster efforts like Hell's Kitchen and Angels Wash Their Faces before being reformed by a military academy in On Dress Parade. Their original reign was short lived, not because they ran out of steam but because they had to be toned down because of public criticism. It didn't matter because The Dead End Kids mutated into several splinter groups that starred in various configurations of the original members for the next quarter century, carving out a unique niche in motion picture history. One of the uncharted tributaries of this history is the solo careers of the actors who played the Dead End Kids. There were careers of mixed blessings after the initial stardom and each member faced and dealt with the typecasting dilemma in different ways and various degrees of success. There was plenty of heartbreak and disappointment along a way that started with Dead End in 1935 and ended with Dr. Bernard Punsly's death in 2004. Beyond Dead End: The Solo Careers of The Dead End Kids chronicles a saga of mixed blessings where each member faced and dealt with the typecasting dilemma in different ways and various degrees of success.
From Broadway to the Bowery A History & Filmography of the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and Bowery Boys Films by Leonard Getz (Author), Leo Gorcey Jr. (Foreword) In 1935 Sidney Kingsley's play about streetwise urban kids, Dead End, opened on Broadway featuring 14 adolescent actors. For two years on Broadway and then on tour, Kingsley's play delivered its social commentary contrasting affluent neighborhoods and tenement slums on New York City's East River. The film industry picked up the story and in 1937 released Dead End which spawned 23 more years of films and serials featuring the Dead End Kids and their offshoots, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys. This chronicle follows the street kids through the many assorted incarnations, shifting casts and studios. First the reader is introduced to how the original play and film came about. A cast list and analysis of each production follows. For the major players, the author provides a biography and filmography, and several of these entries include a tribute from a friend or family member. Brief biographical profiles are given for other actors. Sketches of the "Dead End" revivals of 1978 and 2005 follow.
Me and the Dead End Kid
Hardcover - Paperback by Leo Gorcey Jr. Leo Gorcey, The Hollywood Legend - Leo Gorcey, Jr., His Happy Ending: The son of a Hollywood legend takes you on a humorous and heartfelt journey of survival, strength, forgiveness, and hope.
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After their success in the Broadway play of the same name, The Dead End Kids sprang upon an unsuspecting movie-going public in Samuel Goldwyn's 1937 film Dead End, a crime drama featuring Humphrey Bogart.
Dead End - August 1937 - United Artists
At the same time that Warner's was cranking out the Dead End Kids series and Monogram doing the same with the East Side Kids, Universal Studios signed four of the Kids (Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsley) and released a series of mostly bad (OK OK just plain awful!) "B" movies and three 12-part serials. Leo Gorcey's brother, David, was featured in several of these unmemorable films.
Little Tough Guy - July 1938
This series of films by Monogram featured the boys first in crime melodramas with comedic overtones then in comedies with some serious (usually criminal) overtones.
East Side Kids - February 1940
This series of comedies found the Boys in a variety of situations, always with the underrated (and critically unappreciated) comedy duo of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall as the focus. The earlier films (1946-1950) had an overtone of gangster melodrama, while the later films were pure slapstick.
Live Wires - January 1946 64 minutes
Huntz Hall appeared in the most series films.
