East Side Kids

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The East Side Kids were one of the off-shoots from the original Dead End Kids series of films, and contained several of the original gang members who appeared in the series from time to time, most notably: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan and Gabriel Dell. After the first few films Gorcey emerged as the official leader of the group, and second-banana/featured kid status, originally held by Jordan, shifted to Hall, who joined the gang in 1941.

The original gang in Monogram's East Side Kids 1940 didn't feature any of the Dead End Kids, and was composed primarily of juvenile actors from Universal's Little Tough Guys series. Later that year Gorcey and Jordan were cast in featured roles and were usually abetted in their anarchistic mayhem by Gorcey's brother David, and Sunshine Sammy Morrison (interestingly, this character, who was black, was on an equal footing with the others, which was certainly unusual for the forties), as well as a rotating cast from Universal's former series.

In the first few films, Dave O'Brien (Mish-Mash the Muttonhead from the Pete Smith shorts) played Jordan's older brother Knuckles Dolan, who always seemed to be getting roped into chaperoning the kids from adventure to adventure. The membership roster changed from film to film, until after Huntz Hall joined in 1941, when it more or less stabilized. Their films weren't as prestigious as the ones they'd made as the Dead End Kids, but were popular nonetheless, enough so that they were spun off in 1946 (when it was obvious even to the studios that they were no longer "kids") into the Bowery Boys, as whom they toiled until 1958.

The East Side Kids were, on the whole, less threatening than the original Dead Enders were, and most of their later films were played for comedy rather than social relevance. It was here that Gorcey's tough guy persona was crystallized, as well as Huntz Hall's second banana goofball identity, and this is the series that most fans of the genre most readily recall.

The original Dead End Kids were usually led by Billy Halop (though Jordan took over the leader role in the final Universal film), but both the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys were led by Gorcey whose Muggs McGinnes (the spelling would vary from film to film) and later, Slip Mahoney, became known for his often hilarious use of malapropisms and trademark fedora with the turned up brim. Likewise, Huntz Hall's addled knucklehead (Gimpty, Glimpy, and finally Sach) became his trademark complete with baseball cap and non-sequiturs.

Neither Halop nor Bernard Punsly (now a doctor) appeared in either the East Side Kids or Bowery Boys series, just as Gorcey never appeared with the Little Tough Guys in the Universal films.

No.	Title	Year	Director	Screenplay	Story
1	East Side Kids	1940	Robert F. Hill	William Lively	William Lively
2	Boys of the City	1940	Joseph H. Lewis	William Lively	William Lively
3	That Gang of Mine	1940	Joseph H. Lewis	William Lively	Alan Whitman
4	Pride of the Bowery	1940	Joseph H. Lewis	George H. Plympton William Lively (adaptation)	Steven Clensos
5	Flying Wild	1941	William West	Al Martin	Al Martin
6	Bowery Blitzkreig	1941	Wallace Fox	Sam Robins	Brendan Wood Donn Mullahy
7	Spooks Run Wild	1941	Phil Rosen	Carl Foreman Charles R. Marion	Carl Foreman Charles R. Marion
8	Mr. Wise Guy	1942	William Nigh	Sam Robins Harvey Gates Jack Henley	Martin Mooney
9	Let's Get Tough!	1942	Wallace Fox	Harvey Gates	Harvey Gates
10	'Neath Brooklyn Bridge	1942	Wallace Fox	Harvey Gates	Harvey Gates
11	Kid Dynamite	1943	Wallace Fox	Gerald Schnitzer Morey Amsterdam (dialogue)	Paul Ernst
12	Clancy Street Boys	1943	William Beaudine	Harvey Gates	Harvey Gates
13	Ghosts on the Loose	1943	William Beaudine	Kenneth Higgins	Kenneth Higgins
14	Mr. Muggs Steps Out	1943	William Beaudine	William Beaudine Beryl Sachs	William Beaudine Beryl Sachs
15	Million Dollar Kid	1944	Wallace Fox	Frank H. Young	Frank H. Young
16	Follow the Leader	1944	William Beaudine	William Beaudine Beryl Sachs	Ande Lamb
17	Block Busters	1944	Wallace Fox	Houston Branch	Houston Branch
18	Bowery Champs	1944	William Beaudine	Morey Amsterdam Earle Snell	Earle Snell
19	Docks of New York	1945	Wallace Fox	Harvey Gates	Harvey Gates
20	Mr. Muggs Rides Again	1945	Wallace Fox	Harvey Gates	Harvey Gates
21	Come Out Fighting	1945	William Beaudine	Earle Snell	Earle Snell

[edit] External links

• Fan Site

Preceded by: Little Tough Guys 1938-1943

'East Side Kids' series 1940-1945

Succeeded by: The Bowery Boys 1946-1958