Little Tough Guys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids, and several of them later became members of The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys.
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[edit] History
'The Dead End Kids' originally appeared in the 1935 play, Dead End. When Samuel Goldwyn turned the play into a 1937 film, he recruited the original kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly) from the play to appear in the same roles in the film. This lead to the making of six other films under the moniker, 'The Dead End Kids'.
[edit] Little Tough Guys
In 1938, shortly after they made their first film at Warner Brothers, Universal borrowed all of the original 'Dead End Kids' except Gorcey and Jordan and made twelve films and three 12-chapter serials under the team names of 'The Little Tough Guys' and 'The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys'.
The first film in the series, Little Tough Guy (1938), added two new faces to the team, Gorcey's younger brother David, and Hally Chester, although they weren't called the 'Little Tough Guys' in the credits.
The next three films did not have any of the original 'Dead End Kids' and were billed as the 'Little Tough Guys'. Returning from the first movie were only Gorcey and Chester, along with new additions, Frankie Thomas, Charles Duncan (who was originally hired to play the role of 'Spit' in the play Dead End), and William Benedict. This was the beginning of the members of the team changing on almost a film-to-film basis, including the addition of another original 'Dead End Kid', Jordan, and the nephew of comedian Bud Abbott, Norman Abbott. Throughout the entire 'Little Tough Guys' series, a total of eleven individuals would appear as part of the team.
Their first official film as the 'Little Tough Guys', Little Tough Guys in Society (1938) was more of a light-weight comedy, while the next two Newsboys' Home and Code of the Streets (1939), were more dramatic. Jackie Cooper starred in Newsboys' Home, but was not a member of the team.
The next film, Call a Messenger (1939), was the first to combine the name 'Dead End Kids' and 'Little Tough Guys' into one team, billed as 'The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys'. Appearing in this film were Halop and Hall of the 'Dead End Kids' and David Gorcey, Chester, Benedict, and Harris Berger of the 'Little Tough Guys'.
They made seven more films, and three 12-chapter serials, before the series ended when Halop and Jordan joined the armed forces. In addition, as the original 'Dead End Kids' were now working for several studios, these films were made at roughly the same time as Warner Brothers' 'Dead End Kids' series was ending, and Monogram Picture's 'The East Side Kids' series was beginning. The final film in this series, Keep 'Em Slugging, was released in 1943.
Shemp Howard, of the Three Stooges, appeared in Give Us Wings, Hit The Road and Keep 'Em Slugging. Huntz Hall cited Howard as a major influence when his later "Bowery Boys" series shifted to all-out slapstick comedy.
[edit] The East Side Kids
When Warner Brothers released the remaining 'Dead End Kids' from their contracts in 1939, producer Sam Katzman at Monogram acted quickly and hired several of them, including Jordan and the Gorcey brothers, as well as some of the 'Little Tough Guys', including Chester, to star in a new series using the team name 'The East Side Kids'. These films also introduced 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison, one of the original members of the Our Gang comedy team, as part of the gang.
As mentioned above, the original members of the 'Dead End Kids' were now working at several studios, so these films were made at the same time that Universal was making 'The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys' series.
A total of twenty-two films were made, with the final one, Come Out Fighting, being released in 1945.
[edit] The Bowery Boys
In 1946, with only Mongoram making films using any of the original 'Dead End Kids', Leo Gorcey along with his agent, Jan Grippo, and Hall revamped the The East Side Kids and rechristened them as The Bowery Boys. These films followed a more established formula than the prior incarnations of the team. Gorcey left after the forty-first film and was replaced by Stanley Clements for the remaining films. In all, a total of forty-eight films were made under this team moniker, with the final film, In the Money, being released in 1958.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Movie | Team Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Little Tough Guy | None Listed | |
| 1938 | Little Tough Guys in Society | Little Tough Guys | |
| 1939 | Newsboys' Home | Little Tough Guys | |
| 1939 | Code of the Streets | Little Tough Guys | |
| 1939 | Call a Messenger | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1940 | You're Not So Tough | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1940 | Junior G-Men | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
| 1940 | Give Us Wings | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1941 | Hit the Road | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1941 | Sea Raiders | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
| 1941 | Mob Town | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1942 | Junior G-Men of the Air | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
| 1942 | Tough As They Come | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1943 | Mug Town | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
| 1943 | Keep 'Em Slugging | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys |
[edit] External links
- The Unofficial Bowery Boys Page
- Fan Site
- David Gorcey at the Internet Movie Database
- Huntz Hall at the Internet Movie Database
- Gabriel Dell at the Internet Movie Database
- Billy Halop at the Internet Movie Database
- Bobby Jordan at the Internet Movie Database
- Bernard Punsly at the Internet Movie Database
- Frank Thomas at the Internet Movie Database
- Billy Benedict at the Internet Movie Database
- Hally Chester at the Internet Movie Database
- Harris Berger at the Internet Movie Database
- Norman Abbott at the Internet Movie Database
| Preceded by 'The Dead End Kids' 1937-1939 |
'Little Tough Guys' series 1938-1943 |
Succeeded by 'The East Side Kids' 1940-1945 |
