Hit the Road (1941)

Kids look to get revenge when their fathers are all killed in a mob war.

Director:

Joe May

Writers:

Robert Lee Johnson (story), Robert Lee Johnson (screenplay),

Stars:

Gladys George, Barton MacLane, Billy Halop

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gladys George	...	Molly Ryan
Barton MacLane	...	James J. Ryan
Billy Halop	...	Tom
Huntz Hall	...	Pig
Gabriel Dell	...	String
Bernard Punsly	...	Ape
Bobs Watson	...	Pesky
Evelyn Ankers	...	Patience Ryan
Charles Lang	...	Paul Revere Smith
Shemp Howard	...	Dingbat
Walter Kingsford	...	Colonel Smith
Eily Malyon	...	Cathy Crookshank
Edward Pawley	...	Spike the Butcher
John Harmon	...	Creeper
Charles R. Moore	...	Martin

Storyline

Tommy (Billy Halop), "Pig (Huntz Hall)," "String(Gabriel Dell)," and "Ape (Bernard Punsly)" are all inmates of a reform school, along with little "Pesky" (Bobs Watson),and they are orphan sons of deceased members of the Valentine Gang which was wiped out by Spike the Butcher (edward Pawley' ) and his gang a few years earlier. The only survivor of the Valentine gang was Valentine and he was sent to prison. Later the boys are paroled to the custody of a man using the name of James J. Ryan (Barton MacLane), but Ryan is really Valentine, who has served his sentence, and is living quietly on a stock ranch with his wife Mary Ryan (Gladys George). Ryan (now reformed) is trying to raise $50,000 to build a trade school to help unfortunate boys. But Tom isn't all reformed yet and meets up with a stranger who enlists him in a conspiracy to steal the money. The stranger turns out to be none other than Spike the Butcher, the man responsible for killing Tom's and the other four boy's fathers. Tom ...

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Plot Keywords:

gang | school | stranger | custody | conspiracy | 

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Taglines:

THEY'RE NOT SO TOUGH (as they thought) - The "Dead End Kids" and "Little Tough Guys" meet their match...in a moll! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 June 1941 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

61 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[To Tom, the leader of the Little Tough Guys]
Molly Ryan: You've got a swell chance to steer your mob right. Don't muff it!

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Connections

Follows On Dress Parade (1939)

User Reviews

The Dead End Kids Universal serials were better than the Universal features...they didn't preach.

Here, they (Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsley) are all inmates of a reform school, along with little "Pesky" (Bobs Watson), who was there to be cute and cry a lot, and dang if they all aren't orphan sons of deceased members of the Valentine Gang which was wiped out by Spike the Butcher (Edward Pawley) and his gang a few years earlier. The only survivor of the Valentine gang was Valentine and he was sent to prison.

Later the boys are paroled to the custody of a man using the name of James J. Ryan (Barton MacLane), but Ryan is really Valentine, who has served his sentence, and is living quietly on a stock ranch with his wife Mary Ryan (Gladys George), former gang moll.

Ryan (now reformed) is trying to raise $50,000 to build a trade school to help unfortunate boys. But Tom (Billy Halop)isn't all reformed yet and meets up with a stranger who enlists him in a conspiracy to steal the money. The stranger turns out to be none other than Spike the Butcher, the man responsible for killing Tom's and the other four boy's fathers.

Tom raises a stink when he learns who Spike the Butcher really is, but Spike locks Tom and the others in a basement and goes off to kill Valentine/Ryan and steal the trade-school money.

Sorry, but we can't tell the two or three souls who haven't seen this film and can't figure out what happens next just what does happen next, although the remaining vast majority who haven't seen this film could still write the finish.