Mr. Wise Guy (1942)

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Martin Mooney (story)
Sam Robins (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 February 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Mr. Wise Guy (the eighth in the East Side Kids series) finds the gang sent to the Wilton Reform School...

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Murder | East Side Kids | Reform School | Baseball

Cast

Leo Gorcey	...	Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis
Bobby Jordan	...	Danny Collins
Huntz Hall	...	Glimpy Stone
Billy Gilbert	...	Knobby
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Luke Manning (as Guinn Williams)
Douglas Fowley	...	Bill Collins
Joan Barclay	...	Ann Mitchell
Warren Hymer	...	Dratler
Ann Doran	...	Dorothy Melton
Jack Mulhall	...	Jim Barnes - Reformatory Head
Gabriel Dell	...	Charlie Manning
Sidney Miller	...	Charlie Horse
David Gorcey	...	Peewee
Bobby Stone	...	Chalky Jones
Dick Ryan	...	Jed Miller - Abusive Reformatory Guard
Benny Rubin	...	Second Waiter
Bill Lawrence	...	Skinny
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Blystone	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Spectator (uncredited)
Joe Kirk	...	Man in Newsreel with Prize Money (uncredited)
Ernest Morrison	...	Scruno (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Reformatory Guard (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
William Nigh

Writing credits
Martin Mooney		(story)
Sam Robins		(screenplay) &
Harvey Gates		(screenplay) &
Jack Henley		(screenplay)

Produced by
Sam Katzman	....	producer
Barney A. Sarecky	....	associate producer (as Barney Sarecky)
Jack Dietz	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Arthur Reed		(photographed by) (as Art Reed)

Film Editing by
Carl Pierson		(as Carl Pearson)

Art Direction by
George Van Marter		(as G.C. Van Marter)

Production Management
Ed W. Rote	....	production manager (as Ed. W. Rote)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Hammond	....	assistant director (as Art Hammond)
Gerald Schnitzer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Buddy Myers	....	sound engineer
Glen Glenn	....	sound (uncredited)

Music Department
Johnny Lange	....	musical director (as Lange)
Lew Porter	....	musical director (as Porter)

Production Companies

• Banner Productions
• Monogram Pictures

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Favorite Films (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Savoy Films Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Hal Roach Studios Film Classics (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Timeless Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Gotham Distribution (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• National Film Museum (2004) (USA) (TV) (as National Film Museum Incorporated)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reelclassicdvd.com (2004) (USA) (DVD) (NTSC)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

70 min | USA:58 min (2005 DVD release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8062)

Company:

Banner Productions

Trivia:

Gabriel Dell makes his first appearance in the series that his old DeadEnd Gang had started without him. Here he is cast as an adversary named 'Rice Pudding Charlie'. So is Bobby Stone cast here as Dell's partner in crime,'Chalky Jones'

Quotes:

Jed Miller - Abusive Reformatory Guard:Which one of you is Ethelbert McGinnis?
Glimpy Stone:Ethelbert? Imagine someone with a moniker like that? We have a McGinnis , but no Ethelbert.
Jed Miller - Abusive Reformatory Guard:Come on! One of you guys is Ethelbert! Now who is it?
Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis:[Muggs,waking from a nap, hearing the name, sheepishly answers] I'm Ethelbert.
Glimpy Stone:[Glimpy stunned. says] Now I'm completely disillusioned!
Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis:Now how about we forget this Ethelbert name business?
Jed Miller - Abusive Reformatory Guard:Listen wise guy...
Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis:That's Mr. Wise Guy to you!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Kid Dynamite (1943)

Monogram's piggy bank busted wide open for good cast

Monogram's Sam Katzman busted the studio piggy bank and came up with an unusually good and familiar cast of character players for the East Side Kids in Mr. Wise Guy. The story centers around the efforts of the lads to save Bobby Jordan's brother Douglas Fowley from the chair. That is if they can bust out of the reform school they're in.

Turns out the same guy Guinn Williams is responsible for the fix both brothers are in. The kids unwittingly help henchmen Billy Gilbert and Warren Hymer with Williams crashing out of Blackwell's Island and then are left with the stolen truck that was used. Then Williams and the gang stickup a drugstore and kill the clerk and Williams commandeers a car driven by Fowley for the getaway.

Billy Gilbert dusted off his eternally flustered character so familiar in major films like On The Avenue and His Girl Friday as the incredibly dopey henchman. Williams must keep him around for laughs because he really isn't much good for anything else. Williams gives him a chore to get the money for his getaway with a good sweepstakes ticket, but his moll Ann Doran decides to cash in herself with that one. Some days you can't trust anyone even if they're too stupid to think of a doublecross themselves.

Mr. Wise Guy is the usual East Side Kids Monogram programmer on the cheap side. But the character players especially Gilbert make this one a bit above average.