Bowery Blitzkrieg (1941)

While a cop steers a kid street-fighter away from being a public nuisance, a petty hoodlum leads a studious kid into a life of crime.

Director:

Wallace Fox

Writers:

Brendan Wood (original story), Donn Mullahy (original story) (as Don Donmullahy)

Stars:

Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Gorcey	...	Muggs McGinnis
Bobby Jordan	...	Danny Breslin
Huntz Hall	...	Limpy
Warren Hull	...	Tom Brady
Charlotte Henry	...	Mary Breslin
Keye Luke	...	Clancy (as Key Luke)
Bobby Stone	...	Monk Martin
Donald Haines	...	Skinny
Ernest Morrison	...	Scruno (as Sunshine Sammy Morrison)
David Gorcey	...	Peewee
Martha Wentworth	...	Mrs. Brady
Jack Mulhall	...	Officer Sherrill
Eddie Foster	...	Slats Morrison
Dennis Moore	...	Dorgan
Tony Carson	...	Dutch

Storyline

East Side Kids: Fighters Danny Breslin and Muggs McGinnis, once boyhood chums, have drifted apart. Policeman Tom Brady - because his own former friend fell into a life of crime and got the electric chair - takes rough and tumble Muggs under his wing to turn the lad's life around, but Danny, brother of Mary Breslin (whom Tom plans to marry), is also at risk. Everyone believes studious Danny is on his way to being president someday, but while Tom's focus goes toward putting Muggs on the straight and narrow, ambitious petty criminal Monk Martin's been working slyly on steering Danny into a life of crime. Adding a little complication, racketeers get involved, trying to set up a fixed fight with Muggs.

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Plot Keywords:

prizefight | male boxers always fight bare chested | kid brother in trouble | east side kids series | b movie | 

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Taglines:

THEIR WILDEST FUNNIEST HIT! (original print ad-all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its initial telecasts in Los Angeles Sunday 26 February 1950 on KNBH (Channel 4) and in New York City Tuesday 9 May 1950 on WCBS (Channel 2).

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Quotes

Limpy: Hey, Slats, who wears your CLEAN collars?

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Connections

Follows Pride of the Bowery (1940)

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Soundtracks

Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair
(1854)
Written by Stephen Foster
Sung a cappella by Huntz Hall with modified lyrics

User Reviews

Somewhat Below East Side Standards.

This East Side Kids melodrama introduces Huntz Hall, one of the original Dead End boys, to this series, and quaintly casts Keye Luke, Charlie Chan's "Number One Son" as a pool hall manager (named Clancy!), but each performer plays only a small role in this story of Muggs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) and his gang. Released before the U.S. entry into WWII (ergo the Teutonic title), the film is devoid of the customary wartime propaganda that the series featured, but it is also shorn of the snappy ad libbing that caught the Gotham flavour of most of these affairs, and we must settle for a rapidly moving but largely uninvolving account of Muggs' decision to go straight amidst the usual background of the fight game and gangsters.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

La pandilla en guerra

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sam Katzman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min 63 min (copyright length) 60 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1