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:

No holds barred and every man for himself when these rough-and-ready rascals show a gang of racketeers that you can't keep an East Side Kid down! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

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Quotes

Limpy: [praising Muggs' fighting ability] You're gettin' so good, you even got your shadow scared.

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Connections

Followed by Let's Get Tough! (1942)

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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

Bowary Blitzfrige was a pretty good East Side Kids flick

Leo Gorcey has a chance to redeem himself if he doesn't throw a fight. This was Huntz Hall's first time in an East Side Kids flick and he has quite a goofily amusing presence so it's not surprising that he and Leo eventually took over the series and made them actual comedies when the team became the Bowery Boys. Keye Luke-Charlie Chan's No. 1 son-plays a pool hall worker named Clancy. Charlotte Henry (L & H version of Babes in Toyland, 1933 live-action version of Alice in Wonderland) is the lady who's involved in the cop who's trying to reform Gorcey. Oh, and Pat Costello-yes, Lou's brother-has an amusing scene with Hall as a boxing trainer. I really liked this entry in the ESK series so on that note, Bowery Blitzkrieg is worth a look for fans of the people I just mentioned.

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