Kid Dynamite (1943)

EastSide boxing champion (Leo Gorcey) has been challenged to fight the West Side champ but is kidnapped before the match. Leo's friend (Bobby Jordan) takes his place and wins the fight only... See full summary »

Director:

Wallace Fox

Writers:

Paul Ernst (story "The Old Gang"), Gerald Schnitzer (screenplay)

Stars:

Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Gorcey	...	Muggs McGinnis
Huntz Hall	...	Glimpy McGleavey
Bobby Jordan	...	Danny Lyons
Gabriel Dell	...	Harry Wycoff
Pamela Blake	...	Ivy McGinnis
Benny Bartlett	...	Beanie Miller
Ernest Morrison	...	Scruno Jackson (as Sunshine Sammy)
Bobby Stone	...	Stoney Stone
David Durand	...	Skinny Collins (as Dave Durand)
Vince Barnett	...	Klinkhammer
Daphne Pollard	...	Mrs. McGinnis
Charles Judels	...	Nick - Pool Hall Owner
Dudley Dickerson	...	Jackson
Henry Hall	...	Louis Gendick
Minerva Urecal	...	Judge

Storyline

EastSide boxing champion (Leo Gorcey) has been challenged to fight the West Side champ but is kidnapped before the match. Leo's friend (Bobby Jordan) takes his place and wins the fight only to have Leo think that Bobby was responsible for his kidnapping.

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Plot Keywords:

public domain | bare chested male | bare chested male fighting | male male relationship | u.s. army | 

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Taglines:

Those Tenement Terrors Are In For The Scrap of Their Lives!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 February 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Little Mobsters

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sam Katzman Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

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

Louis Gendick: Did you ever think of joining another gang?
Danny Lyons: That would be running away.
Louis Gendick: Not the outfit I'm talkin' about. They'll be glad to get you... They will sooner or later. You'll be fightin' all kinds of bullies.
Danny Lyons: Like Mugs?
Louis Gendick: Worse. These bullies are called Japs and Nazis.
Danny Lyons: You mean the army.
Louis Gendick: That won't be runnin' away, Danny. That's real fightin'.

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Crazy Credits

The first set of credits lists Pamela Blake, Mike Riley's Orchestra and Marion Miller. The comprehensive cast list, however, omits the Orchestra and Miller. In such a case, the IMDb cast ordering uses the first set of credits first, followed by the rest from the second set.

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Connections

Follows That Gang of Mine (1940)

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Soundtracks

Comin' Thro' the Rye
(uncredited)
Traditional Scottish music
Words by Robert Burns
Played by Mike Riley's Orchestra and sung by Marion Miller at the dance contest

User Reviews

Muggs is so unlikable and nasty, it's surprising this didn't kill off the franchise!

I've seen about a dozen Bowery Boys/East Side Kids films and would have to say that this one is the most difficult of them to watch for me--mostly because the usually pugnacious Muggs is so downright hateful in this one. Normally, he's a blustering jerk---but here he repeatedly goes over the top and made me want the other members of the club to work him over with a tire iron! The writing really was bad in this one and the made Muggs about as likable as Tojo!

When the film begins, Muggs is refusing to pay a guy on a bet made fair and square. Later, some gamblers kidnap Muggs so he can't fight in the city boxing championship---and Danny (Bobby Jordan) is forced to fight instead. Danny unexpectedly wins and after Muggs is released by the gamblers, Muggs treats Danny like dirt--blaming him for the kidnapping even though it's soon proved Danny had nothing to do with it. Then, repeatedly throughout the film, Danny is treated like dirt by Muggs and none of the gang does anything but follow Muggs' lead. When Danny wins a dance contest, Muggs steals the money. When Danny joins the army because of the war, Muggs throws him out of the gang and badmouths him. Eventually, Danny has enough and beats the stuffing out of Muggs....but it sure took a long, long time until this happened...too long.

As I said, usually Muggs is pugnacious and a bit of a jerk--I expected that. But here he simply is a boorish little crook that needs his skull beaten in...and that's a sign of bad writing. Rule number one in writing a screenplay should be to make your characters likable or at least not Satan (unless, of course, your film is about Satan!).