Customer Reviews

East Side Kids - Million Dollar Kid

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This is in reference to the Alpha Video version.

This is a classic east side kid's move where the kids help out the poor little rich boy who gets himself in a jamb. If you like the East side kids, like I do, you'll like this movie. The DVD and sound quality are terrible. You can barely see the picture at some points and the sound is scratchy to say the least. It appears it was just copied from the old films. I guess you can't expect too much for the price. There is a re-mastered copy of this video by Digiview Productions so make sure you buy that version. I haven't seen it yet but it has to be better than this one.

Cousin Herbie (Al Stone) joins the gang. Gabriel Dell and friends beat up a rich older man (Herbert Hayes). The East Side Kids come to his safety. Grateful, he gives them his business card to call him tomorrow. Huntz notices the rich man mistakenly left his wallet behind with nearly a thousand dollars inside. They truly decide to return it to the man. Suddenly, the police catch the boys with the dough and down to the station they go. They call the rich man, Cortland and it's all straightened out. He invites the boys to his home to help them with gymnasium equipment they need. With the help of the East Side Kids (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Stone, Billy Benedict, Dave Durrand, Jimmy Strand, Bob Gorman) and Cortland's son, Roy (Johnnie Duncan) they will catch Gabriel Dell the mugger. Bobby Stone was not credited, but I got him here. Leo Gorcey's father, Bernard Gorcey, makes an appearance as a telegram man. The next six films: Follow The Leader (1944), Block Busters (1944), Bowery Champs (1944), Docks of New York (1945), Mr. Muggs Rides Again (1945), Come Out Fighting (1945).

This Alpha/Gotham DVD is one of their better presentations. The picture is fairly sharp, the contrast workable, and the sound is clear. There are some minor video glitches indicating tape wear in the master video tape, but for $7.99 it is well worth it. The film used to make the tape does have lines & splices, but I did not find them distracting.

Here is another Monogram produced East Side Kids film that really ranks as one of their better efforts that while funny still mixes in some drama and action before the kids would become the "boys" and move to a more slapstick format in the 1950's. John Cortland is a wealthy man who is accosted by some street punks and then rescued by Muggs and the gang. Cortland is played by Herbert Heyes who is perhaps best known for playing Mr. Gimble in both the 1947 and 1955 TV versions of "A Miracle on 34th Street".

Cortland is grateful to the kids and invites them over to his home where he provides much needed athletic equipment to the boys. However the boys soon find out that it was Cortland's own son Roy that involved in trying to mug his father. Not wanting their benefactor to find out that his son has become a street hood the gang sets out to reform the young man.

Decent Kids film. Usual laughs mixed with drama. The only bad things is that Sammy Morrison, who played Scruno, had left the team and he was always one of the funniest of all the kids.

Million Dollar Kid

The film begins with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. Muggers create crime in the neighborhood. Herbie wants to join their club (he is a cousin of Glimpy). Their chatter is humorous. Men at a pool hall spot a rich stranger and rob him in an alley. Muggs and the others rescue him. The police take them in for questioning. Courtland comes to identify them as his rescuers. [An "A" sticker was for gasoline rationing.] Courtland allows them to use his gym. A servant can be fired on a whim. The other servants leave in solidarity! Does his son Roy have a problem? Can the boys identify the muggers? We learn more about those muggers. Muggs and Glimpy learn more about that French soldier. Louise doesn't welcome bad news. Muggs has a plan to save Louise. It works!

A telegram from the War Department brings bad news for Courtlandt. Their doctor makes house calls. Roy and Muggs box in the gym. They form a plan to rescue Skinny from the bad guys, and bring the bad guys to the police. Muggs explains for Roy, there will be a happy ending. There is a joke in the last scene.

This story uses "juvenile delinquency" as the background for a comedy, as well as an imposter trying to marry into a wealthy family. Were servants readily available during wartime? However implausible this story, it provided entertainment during the 1940s. It has a message as a morality play. Do younger sons have a problem in matching their older brothers?