Customer Reviews

The East Side Kids Three Volume Collection

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 15 titles on this EAST SIDE KID collection have long been available on many budget label DVD and VHS brands. As with other "East Side" offerings, these are dubbed from unrestored 16 mm broadcast films. Quality is fair to good, none are pristine.

The East Siders featured several actors who appeared in the WARNER Dead End films and UNIVERSAL's Little Tough Guy series. Some would later continue with MONOGRAM's classic Bowery Boys programmers. There were 22 MONOGRAM East Side Kids pictures made between 1940 and '45, including an initial movie that had only two supporting players of the core Little Tough Guy gang.

The Kids: Leo Gorcey (2,3,4,6,7,8,10,11,13,14,16); Bobby Jordan (2,3,4,6,7,8,10,11,13,14); Ernest Morrison (2,3,4,6,7,8,10,11,13,14); Huntz Hall (6,7,8,10,11,13,14,16); David Gorcey (1,2,3,4,6,7,8,10); Bobby Stone (2,6,8,10,11,14,16); Donald Haines (1,2,3,6,7); Stanley Clements (10,11,14); 'Billy' Benedict (13,14,16); Eugene Francis (2,3,4); Hal E. Chester (1,2); Frankie Burke (1,2); Vince Barnett (1,2)

Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll ratings.

(5.8) East Side Kids (#1--1940) - Leon Ames/Dennis Moore/Joyce Byant/Dave O'Brien
(6.5) Boys of the City (#2--1940) - Dave O'Brien/Inna Gest/Minerva Urecal/Dennis Moore
(6.3) That Gang of Mine (#3--1940) - Clarence Muse/Joyce Bryant/Dave O'Brien/Milton Kibbee
(6.4) Pride of the Bowery (#4--1940) - Kenneth Howell/Mary Ainslee/Kenneth Harlan
(6.6) Bowery Blitzkrieg (#6--1941) - Keye Luke/Warren Hull/Charlotte Henry/Jack Mulhall/Dennos Moore
(5.7) Spooks Run Wild (#7--1941) - Bela Lugosi/Dave O'Brien/Dorothy Short/Dennis Moore/Angelo Rossitto
(6.6) Mr. Wise Guy (#8--1942) - Billy Gilbert/Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams/Joan Barclay/Ann Doran/Gabe Dell
(6.6) Smart Alecks (#10--1942) - Gabe Dell/'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom/Gale Storm/Herbert Rawlinson
(7.1) 'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (#11--1942) 0 Gabe Dell/Noah Beery Jr./Marc Lawrence/Ann Gillis/Dave O'Brien/Patsy Moran/Dewey Robinson
(6.9) Clancy Street Boys (#13--1943) - Noah Beery/Amelita Ward/Benny Bartlett/Rick Vallin/J. Farrell MacDonald
(5.3) Ghosts on the Loose (#14--1943) - Bela Lugosi/Ava Gardner/Rick Vallin/Minerva Urecal/Jack Mulhall
(6.9) Million Dollar Kid (#16--1944) - Gabe Dell/Noah Beery/Louise Currie/Patsy Moran/Stanley Brown

Also here is the premiere of the Universal series and the second of three Tough Guys 12-chapter serials. (Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan are not in either of these.)

(5.9) Little Tough Guys (1938) - Robert Wilcox/Helen Parrish/Marjorie Main/Jackie Searl/Peggy Stewart/Olin Howard
(6.2) Sea Raiders (serial-1942) - Reed Hadley/William Hall/John McGuire/Mary Field/Edward Keane/Stanley Blystone

The last offering is a WARNER Dead End Kids crime drama directed by Busby Berkeley.

(7.1) They Made Me A Criminal (1939) - John Garfield/Claude Rains/Ann Sheriden/May Robson

I have read other reviews that the video quality is not very good. While that is true, it is as good as it was when they were originally filmed in the 1930s. I am very satisfied with the movies. I grew up watching the East Side Kids as a kid myself. It is still good, wholesome viewing. Audio is very good too, given the age of the films.

This genre of entertainment is sadly GONE and we are indeed very fortunate to have these films available with some evidence of "cleanup" to the images and sound. I remember seeing some of them for $.10 on Saturday mornings at the Rosetta in Miami. Wonderful entertainment for the entire family.