Bowery Champs

Last updated
Bowery Champs
Directed by William Beaudine
Written by Earle Snell
Morey Amsterdam
Produced by Jack Dietz
Sam Katzman
Barney A. Sarecky
Starring Leo Gorcey
Huntz Hall
Gabriel Dell
Billy Benedict
Cinematography Ira H. Morgan
Edited by John F. Link Sr.
Music by Edward J. Kay
Production
company
Release date
  • November 25, 1944 (1944-11-25)
Running time
62 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bowery Champs is a 1944 American film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. [1]

Contents

Plot

After she files for divorce from nightclub owner Tom Wilson, former Broadway star Gypsy Carmen demands that he return the securities that she owned before their marriage. When Wilson claims that the securities are missing, Gypsy pulls a gun from her purse and aims it at him. At that moment, a gun is fired through the window of his house. Tom falls dead and Gypsy flees in panic.

At the time of the murder, Jim Lindsey, the star reporter of the American Express paper, is busily bidding on oriental rugs at an auction and consequently misses the story. Deciding to cover the murder for the absent Jim, Muggs McGinnis, who is working as a copy boy on the paper, asks Glimpy to drive him to the Wilson house in the paper's delivery car. At the house, Muggs and Glimpy sneak through an open window and listen as the police interrogate Wilson's mistress, Diane Gibson, an entertainer at the nightclub, and Ken Duncan, Wilson's manager. Duncan recalls that Gypsy threatened Wilson's life, and the police lieutenant states that a .38 caliber bullet was used to kill Wilson. The houseboy then reveals that right after the murder, he saw a woman wearing a "fuzzy coat and funny hat" hail a yellow cab with a dented fender.

After purchasing his rug, Jim hears about the murder and hurries to the Wilson house to investigate. Meanwhile, Muggs, Glimpy and the other East Side Kids go to the taxi stand and learn from the driver hat he delivered a woman wearing a fuzzy coat to the Stephens apartment building, where Gypsy lives. As Muggs and the boys drive to the apartment building, the police arrive at the taxi stand, question the driver and dispatch a car to arrest Gypsy. When Muggs and the boys question Gypsy, she protests her innocence. Noticing the police car pull up to the curb, Muggs instructs Skinny to don Gypsy's hat and coat and speed away in the newspaper's car.

After the police follow Skinny, Muggs tells Gypsy to disguise herself as a boy and escorts her to the safety of the boys' clubhouse. Skinny drives to the Wilson house, watches as Diane leaves and follows her. At the clubhouse, Gypsy shows her gun to Muggs, who recognizes it as a .32 caliber, and Muggs pronounces that it is not the murder weapon. Jim, meanwhile, searches for clues at the Wilson house and finds a button in the hallway. Surmising that it belongs to the murderer, Jim takes the button to show his publisher, Lester Cartwright. As Jim exhibits his clue, the police arrive to question Cartwright about the strange woman driving the Express's car. Upon seeing the button, the police take Cartwright in for questioning, and Cartwright, furious, fires Jim.

Skinny, meanwhile, has followed Diane to the Pussy Cat Café, where she turns Gypsy's stolen securities over to Duncan. Skinny then telephones his sister and instructs her to find Muggs and send him to the café. Muggs has returned to the newspaper office and, learning of Jim's predicament, accompanies him to the clubhouse to interview Gypsy. When Skinny's sister, Jane finds them outside the clubhouse and relates Skinny's message to Muggs, Muggs tells Jim to deliver Gypsy to police headquarters while he meets Skinny. Gypsy has left the clubhouse, however, and when Jim finds the room deserted, he dispatches the police to the café.

Skinny is eavesdropping outside the door to Duncan's office when one of Duncan's henchmen finds him and imprisons him in a room. After Diane leaves the office to perform her act, Gypsy enters, pulls out her gun and demands that Duncan return the securities. Just then, Diane re-enters the room and begins to wrestle with Gypsy. As Skinny struggles with his captor in the next room, Muggs and the boys arrive and join the fray. Soon after, the police come to arrest Diane and Duncan, and Jim breaks the story about the capture of Wilson's murderers.

Cast

The East Side Kids

Additional Cast

Production

It was filmed under the title Mr. Muggs Meets a Deadline.

While on leave from military duty, Bobby Jordan visited the set during its filming and he was written into the film (as himself) at the last minute.

The film marks Jimmy Strand's last East Side Kids film, while it includes Leo Gorcey's father, Bernard, as Mr. Johnson, the taxi driver.

Related Research Articles

<i>Flying Wild</i> 1941 film

Flying Wild is a 1941 film directed by William Beaudine under the pseudonym "William West" as the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series which eventually totaled 22 films. The film is the team's first one in the spy film genre.

<i>Pride of the Bowery</i> 1940 film by Joseph H. Lewis

Pride of the Bowery is a black-and-white 1940 film and the fourth installment in the East Side Kids series. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and produced by Sam Katzman. It was released by Monogram Pictures on December 15, 1940.

<i>Bowery Blitzkrieg</i> 1941 film by Wallace Fox

Bowery Blitzkrieg is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series. The film "introduced" Huntz Hall in his first of the East Side Kids film series.

<i>Docks of New York</i> 1945 film by Wallace Fox

Docks of New York is a 1945 film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.

<i>Boys of the City</i> 1940 film by Joseph H. Lewis

Boys of the City is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison.

<i>Spooks Run Wild</i> 1941 film by Phil Rosen

Spooks Run Wild is a 1941 American horror comedy film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series. It stars Bela Lugosi with Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and Huntz Hall. It is directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the series, and produced by Sam Katzman. The original script is by Carl Foreman and Charles R. Marion.

<i>Clancy Street Boys</i> 1943 film by William Beaudine

Clancy Street Boys is a 1943 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring the East Side Kids. It is Beaudine's first film with the team; he would direct several more in the series and many in the Bowery Boys canon. Leo Gorcey married the female lead Amelita Ward. There is no mention of "Clancy Street" in the film, but a rival gang at Cherry Street appears at the beginning and climax of the film.

<i>Neath Brooklyn Bridge</i> 1942 film by Wallace Fox

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. It is the eleventh installment in the East Side Kids series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were making lighter, more humorous fare. The film is now in public domain and can be downloaded legally from numerous web sites.

<i>Lets Get Tough!</i> 1942 film by Wallace Fox

Let's Get Tough! is a 1942 film and the ninth film in the East Side Kids series, starring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, and Robert Armstrong. Released in early 1942, it was directed by Wallace Fox, and features the gang caught up in World War II and fighting the Black Dragon Society, an enemy sabotage ring.

<i>Kid Dynamite</i> (film) 1943 film by Wallace Fox

Kid Dynamite is a 1943 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids. It was based on the 1942 short story The Old Gang by Paul Ernst and features additional dialogue by comedian Morey Amsterdam. The working title of this film was Little Mobsters.

<i>Mr. Wise Guy</i> 1942 film by William Nigh

Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.

<i>Million Dollar Kid</i> 1944 film by Wallace Fox

Million Dollar Kid is a 1944 American film directed by Wallace Fox starring the East Side Kids.

<i>Smart Alecks</i> 1942 film by Wallace Fox

Smart Alecks is a 1942 American film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.

<i>Ghosts on the Loose</i> 1943 film by William Beaudine

Ghosts on the Loose is a 1943 American comedy horror film and the fourteenth film in the East Side Kids series, directed by William Beaudine. The picture co-stars horror film icon Bela Lugosi as well as Ava Gardner in one of her earliest roles.

<i>Mr. Muggs Steps Out</i> 1943 film by William Beaudine

Mr. Muggs Steps Out is a 1943 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The East Side Kids.

<i>Follow the Leader</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by William Beaudine

Follow the Leader is a 1944 American film directed by William Beaudine featuring the East Side Kids.

<i>Block Busters</i> 1944 film by Wallace Fox

Block Busters is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Wallace Fox and starring the East Side Kids.

Mr. Muggs Rides Again is a 1945 film directed by Wallace Fox and starring The East Side Kids.

The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys.

Come Out Fighting is a 1945 American film directed by William Beaudine. It was the last in the Monogram Pictures series of "East Side Kids" films before the series was reinvented as "The Bowery Boys. Film critic Leonard Maltin described the film as "grating," giving it one and a half out of four stars.

References

  1. ↑ Hayes, David (1982). The Films of the Bowery Boys. Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel Press. p. 79. ISBN   978-0806509310.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.