The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They proved to be so popular that they continued to make movies under various monikers, including the Little Tough Guys, the East Side Kids, and the Bowery Boys, until 1958.
Carl Dean Switzer was an American singer, child actor, dog breeder, and guide. He was best known for his role as Alfalfa in the short subjects series Our Gang.
William Halop was an American actor.
The following is a complete list of the 220 Our Gang short films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944, numbered by order of release along with production order.
The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids, and several of them later became members of The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys.
Robert Lowery was an American motion picture, television, and stage actor who appeared in more than 70 films. He was the second actor to play Batman, appearing as the character in the 1949 film serial Batman and Robin.
Teala Loring was an American actress who appeared in over 30 films during the 1940s.
The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from 1946 through 1958.
They Made Me a Criminal is a 1939 American crime-drama film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring John Garfield, Claude Rains, and The Dead End Kids. It is a remake of the film The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933). The film later was featured in an episode of Cinema Insomnia. Portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California.
Floyd B. Bartlett, known professionally as Benny Bartlett or Bennie Bartlett, was an American child actor, musician, and later a member of the long-running feature film series The Bowery Boys.
Bowery Bombshell is a 1946 American comedy film directed by Phil Karlson and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the third film in the series and was distributed by Monogram Pictures.
Hard Boiled Mahoney is a 1947 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of the Bowery Boys along with Teala Loring and Betty Compson. It is the sixth film in the series produced by Monogram Pictures.
Call a Messenger is a 1939 Universal Studios film that starred Billy Halop and Huntz Hall of the Dead End Kids and several of the Little Tough Guys. It was directed by Arthur Lubin.
You're Not So Tough is a 1940 Universal Studios drama film directed by Joe May and starring Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys and was the first in the series where Billy Halop and Huntz Hall weren't billed in the opening credits before the Dead End Kids name.
Give Us Wings is a 1940 Universal comedic film starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. Several members of the casts of those series were also featured in "The East Side Kids" films.
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. The series was a low-budget imitation of the Dead End Kids, a successful film franchise of the late 1930s.
Man Alive is a 1945 American romantic comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Ellen Drew and Rudy Vallée.
Johnny Doughboy is a 1942 American black-and-white musical comedy film directed by John H. Auer for Republic Pictures. It stars Jane Withers in a dual role as a 16-year-old actress who is sick of playing juvenile roles, and her lookalike fan who is persuaded by a group of "has-been" child stars to perform with them in a U.S. troop show. The film features cameos by ex-child stars Bobby Breen, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, George "Spanky" McFarland, Baby Sandy, and others. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score.
Gas House Kids Go West is a 1947 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine. A sequel to the 1946 film Gas House Kids, which had starred former Dead End Kids leader Billy Halop, this new film emphasized comedy and recast the gang with Our Gang alumni Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Tommy Bond, East Side Kids alumnus Benny Bartlett, and juvenile actors Rudy Wissler and Ray Dolciame.
The Gas House Kids "in Hollywood" is a 1947 American comedy feature directed by Edward Cahn and starring Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Benny Bartlett, Rudy Wissler, and Tommy Bond. It was the third and last in the series of Gas House Kids films, about a group of unruly boys from New York City.
