The Little Tough Guys (later billed as 'The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys') were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943. [1] 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.
The urban drama Dead End became both a successful play and a hit movie, featuring six young actors playing streetwise guttersnipes: Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bobby Jordan, and Bernard Punsly. The troupe became known as The Dead End Kids and starred in a series of features for Warner Brothers.
In 1938, Universal borrowed the Dead End Kids (except Gorcey and Jordan) for a juvenile-delinquency drama called Little Tough Guy . Universal adopted this as a brand name, and turned the film into a series of 'Little Tough Guys' features. The studio filled out the cast with David Gorcey (Leo's younger brother) and Hally Chester.
The next three films did not include any of the original Dead End Kids. Little Tough Guys in Society (1939) was more of a lightweight comedy, while the next two, Newsboys' Home and Code of the Streets (1939), were more dramatic. Jackie Cooper starred in Newsboys' Home, but was not a member of the team. Only David Gorcey and Hally Chester remained from the first film, Little Tough Guy. This was the beginning of the members of the team changing on almost a film-to-film basis. Eleven actors drifted in and out of the series, including Frankie Thomas, Charles Duncan (who was originally hired to play Leo Gorcey's role in the play Dead End), and Billy Benedict.
When Warners released Bobby Jordan from his contract, Universal quickly signed him to join the rest of gang. Now, with five of the original six Dead End Kids on the payroll, Universal revised the billing to read The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys. In total, the Little Tough Guys made 12 feature films, and three 12-chapter serials. Leading player Halop joined the armed forces and was replaced by Jordan for the final film in the series, Keep 'Em Slugging, released in 1943.
Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges appeared in Give Us Wings, Hit the Road and Keep 'Em Slugging . Huntz Hall cited Howard as a major influence when his later "Bowery Boys" series shifted to all-out slapstick comedy.
There was still a market for these tough-teen films, and most of the Little Tough Guys principals wound up at Monogram Pictures as The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys.
Year | Title | Team Name | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | Little Tough Guy | The 'Dead End' Kids | |
1938 | Little Tough Guys in Society | Little Tough Guys | |
1939 | Newsboys' Home | Little Tough Guys | |
1939 | Code of the Streets | Little Tough Guys | |
1939 | Call a Messenger | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1940 | You're Not So Tough | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1940 | Junior G-Men | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
1940 | Give Us Wings | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1941 | Hit the Road | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1941 | Sea Raiders | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
1941 | Mob Town | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1942 | Junior G-Men of the Air | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | 12-Chapter Serial |
1942 | Tough as They Come | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1942 | Mug Town | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
1943 | Keep 'Em Slugging | Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys | |
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.
Robert G. Jordan was an American actor, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, and The Bowery Boys.
Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was famous for his use of malapropisms, such as "I depreciate it!" instead of "I appreciate it!"
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.
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.
Crime School is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring the Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart and Gale Page. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.
The Angels Wash Their Faces is a 1939 Warner Bros. film directed by Ray Enright and starring Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and the Dead End Kids.
The 'Dead End' Kids "On Dress Parade" is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors.
Junior G-Men of the Air is a 1942 Universal film serial starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. A group of youthful flying enthusiasts join the "Junior G-Men" to help break up a planned attack on the United States.
Junior G-Men is a 1940 Universal film serial. It was Universal's 116th serial of their total of output of 137. The serial is one of the three serials starring "The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys" who were under contract to Universal at the time. The plot of Junior G-Men is a pre-World War II G-Man story about fifth columnists in the United States, with the FBI joining forces with youth to save the country.
Sea Raiders is a 1941 Universal film serial starring the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys. This was the teen stars' second of three serials, between Junior G-Men (1940) and Junior G-Men of the Air (1942). Sea Raiders was the 52nd serial to be released by Universal. The plot concerns the heroes foiling Nazi attacks on American shipping.
Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.
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.
Dead End is a stage play written by playwright Sidney Kingsley. It premiered on Broadway in October 1935 and ran for two years. It is notable for being the first project to feature the Dead End Kids, who would go on to star, under various names, in 89 films and three serials. These names include Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys. The original play and the 1937 film adaptation were grim dramas set in a poverty-stricken riverside neighborhood in New York City, where the boys look on reform school as a learning opportunity. They played similar characters in several films; their later pictures are comedies.
Mob Town is a 1941 American comedy crime film directed by William Nigh and starring Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Tough as They Come is a 1942 Universal film directed by William Nigh and starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.
Mug Town is a 1942 Universal film starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.