You're Not So Tough

Last updated
You're Not So Tough
You're Not So Tough.jpg
Directed by Joe May
Written by Arthur T. Horman (screenplay)
Brenda Weiberg (screenplay)
Maxwell Aley (story)
Produced byKen Goldsmith (associate producer)
Starring The Dead End Kids
Little Tough Guys
Cinematography Elwood Bredell
Music by Hans J. Salter
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release date
  • July 26, 1940 (1940-07-26)
Running time
65 min
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

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. [1]

Contents

Plot

The Dead End Kids ride a freight train through California. After the kids get arrested for vagrancy, members Tom and Pig are hired to work on a ranch owned by kindly Mama Posito. Tom learns that Posito hasn't seen her son in years, but believes that he may still be alive. In an attempt to steal her money, Tom decides to pose as her son. However, Posito's benevolency soon gets the best of Tom, and he decides to stay with her for love, rather than for greed.

Cast

The Dead End Kids

The Little Tough Guys

Additional cast

Production

Billy Halop and Huntz Hall were now joined by fellow Dead End Kids Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly, and Bobby Jordan, the latter making his first of three appearances in the Universal series.

The series was now officially coined "The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys". However, much of the attention for most of these entries would be on the original Dead End Kids, while the Little Tough Guys were often reduced to walk-on cameos.

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

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.

<i>Crime School</i> 1938 film by Lewis Seiler

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.

<i>They Made Me a Criminal</i> 1939 film

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.

<i>The Angels Wash Their Faces</i> 1939 film by Ray Enright

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.

<i>On Dress Parade</i> 1939 film by Noel M. Smith

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.

<i>Junior G-Men of the Air</i> 1942 film by Ray Taylor, Lewis D. Collins

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.

<i>Junior G-Men</i> (serial) 1940 film by Ford Beebe, John Rawlins

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.

<i>Sea Raiders</i> 1941 film by Ford Beebe, John Rawlins

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.

<i>Keep Em Slugging</i> 1943 film by Christy Cabanne

Keep 'Em Slugging is a 1943 American film starring the Little Tough Guys and directed by Christy Cabanne for Universal Pictures. This was the final film in Universal's Little Tough Guys series, and although Universal still billed the group as "The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys", none of the Little Tough Guys appeared in this film.

<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>Call a Messenger</i> 1939 film by Arthur Lubin

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.

<i>Give Us Wings</i> 1940 film by Charles Lamont

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.

<i>Hit the Road</i> (1941 film) 1941 American crime comedy film directed by Joe May

Hit the Road is a 1941 American comedy crime film directed by Joe May and featuring the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys alongside Gladys George, Barton MacLane and Evelyn Ankers. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

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.

<i>Mob Town</i> (1941 film) 1941 film

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.

References

  1. Manago, Jim (2015). Behind Sach - The Huntz Hall Story. BearManor Media. Retrieved 11 June 2020.