This is the 8th film in the East Side Kids series, right after the classic SPOOKS RUN WILD, and it's kind of a forgettable one. The kids get sent to a reform school this time and have to solve a murder. Not much stands out about this chapter except maybe the black kid(Ernest "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison) getting covered in white paint and ending up in white-face after stealing a chicken. Also we find out Muggs'(Leo Gorcey) first name is Ethelbert. Not exactly essential unless you're some kinda completist.
This movie was made right in the middle of World War 2 which gives some historical context to the way Japanese folks are treated in this. I think if you looked at the way our "heroes", The East Side Kids, treat one particular Japanese fellow(who eventually turns out to be Chinese and they feel bad about it) at the beginning of this movie, given the current insanely politically correct era we inhabit, they would surely be convicted of a hate crime. Then again the kidding around they do with their black member, 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrisson, about fried chicken and not being able to tell little white lies would probably also get them in a lot of hot water these days. If you can overlook these dated aspects (and if you can't why the hell would you be watching this old crap anyway?) then it's a pretty typical entry(#9) in the 'Kids' series where they foil a Japanese/German spy ring and do their part for the war. Oh yeah, I guess you have to overlook all the pro-war stuff also you silly America-hating snowflake!
This one is only the 2nd East Side Kids movie out of 22. The weird thing, to me, about this one is it doesn't have Huntz Hall in it(I guess he hadn't become a regular member of the gang yet). Despite this it's still a pretty decent episode that takes our gang out of their normal stomping grounds and throws them in a creepy old, potentially haunted, mansion upstate. There's murder, a weird old witchy lady and lots of wandering around in the dark. Huntz woulda made it better but don't worry because we basically get that movie the very next year with SPOOKS RUN WILD and then again with GHOST ON THE LOOSE three years later which kinda makes this one a minor, forgettable footnote.
Another footnote about this one is that it may be the only one of these films that's actually a direct sequel bringing back the Knuckles Dolan character from the first EAST SIDE KIDS movie. AKA THE GHOST CREEPS
The whole whopping East Side Kids series!:
1. EAST SIDE KIDS (1940)
2. BOYS OF THE CITY (1940)
3. THAT GANG OF MINE (1940)
4. PRIDE OF THE BOWERY (1940)
5. FLYING WILD (1941)
6. BOWERY BLITZKRIEG (1941)
7. SPOOKS RUN WILD (1941)
8. MR. WISE GUY (1942)
9. LET'S GET TOUGH! (1942)
10. SMART ALECKS (1942)
11. 'NEATH BROOKLYN BRIDGE (1942)
12. KID DYNAMITE (1943)
13. CLANCY STREET BOYS (1943)
14. GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE (1943)
15. MR. MUGGS STEPS OUT (1943)
16. MILLION DOLLAR KID (1944)
17. FOLLOW THE LEADER (1944)
18. BLOCK BUSTERS (1944)
19. BOWERY CHAMPS (1944)
20. DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1945)
21. MR. MUGGS RIDES AGAIN (1945)
22. COME OUT FIGHTING (1945)
10th movie(out of 22!) in the East Side Kids series. This time the kids(who are actually pretty old to be called "kids") tangle with some tough guy gangsters. They tend to do this a lot, which can be a little confusing when trying to recall which movies you've seen of theirs. This one stands out because one of the kids, Danny(Bobby Jordan), gets his ass kicked so bad that he ends up almost dying which is kind of heavy for one of these light-hearted comedic romps. The power of prayer helps him out though, which is a bit more religious than these movies usually get. Fairly generic stuff but if you're a fan of the antics of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall(who come off as real dicks for the first half of the movie and even rob one of their pals at one point) you know what to expect. AKA THE EAST SIDE KIDS IN SMART ALECKS
The 11th film in the East Side Kids series. This time the kids get involved with some gangsters and wrongfully charged with murder. It's hard to say much about this movie because it's a pretty generic and predictable film but I suppose you know what you're in for and that makes for some comfortable junk food for the eyes for fans of old-timey comedy/crime capers. There is a gal involved who has to cross-dress in an attempt to disguise herself as one of the gang(Such progressivism!). One thing that I do find slightly annoying is that the title seems to be missing the word "the" but I guess people spoke differently back in the 40s.
The 3rd movie in the East Side Kids series.This one is before they got Huntz Hall so the comedy is not as over-the-top yet and it goes a little heavy on the melodrama at points. The story deals with Muggs(Leo Gorcey) attempting to become a horse-racing jockey and then being a big scaredy cat. It sets up the next movie PRIDE OF THE BOWERY where Muggs decides to be a champion prize-fighter. It's only about an hour long so if you want to see what's basically a more grown-up and slightly more serious version of The Little Rascals on horseback here ya go. I'm more of a fan of the later Hall stuff myself.
The East Side Kids(who later on became The Bowery Boys) star here as a gang of 40's street kid hoodlums as they always do. What gives this one a little different flavor is that Huntz Hall dresses in drag for a bunch of the movie trying to fool Mug's(Leo Gorcey's) rich Texan uncle into thinking he's a woman. Also there's some man on man kissing action and we find out Mugs real first name is Ethelbert. Besides that this is a pretty typical dumb 40's comedy with a little uncomfortable racial humor thrown in for added chuckles. The best thing though about these movies is they're all around an hour long and a good way to wake up on a hungover Saturday morning.
The sixth of the East Side Kids movies. Even though the title sounds like it, there are no Nazis in this movie at all. Instead it's about Muggs(Leo Gorcey) becoming a boxer and there's also some gangsters involved. It introduces Huntz Hall and he, along with Gorcey, would become the main two characters in the rest of these films. Keye Luke, Charlie Chan's son from the Charlie Chan series shows up here also. This is a pretty typical cheapie 40's comedy/drama. It goes by fast enough but I think I dig the kid's/boy's monster flicks like SPOOKS RUN WILD just a bit more.
The East Side Kids, the earlier version of The Bowery Boys, end up in a haunted house with Bela Lugosi in their 14th movie. It turns out the house doesn't really have any ghosts in it but has Nazis instead which I think would be a lot scarier since Nazis actually exist.
If you've seen any of the million other Bowery Boys/East Side Kids movies you know exactly what to expect and it's lots of stupid jokes and this one has some of that old-timey, racial/stereotypical humor with the black Scruno character. They used to show all these around 2am on the local station when I was younger and that's probably a good time to watch these if you suffer from insomnia. There was an earlier Lugosi/Kids meet-up titled SPOOKS RUN WILD which was equally dumb.
It does sound an awful lot like Lugosi says "Shit!" when he sneezes:
The East Side Kids, who later went on to be known as The Bowery Boys, starred in a whole bunch of stupid Three Stooges-esque films that they used to continuously show at late-night/early morning hours back in the old days before TV sucked. Along with Charlie Chan, Tarzan and similar low-budget black & white oldies these films were most likely only viewed by 80 year-old invalids and myself. This one is the 7th in the series and has the boys meet Bela Lugosi in an old dark house full of skeletons and a midget(Angelo Rossitto). This one is pretty dull overall and I think I'm more of a fan of the Bowery Boys-era stuff when they just went all out with the slapstick but this is only about 65 minutes long so that's a plus. Lugosi would meet the kids once again in GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE in 1943.
