The East Side boxing champion Muggs answers a challenge to a fight against the West Side champ but just before the match he is kidnapped. His friend Danny Lyons takes his place and wins the fight, only to have Mugs believe that Danny was responsible for his kidnapping.
Acting
Leo Gorcey's Muggs—equal parts menace and marshmallow.
Writing
Snappy hard-boiled dialogue written by adults for 'teen' hoodlums.
Director
Wallace Fox
Leo Gorcey
Muggs McGinnis
Huntz Hall
Glimpy McGleavey
Bobby Jordan
Danny Lions
Gabriel Dell
Harry Wycoff
Pamela Blake
Ivy McGinnis
Benny Bartlett
Beanie Miller
Sunshine Sammy Morrison
Scruno Jackson
David Durand
Skinny Collins
Vince Barnett
Klinkhammer
Daphne Pollard
Mrs. McGinnis
Charles Judels
Nick
Dudley Dickerson
Jackson
Henry Hall
Louis Gendick
Minerva Urecal
Judge
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the fourth East Side Kids film and one of the last before Huntz Hall's 'Glimpy' became the breakout comic relief. The series would eventually mutate into the even cheaper Bowery Boys franchise that ran until 1958.
The 'East Side Kids' were Hollywood's attempt to monetize Dead End's social realism without the actual social commentary—turning slum poverty into slapstick for Depression-weary audiences who wanted grit without the guilt.
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