EDITOR’S NOTE: Bowery Blitzkrieg was on USA Up All Night on September 21, 1990.
The East Side Kids were the scrappy, wise-cracking antidote to the polished studio system, and Bowery Blitzkrieg (released in the UK as Stand and Deliver) is a pivotal entry in that rough-and-tumble canon. Directed by Sam Katzman, this is the flick that officially brought Huntz Hall into the fold, cementing the lineup that would define the series for years to come.
The story is a classic bit of social-problem melodrama wrapped in a boxing gym aesthetic. In the Bowery, the cops are worried about the neighborhood boys sliding into a life of crime. On one side, you’ve got Danny Breslin (Bobby Jordan), a clean-cut boxer with a bright future in economics. On the other hand, there’s Muggs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey), the quintessential tough guy whose life is one long probation hearing.
The tension kicks off when Danny finds out Muggs has been bad-mouthing his sister, Mary (Charlotte Henry). A riot breaks out at Clancy’s Pool Hall — that’s Keye Luke, who did everything from Charlie Chan movies and playing Kato in the Green Hornet serials to showing up in Gremlins — leading to Muggs’s arrest. Enter Officer Tom Brady (Warren Hull, who played The Spider, Mandrake the Magician and the Green Hornet in serials), a guy who actually believes in these kids. He wants to reform Muggs through the discipline of the Golden Glove Tournament. But there’s a twist: Danny, disillusioned by his hatred of the police, rejects the gym and falls in with Monk Martin (Bobby Stone), a local thug who uses Danny as a getaway driver for a grocery store heist.
While Danny sinks deeper into crime, Muggs is actually making good. He heads to the Whitney Reform School, cleans up his act and moves in with Officer Brady. It causes a bit of domestic strife when Mary breaks up with Tom over the arrangement, but Muggs is too busy earning the neighborhood’s respect to notice. Monk tries to buy Muggs off with a $1,000 bribe to take a dive in the tournament, but the reformed juvenile delinquent tells him where to shove it.
The climax is pure melodrama: Monk frames Muggs for the bribery, Danny gets shot by the cops while fleeing a robbery, and Muggs saves his friend’s life by donating blood at the hospital. And then he boxes his match! Of course, it all works out, and Tom and Mary get back together.
The Dead End Kids in this are…
- Muggs McGinnis (Leo Gorcey) is the heart and soul of the series. If you don’t love Gorcey’s malapropisms and that legendary tough guy sneer, what are you doing?
- Limpy/Gimpy (Huntz Hall): As I wrote above, this film marks Hall’s debut in the series. He’d eventually settle into the role of Glimpy, a comedic sidekick who turned the East Side Kids from a drama troupe into a full-blown comedy powerhouse. It’s worth noting that at the time of this filming, Huntz Hall was actually double-dipping, working for both Universal’s Little Tough Guys series and Monogram’s East Side Kids.
- Danny Breslin (Bobby Jordan): One of the original Dead End Kids, Jordan always brought a bit more emotional weight to these films, playing the conflicted kid caught between the law and the streets
. - Scruno (Ernie “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison): A veteran performer who transitioned from the Our Gang comedies to bring some genuine charm to the East Side crew. He’s the lone black actor in these movies.
- Skinny (Donald Haines): He was also in the Our Gang films as Donald, Speck or Toughie. Haines also played comic strip character Smitty in a series of movies. He died a hero, shot down by Erwin Rommel’s forces during the Battle of Kasserine Pass in Tunisia.
- Peewee (Donald Gorcy): The brother of Leo, he adopted the name David Condon in 1952, taking his mother’s maiden name to avoid any accusations of nepotism.
The boxing coach was played by Pat Costello, a stunt double and brother of comedian Lou Costello, as well as a saxophonist who had his own orchestra.
You know how people talk about superhero fatigue? They made 22 East Side Kids movies in five years, as well as eight Dead End Kids installments and 15 Little Tough Guys movies, sometimes crossing them over with the Dead End Kids. I haven’t even gotten into the 48 Bowery Boys movies, which followed these and were made from 1946 to 1958.
The on-screen chemistry of the East Side Kids was legendary, the reality behind the camera was different.
While David Gorcey was widely regarded as the most pleasant and professional member of the crew, a stark contrast to his brother Leo, whose behavior was frequently characterized as argumentative and abusive.
The relationship between the brothers hit the point of no return in 1956, after the death of their father. When David visited Leo’s home to offer condolences, he found his brother in a drunken, violent rage. Leo reportedly threatened David with a gun. The younger brother left the premises immediately, ending his relationship with Leo and remaining estranged for years.
In a powerful twist of fate, David left the volatile world of Hollywood, eventually becoming a minister known as Father David. He dedicated his later years to helping those in need, founding a halfway house specifically designed to support recovering alcoholics and individuals struggling with substance abuse.
You can watch this on Tubi.
