Little Tough Guy (1938)

Good movie but grossly overrated

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The first entry for the Dead End Kids & Little Tough Guys series for Universal from 1938. Made between "Crime School" & "Angels With Dirty Faces". This series also overlapped the popular East Side Kids series for Monogram. Their last entry for Universal was "Keep 'Em Slugging" in 1943 with Bobby Jordan replacing Billy Halop as the gang leader. "Little Tough Guy" stands out in seeing Huntz Hall as a real tough guy & gang leader instead of playing his usual dumbbell clown role. I just wish he would've done it more often because he was good at it & it also worked better with a more serious Huntz Hall matched against Billy Halop but in the subsequent entries he's back to being goofy again & it doesn't work as well with Halop as it does with Leo Gorcey. Although he was a bit serious & dramatic in the 3 serials.I have the entire Universal Little Tough Guys DVD box set from "Little Tough Guys In Society" (1938) & "Call A Messenger" (1939) to "Mob Town" (1941). I've watched all these films & it's probably their rarest & least known series but it's still good & entertaining. Some of the films like "Give Us Wings" (1941) feature all the original Dead End Kids, all except Leo Gorcey. Too bad Leo Gorcey wasn't in any of these films because it might've worked better than it did & maybe the films would've been more memorable. In the original Dead End Kids I always enjoyed the confrontations between Leo Gorcey & Billy Halop. Too bad they couldn't work together anymore after Warner Bros dropped them.

This is an early "Dead End Kids" movie - actually the second one after their impressive debut in "Dead End". Billy Halop seemed to be earmarked for juvenille stardom. In this film he went all stops out in a couple of big emotional scenes. After an impressive start and a good role as Flashman in the prestigious "Tom Brown's Schooldays", it was back to the Bowery and roles in such "memorable" films as "You're Not So Tough" (1940), "Mob Town" (1941) and "Mug Town" (1942). I agree "Little Tough Guy" was one of the better ones and they were surrounded by solid talent, including two former child actors. Helen Parrish, although often uncredited, had parts in films such as "The Big Trail" (1930), "Cimarron" (1931) and "The Public Enemy" (1931). She did better later on with parts in some Deanna Durbin films ("Mad About Music" (1938), "First Love" (1939), "It Started With Eve" (1941)). Jackie Searl, while never a top child star, was an amazing scene stealer who did team up with Mitzi Green in some funny films from the early 30s ("Skippy" (1931), "Finn and Hattie" (1931), "Newly Rich" (1931)). He actually joined the "little tough guys" for a couple of films but by the 40s his career petered out.Johnny (Billy Halop) is head of the neighbourhood gang - but his sister Kay, (Helen Parrish) is worried about his truancy. She is the chief breadwinner of the family - her father is on strike and her mother (Marjorie Main) is worn down by defeat and drudgery. Paul (Robert Wilcox) wants to marry Kay but she feels too obligated to her family.When her father is hurt trying to help a friend on the picket line - the police come to arrest him for murder.The trial ostracises the family, Johnny loses his friends (Rita Belle (Peggy Stewart) is the only one who stands by him),Kay loses her job and the family finally lose their home.In his new neighbourhood Johnny meets a new set of friends - "the dead end kids" - and is determined to find a job and help his dad. His first job (as a paper boy) finishes in a fight and hard won respect from the gang. Kay, meanwhile, gets a job in a burlesque show (a less likely looking burlesque performer than Kay you never saw!!). Paul visits her and is appalled at the family's deterioration. The gang crashes an "Onward and Upward" meeting and meet Cyril (Jackie Searl, playing a character that is true to his form). He is the leagues shining star but he finds the gang is more to his liking - he wines and dines them and even shows them his palatial home. Johnny finds out that his father's appeal has been denied and goes to see the Judge. In the heat of anger he throws a rock at the Judge's car and finds himself in juvenile detention. Cyril organises a plan for Johnny to escape. He is the real brains behind the gang and falls in with them because he is bored and wants to find out what makes them tick. He encourages them to commit a string of robberies (they are very happy to oblige). When there is a division in the ranks Cyril goes to the police with his side of the story, hoping that his wealth and connections keep him out of it. Unfortunately for him the police want him too!!!This is definitely a dramatic, even melodramatic film at times - not at all the way the series ended up, as just a laugh fest. Robert Wilcox, as Paul, the romantic partner of Kay, did seem to have a promising career in the late 30s but he is remembered more for being the husband of Diana Barrymore and the inspiration of her book "Too Much, Too Soon".Recommended.

I have seen this movie and found it to be somewhat entertaining. It is one of only two movies in which the former Broadway star and (later) radio star (Big Town), Edward Pawley, plays the good guy! He plays the role of "Jim Boylan", father of "Johnny Boylan" (Billy Halop). Mr. Pawley usually played villainous roles in his more than 50 movies during a 10-year stint in Hollywood. One other exception was in the movie "Hoosier Schoolboy" in which he played the role of Captain Carter (Mickey Rooney's father)who was also a war hero with a drinking problem. Edward Pawley was probably best known in movies for his role as Danny Leggett (aka, Public Enemy Number One) in the James Cagney vehicle, "G-MEN." He also had feature roles in movies such as "The Oklahoma Kid" in which he played Humphrey Bogart's partner (Ace Doolin), "Romance of the Limberlost" in which he played Jean Parker's suitor (Jed Corson), Thirteen Women in which he played "Burns", Myrna Loy's accomplice in crime, "Romance On The Range" in which he played Roy Rogers' ranch boss and covert outlaw (Jerome Banning), et cetera, et cetera.

**SPOILERS** The year is 1938. The Great Depression has waned, but prosperity is not yet in America, and certainly not New York's Lower East Side. A man breaks a picket line in order to feed his family. A fight ensues and the man kills another. What follows is Johnny, the young son's (Billy Halop, in the melodramatic role of a lifetime), believable descent from fiery kid to fiery thug. Huntz Hall plays the leader of a group of toughs (Dead End Kids) until Johnny comes along and slugs a few new thoughts into everyone's head. The 1930's jargon doesn't take anything away from realism, mainly because it IS real. There are some plot vehicles which seem improbable: the Long Island rich boy plotting a petty-crime ring, for example. But as the film races along, it all fits well. Plenty of pathos, and a finale that will tug your heart. I liked this as well as or better than "Little Caesar."