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Little Tough Guys
The Little Tough Guys (later billed as 'The Dead End Kids and 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. History The urban drama ''Dead End'' became both a successful play and a hit movie, featuring six young actors playing streetwise guttersnipes: Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bobby Jordan, and Bernard Punsly. The troupe became known as The Dead End Kids and starred in a series of features for Warner Brothers. Little Tough Guys In 1938, Universal borrowed the Dead End Kids (except Gorcey and Jordan) for a juvenile-delinquency drama called ''Little Tough Guy''. Universal adopted this as a brand name, and turned the film into a series of 'Little Tough Guys' features. The studio filled out the cast with David Gorcey (Leo's younger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Comcast through the NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment division of NBCUniversal. Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle, Mark Dintenfass, Charles O. Baumann, Adam Kessel, Pat Powers, William Swanson, David Horsley, Robert H. Cochrane, and Jules Brulatour, Universal is the oldest surviving film studio in the United States; the world's fifth oldest after Gaumont, Pathé, Titanus, and Nordisk Film; and the oldest member of Hollywood's "Big Five" studios in terms of the overall film market. Its studios are located in Universal City, California, and its corporate offices are located in New York City. In 1962, the studio was acquired by MCA, which was re-launched as NBCUniversal in 2004. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Benedict
William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999), was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series. Early years Benedict was born in Haskell, Oklahoma, After his father's death when Billy was three years old, his mother supported him and his two sisters. He took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood. Career Benedict's first film was ''$10 Raise'' (1935) starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched the blond-haired young man on a busy career. He almost always played juvenile roles, such as newsboys, messengers, office boys, and farmhands. In 1939, when Universal Pictures began its Little Tough Guys series to compete with the popular Dead End Kids features, Billy Benedict was recruited into the cast. These films led him into the similar East Side Kids movies (usually playing a member of the East Side gang, but occasionally in villainous roles). The East Side Kids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Call A Messenger
''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. In terms of chronological order, this was released after the Dead End Kids film, ''The Angels Wash Their Faces''. Plot Jimmy Hogan and his gang are caught robbing a post office. Jimmy is given a choice to either go to reform school or work as a messenger boy for the post office as punishment. Jimmy decides to be a messenger boy, and soon drags his pals into the job. The kids eventually enjoy their jobs, especially when their new boss, Frances O'Neill, turns out to be quite attractive. After becoming friends with fellow messenger boy Bob Prichard, Jimmy decides to hook Bob up with his sister, Marge. He feels that Bob is a much better match for Marge then a local gangster who has been spending too much time with her. Pretty soon, Jimmy's brother Ed returns home from prison. At first, Jimmy i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Code Of The Streets
''Code of the Streets'' is a 1939 Universal Studios film starring '' The Little Tough Guys''. Plot Convicted on circumstantial evidence, Tommy Shay, a young product of the Front Street slums, is sentenced to die for the murder of police lieutenant Carson. When Denver Collins, Tommy's only alibi, mysteriously disappears, Tommy's younger brother Danny and his gang of alley kids ( The Little Tough Guys) determine to find a way to save Tommy from the electric chair. Lieutenant Lewis, Tommy's arresting officer, also believes that the boy is innocent and tries to get the case reopened. For his efforts, Lewis is demoted to patrolman, prompting his son Bob, a radio bug with an ambition to become a detective, to initiate his own investigation by which he hopes to find the real murderer and reinstate his father. While searching for Collins on Front Street, Bob meets Danny and after he fibs that his father is a gangster, the boys join forces to track down Carson's killer. Acting on a tip, Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsboys' Home
''Newsboys' Home'' is a 1938 crime film that starred Jackie Cooper and '' The Little Tough Guys''. Plot When his father, a small town sheriff, is slain by a big city gangster, "Rifle" Edwards becomes a homeless vagabond, drifting from town to town. Arriving broke and hungry in a large metropolis, he seeks food and shelter at the Newsboys' Home, where the kids force him to fight an amateur bout with the champ, Danny Shay, before he can eat. When Rifle knocks Danny out, the country boy is accepted into the gang of newsies. He goes to work selling the ''Globe'', which is published by Howard Price Dutton, the founder and benefactor of the home. When Dutton dies, his daughter Gwen becomes the new publisher. ''Globe'' reporter Perry Warner is in love with Gwen, but they quarrel over her ideas about turning the ''Globe'' into a highbrow paper. Perry warns Gwen that she will ruin the paper, but she is stubborn and refuses to listen. Meanwhile, Tom Davenport, a crooked politician, buys t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Tough Guys In Society
''Little Tough Guys in Society'' is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the ''Dead End Kids''. It was the second film that Universal made in their series and the first of three that they made without any of the original ''Dead End Kids''. Plot Mrs. Berry, a socialite, hires a psychiatrist to care for her son Randolph. He exhibits antisocial behavior and stays bedridden all day. The doctor determines that if he was exposed to other boys of a lesser social stature he will break out of his shell and resume his place in society. They contact a place in the city and hire six underprivileged kids to come out to the country to help out. The boys who arrive are not the boys who were originally hired, but a gang of misfits who are wanted for destroying a glass factory. They quickly help Randolph overcome his antisocial behavior and assist in capturing some thieves who broke into Mrs. Berry's residence while Randolph's birthday party was taking place. The boys are th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Abbott
Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in entertainment was as a vaudeville performer, including summers working the 'borscht circuit" in resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the early 1940s, he and Pat Costello (brother of Lou Costello) worked as stand-ins for the better-known act during filming of '' Who Done It?'' (1942). During World War II, Abbott served as a member of the original United States Navy SEALs team. After the war, Abbott became a dialog director on the Abbott and Costello films and was mentored by the team's director, Charles T. Barton. Abbott later directed episodes of ''The Jack Benny Program'', '' Leave It to Beaver'', ''Get Smart'', ''The Munsters'', ''Welcome Back, Kotter'', '' Dennis the Menace'', and '' Sanford and Son''. Abbott's ob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Benedict
William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999), was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series. Early years Benedict was born in Haskell, Oklahoma, After his father's death when Billy was three years old, his mother supported him and his two sisters. He took part in school theatricals, and on leaving school he made his way to Hollywood. Career Benedict's first film was ''$10 Raise'' (1935) starring Edward Everett Horton, which launched the blond-haired young man on a busy career. He almost always played juvenile roles, such as newsboys, messengers, office boys, and farmhands. In 1939, when Universal Pictures began its Little Tough Guys series to compete with the popular Dead End Kids features, Billy Benedict was recruited into the cast. These films led him into the similar East Side Kids movies (usually playing a member of the East Side gang, but occasionally in villainous roles). The East Side Kids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hally Chester
Hal E. Chester (born Harold Ribotsky; March 6, 1921 – March 25, 2012), was an American film producer, writer, director, and former juvenile actor. Early life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he was the youngest of seven children born to affluent Polish-Jewish immigrants; his father was a property developer. After the Wall Street Crash, he took up work as a magician's assistant to help the family finances. Originally credited as "Hally Chester" in theater productions (taking the surname of his step-mother), he appeared in the premiere production of ''Dead End'' by Sidney Kingsley on Broadway at the age of 14. Playing the part of Dippy, one of the gang of kids soon known as The Dead End Kids, he toured in this play for 22 weeks before accepting an offer to appear in the sequel to the film version ('' Crime School'' (1938) for Warner Bros), which had Humphrey Bogart cast in one of the leading roles. As a teen actor, his most regular work was with the '' Little ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Gorcey
David Gorcey (February 6, 1921 – October 23, 1984) was an American actor and the younger brother of actor Leo Gorcey. Gorcey is best known for portraying "Chuck Anderson" in Monogram Pictures' film series The Bowery Boys, and "Pee Wee" in its antecedent The East Side Kids. Life and career David Gorcey was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, the son of Josephine (née Condon) and Bernard Gorcey. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant and his mother was an Irish Catholic immigrant. and entered the entertainment business at a young age. He appeared in vaudeville during his childhood, and eventually made it to the stage and screen. When Gorcey was 10 years old, he was signed by the Vitaphone studio in New York to co-star in its Penrod and Sam series of short subjects, based on the Booth Tarkington stories. "Dave Gorcey" played Sam Williams opposite Billy Hayes as Penrod Schofield. He is not usually thought of as one of the "original" Dead End Kids, but he did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The East Side Kids
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys. History When Samuel Goldwyn turned the play '' Dead End'' into the 1937 film version, he recruited the original tough-talking kids from the play (Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly) to repeat their roles in the film. This led to the making of six other films starring The Dead End Kids. The most successful of these features were ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938) with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and ''They Made Me a Criminal'' (1939), starring John Garfield. Universal offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys brand name, later combining the Little Tough Guys cast members with the Dead End Kids (minus Gorcey) as the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys serie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure. The company's trademark is now owned by Allied Artists International. The original sprawling brick complex which functioned as home to both Monogram and Allied Artists remains at 4376 Sunset Drive, utilized as part of the Church of Scientology Media Center (formerly KCET's television facilities). History Monogram was created in the early 1930s from two earlier companies; W. Ray Johnston's Rayart Productions (renamed Raytone when sound pictures came in) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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