Come Out Fighting

After Officer McGowan chases them out of their clubhouse because neighbors are complaining about the noise, the East Side Kids find themselves with no place to train for the upcoming interborough boxing competition. To solve the problem, leader Muggs McGinnis takes the boys to see his girl friend Jane's father, police sergeant Tom Riley, the right-hand man to newly elected police commissioner James Mitchell. Gilbert Mitchell, the commissioner's son, overhears their conversation with Tom and, attracted to Jane, offers to discuss the problem with his father. After the sympathetic Mitchell agrees to straighten the matter out with McGowan, Gilbert invites Jane and the boys to watch him perform with his "club" that night. Much to Muggs's and the boys's dismay, the club turns out to be a dance company, and the show is a ballet. Later, Muggs, who is jealous of Jane's interest in Gilbert, invites the dancer to the gang's clubhouse, intending to humiliate him. Gilbert accepts, then heads for a party with Rita Joyce, a woman he met outside police headquarters. Unknown to Gilbert, Rita has been hired by racketeer "Silk" Henley to entrap him in order to discredit his father. Gilbert is given spiked drinks at the party, and the next day, wakes up with his first hangover. Concerned that his son has had too much "Park Avenue" in his upbringing, Mitchell drops by the East Side Kids's clubhouse to ask Muggs to befriend Gilbert. Muggs assures Mitchell that he will "take care of" Gilbert and plans a party for him. To Muggs's surprise, Gilbert not only monopolizes all the pretty girls at the party, but easily knocks out Danny Moore, their entry in the boxing tournament. Later, at one of Henley's high-class gambling houses, Rita teaches the naïve Gilbert a new "system" for playing the roulette wheel, encouraging him to double his bets every time he loses. Having learned a lesson from Gilbert, Muggs, meanwhile, takes the boys to watch a ballet company practice and then orders them to imitate the steps as part of their boxing training. Later, Muggs and club member Glimpy are hired to work with Muggs's father on a plumbing job at Little Pete Vargas' new gambling house. Vargas is Henley's main rival, and when Whitey, Henley's dismissed bodyguard, comes to see him about work, Vargas decides to use Whitey against Henley by having him report Henley's illegal activities to Mitchell. The next day, Muggs gets into a fight with Vargas' bodyguard and knocks him out. Impressed, Vargas hires Muggs as his chauffeur and takes him along to a meeting with Henley, who has just heard about Whitey's talk with Mitchell. Vargas denies Henley's accusation that he is "moving in on" his territory and gives him an invitation to his casino opening. Muggs and Glimpy spot Rita at Henley's, and that night, when they see her entering Vargas' casino with Gilbert, they sense trouble. Muggs and the gang break into Vargas' club just as the police, having been alerted by Henley, raid the place. Although the rest of the gang escapes, Muggs is arrested after sneaking Gilbert out. Because of his arrest, Muggs is barred from participating in the boxing tournament. Gilbert and Jane try to convince the depressed Muggs to reveal the truth, but Muggs insists that Gilbert's involvement with Rita must be kept a secret. Gilbert reluctantly agrees to remain silent and also agrees to replace Danny, whose hand was injured during the raid, in the tournament. The inexperienced Gilbert struggles through the first two rounds of the match, but after Muggs whispers to him to use his ballet moves, he scores an easy knockout. Later, Gilbert tells his father, who proudly watched his son in the ring, what happened at Vargas', and Mitchell publicly clears Muggs of all wrongdoing. Mitchell then declares Muggs a model citizen and presents the East Side Kids with a trophy.