King of the Newsboys
Cast & Crew
Bernard Vorhaus
Lew Ayres
Helen Mack
Alison Skipworth
Victor Varconi
Sheila Bromley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Jerry Flynn, a carefree "Death Avenue Cowboy" who rides a horse in front of the trains running along Eleventh Avenue in New York City, promises his ambitious girlfriend, Mary Ellen Stevens, that he will work hard to get them out of the slums. Mary is disillusioned by Jerry's lack of drive, however, and begins to see wealthy Wire Arno, a crooked gambler who publishes a tip sheet on horseracing. Jerry is angered by Mary's lack of faith in him, and after he punches a passing policeman in the face, the judge he is brought before instructs him to get a job selling newspapers. Jerry's charisma makes him a natural salesman, and soon he, his friend Lockjaw and their gang have a booming distribution business. Jerry buys a wristwatch for Mary Ellen, but when he tries to present it to her, she informs him that she has found a way out of the slums via Arno, with whom she is leaving that night. Embittered by Mary Ellen's betrayal, Jerry works even harder, and after successfully selling his idea about how to increase circulation to the editor of the Evening Gazette , he becomes a wealthy and powerful businessman. While he spends his money on a penthouse and parties, his beloved foster mother Nora warns him to not get a swelled head. After nearly a year, Jerry and Mary Ellen meet again and quickly confess that they still love each other. Jerry cannot forget or forgive her involvement with Arno, however, and sends her away. Determined to show up Arno, Jerry starts his own racing tip sheet and is soon in serious competition with the angry gangster. During a raid on the racetrack to gather information, Jerry meets socialite Connie Madison, whose father owns a prestigious stable of horses. Jerry becomes enamoured of Connie, who is merely toying with him for her own amusement, and neglects his business while he courts her. Lockjaw warns Jerry that he is in danger of losing everything, but Jerry's only concern is for Connie. He is crushed when she refuses to marry him, but soon she is forced to come to him for help when Arno takes over her father's stables and threatens to ruin him. Lockjaw, who has told Nora and Mary Ellen that Jerry has lost his business to Arno, arrives at Jerry's penthouse with the two women and they listen to Connie's tale. Mary Ellen hysterically begs Connie to care for Jerry as she did not, and rushes off to find Arno at a nightclub. She threatens him with a gun and tells him that she is going to kill him and then herself, so that neither of them can do any more damage. Jerry arrives just in time, and after burning Arno's deed to the Madison stables, knocks him out and stops Mary Ellen from running away. He declares his love for her and vows to start over as a newsboy now that the danger from Arno has past. She then tearfully agrees to marry him, and the reunited couple dance.
Director
Bernard Vorhaus
Cast
Lew Ayres
Helen Mack
Alison Skipworth
Victor Varconi
Sheila Bromley
Alice White
Horace Macmahon
William Benedict
Victor Ray Cooke
Jack Pennick
Mary Kornman
Gloria Rich
Oscar O'shea
Marjorie Main
Crew
George Blair
Alberto Colombo
John Victor Mackay
Jack Marta
Horace Mccoy
Jack Natteford
Ernest Nims
Samuel Ornitz
Irene Saltern
Murray Seldeen
Peggy Thompson
Bernard Vorhaus
Louis Weitzenkorn
Al Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Sidewalks of New York. A Hollywood Reporter news item noted that European actor Erno Verebes was slated to appear in the film (presumably as "Jerry Flynn"), but Republic "decided to use better known names." According to other Hollywood Reporter news items, this was Bernard Vorhaus' first directing and producing assignment for Republic. Hollywood Reporter production charts include Louis Natheaux, Emmett Bogan and Inez Palange in the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Although all written contemporary sources call Victor Varconi's character "Wire Arnold," in the film he is called "Wire Arno."
