That Gang of Mine

The East Side Kids go to the races in That Gang of Mine (1940), one of a series of movies starring the sharp-tongued and street-wise youth. In this early installment of the East Side Kids, Muggs Maloney (Leo Gorcey) wants to be a horse jockey despite the ribbing of his friends -- and his secret fear of speed. An elderly stablehand Ben (Clarence Muse) agrees to train Muggs for a race on the condition that he and his friends pay the entry fee for the thoroughbred. A wealthy patron enters the picture and tells the trainer that he will finance the horse's entry as long as Muggs is not the rider. In revenge, Muggs tries to sabotage the new rider (earning the movies' advertising line "A riot at the races") but soon sees the error of his ways. On the heels of the Dead End Kids movies of the late 1930s and running concurrent with other versions (the Bowery Boys would come later), the East Side Kids incarnation usually dealt with the street urchins' comedic conflict with society and neighborhood crime. After more than a dozen films, the last East Side Kids movie was released in 1945. The roots of the original series began with the Broadway play Dead End in 1935. The kid actors on stage were hired for the movie version with Humphrey Bogart and then were launched into serials of their own. Many of the usual characters across the series appear in That Gang of Mine: Leo Gorcey as Muggs Maloney, his brother David Gorcey as Peewee, Bobby Jordan as Danny Dolan, "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison as Scruno, and Dave O'Brien -- who would win an Emmy decades later for writing for Red Skelton -- as Knuckles Dolan. A notable absence in this movie is Huntz Hall, one of the most popular performers of all the series. Despite the usual low budget for these films, director Joseph H. Lewis was able to capture some heart-thumping horse-racing action in That Gang of Mine. A veteran of numerous B-Westerns for Universal, Lewis was nicknamed "Wagon Wheel Joe" early in his career, supposedly for his tendency to frame shots through the spokes of a wagon wheel. Lewis later returned to horse territory as he became popular as a television director of Western shows, helming many episodes of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and The Big Valley. The majority of the child and teen stars of That Gang of Mine and the related serials could not match their early success and either abandoned their Hollywood careers or were reduced to playing bit parts in TV shows and movies as they got older. But in the early 90's, the Dead End Kids received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the surviving cast members of That Gang of Mine and their family members on hand. Producer: Sam Katzman, Pete Mayer Director: Joseph H. Lewis Screenplay: William Lively, Alan Whitman (story) Cinematography: Robert E. Cline, Harvey Gould Film Editing: Carl Pierson Art Direction: Fred Preble Cast: Bobby Jordan (Danny Dolan), Leo Gorcey (Muggs Maloney), Clarence Muse (Ben), Dave O'Brien (Knuckles Dolan), Joyce Bryant (Louise), Ernest Morrison (Scruno). BW-62m. by Amy Cox