Little Tough Guy
| Little Tough Guy | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Re-Release Poster | |
| Directed by | Harold Young |
| Produced by | Ken Goldsmith |
| Written by |
Gilson Brown Brenda Weisberg (story) |
| Starring | Little Tough Guys |
| Music by | Charles Henderson |
| Cinematography | Elwood Bredell |
| Edited by | Philip Cahn |
Production company |
Universal Pictures |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Little Tough Guy is a 1938 crime film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. Although re-release posters and the DVD release credit them as The Dead End Kids they did not go by that title in the on screen credits. It was in the follow-up films that they began using the team name The Little Tough Guys, and later The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys. This was the first of several films and serials that Universal made using several of the Kids, whom they borrowed from Warner Bros.
Plot
Johnny Boylan's (Billy Halop) father was sentenced to death for a crime that he was never fully proven to have committed. He and his family move to a poorer section of the East Side in New York City. His sister, Kay (Helen Parrish) resorts to dancing in a burlesque theater after she is fired from her job. Her former fiance, Paul Wilson (Robert Wilcox), still cares for her and wants to help her, but she avoids him because of the shame she is feeling.
Johnny tries to enlist his fellow newsboy friends to help prove his father's innocence. They try to convince the judge, but are unsuccessful. In frustration, Johnny tosses a brick through the judge's car window, which begins his life of crime. He enlists his friend Pig (Huntz Hall) to help him rob a drugstore. They are subsequently chased by the police and hide out. However, the cops find them and Pig begs Johnny to surrender. Eventually Pig leaves the store and is shot and killed by the police. Johnny is captured and sent to reform school.
Cast
The Dead End Kids
- Billy Halop as Johnny Boylan
- Huntz Hall as 'Pig'
- Gabriel Dell as String
- Bernard Punsly as Ape
- David Gorcey as Sniper
- Hally Chester as Dopey
Additional cast
- Robert Wilcox as Paul Wilson
- Helen Parrish as Kay Boylan
- Marjorie Main as Mrs. Boylan
- Jackie Searl as Cyril Gerrard
- Peggy Stewart as Rita Belle
- Helen MacKellar as Mrs. Wanamaker
- Edward Pawley as Jim Boylan (credited as Ed Pawley)
- Olin Howland as Baxter
- Pat C. Flick as Peddler
Home media
The film was released on DVD on July 22, 2003.
References
External links
- Little Tough Guy at the Internet Movie Database
- Little Tough Guy is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- Little Tough Guy complete film on YouTube (Classics movie online)
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