Comedy

Pride of the Bowery (1940) EXT (SiRiUs sHaRe)

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Pride of the Bowery (1940)

Danny, managing boxer Mugs, books him into a Civilian Conservation Corps camp for training. Mugs' arrogant manner soon alienates him from the other boys. When one boy, Willie, announces that he needs money for his ill mother, Mugs enters a boxing tournament in town. When Mugs loses, the boy resorts to robbing the camp safe. Mugs is accused, but Danny clears him by capturing Willie.

Leo Gorcey ... Muggs Maloney
Bobby Jordan ... Danny
Kenneth Howell ... Allen
Mary Ainslee ... Elaine White
Bobby Stone ... Willie
Donald Haines ... Skinny
David Gorcey ... Peewee
Ernest Morrison ... Scruno (as Sunshine Sammy Morrison)
Kenneth Harlan ... Captain Jim White
Nick Stuart ... Thumb Butte Ranger
Lloyd Ingraham ... Camp Doctor

Director: Joseph H. Lewis

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034064/

Codecs: DivX / MP3

Joseph H. Lewis, who went on to become one of the leading directors of B movies in the 40s and 50s, here directed Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and the East Side Kids as they head for the country as members of FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps. The story is a pot-boiler about bad-boy Gorcey's reformation, which takes place more in the boxing ring than in the work camp. The boxing scenes are pretty weak, but the rapid editing and a long tracking shot suggest Lewis's later stylishness. Not that much of a movie, but a reasonably diverting way to spend 61 minutes.

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One of the earlier features in the 'East Side Kids' series, "Pride of the Bowery" has the usual solid combination of youthful antics, rivalries, and action, with a few more serious moments along the way. Like a number of the features, it can be interesting to take note of the ways that the characters and the overall approach were developing.

The setup has Leo Gorcey as Muggs letting Danny (Bobby Jordan) trick him into entering a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, to get in shape. The story that follows has Muggs in a running battle of words with the camp captain, in a running battle of fists with another camper, and getting involved in trying to help a desperate pal. Much of the plot is predictable, at least for anyone familiar with the series, but there are some good sequences.

As this was still relatively early in the 'East Side Kids' series, the camaraderie among the gang members is still developing, and Muggs is really the only character with more than one side to him. It's interesting that, contrary to what is often the convention in movies about such characters, he makes quite a few mistakes and is at times pretty unlikable and small-minded, which tends to make him also a little more believable.

It can also be interesting to watch the various movies in the series to see how the group of generally sympathetic roughnecks is viewed by the adult characters. Here the script calls for the captain to make repeated statements to the effect that 'Muggs is a good kid who just needs a lot of discipline', probably to make sure that viewers don't take all of his behavior as a model to follow. As the series progressed, this kind of commentary became less commonplace, and the characters more often spoke for themselves.

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It seems that as of late, I've gotten a sick addiction to the Bowery Boys. I'm actually starting to look FORWARD to seeing their movies. Although the movies don't really change from movie to movie (Leo Gorcy always begins tough but softens by the end, Huntz Hall is there to screech at Gorcy, and Bobby Jordan, the best looking one (he's a real hottie actually) is always there to neutralize everything. For some dumbass reason, and maybe I'm not the only one thinking this, I'm starting to detect a rather subtle homoerotic undertone to their movies too. That would be a real cool subject to study.

Anyways, on to the movie! In Pride Of The Bowery, for some odd reason, Huntz Hall is missing, not for the plot of the movie, just nada, he's not in the movie at all. It's just Gorcy and Jordan, plus a bunch of kids I didn't recognize. Anyways, Gorcy is training to be a boxer. And the gang decide the way to make some money is to go to a work camp. (smart move). Of course Gorcy is butting heads almost immediately with authority figures in the camp, and of course the obligatory boxing match between Gorcy and one of the authority figures there (who, coincidentally, is quite good looking) doesn't solve anything. But soon, yes, Gorcy's heart melts for a down-in-his-luck bunkmate's tale of woe about his Mom and how she needs money for something. So Gorcy agrees to fight for cash down at the stadium, and soon there's a goyle that wanders into the picture too.

So once again, hyper male-dominated situations, curious shirtless scenes (nearly all the Bowery Boys films has them) and suggestive dialogue.

Yeah, something is not quite right in Bowreyville…

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