Hally Chester Movies
This 12-chapter Universal serial is one of several that Universal made featuring the Dead End Kids (also known as The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys). In this entry, the Dead End Kids go after a Nazi gang that operates a ship called the "Sea Raider" that has been sinking Allied shipping. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1941
German director Joe May was light-years removed from his glory days at UFA when he helmed the "Little Tough Guys" entry Hit the Road. This time, the youthful protagonists-Tom (Billy Halop), Pig (Huntz Hall), String (Gabe Dell) and Ape (Bernard Punsley)-are all the orphaned sons of gangsters who'd been murdered by mob boss Spike (Edward Pawley). "Graduating" from reform school, the boys show every sign of follwing in their parents' footseps, so they're paroled in the custody of kindhearted reformed gangster Jimmy Ryan (Barton MacLaine). Taking the kids to his cattle farm, Ryan gives them more than enough chores and responsiblities to keep them out of trouble, and before long the boys have cleaned up their act-but not without a bit of strong-arm persuasion from Ryan's tough-talking wife Molly (Gladys George). When Spike and his mob try to steal the $50,000 which the Ryans have saved to build a Boys' Town-like school for wayward youths, the Little Tough Guys rally to the defense of their benefactors, throwing punches and wisecracks with reckless abandon. The most pleasant aspect of Hit the Road is the presence of charming leading lady Evelyn Ankers (who later recalled having to fend off the amorous advances of teenaged Huntz Hall by deploying a well-aimed knee!); the least pleasant is the lachrymose performance of child actor Bobs Watson, who never spoke when crying would do. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gladys George, Barton MacLane, (more)
- 1941
This wildly uneven "Dead End Kids/Little Tough Guys" entry focuses on young Tom Barker (Billy Halop), whose older brother Eddie ended up in the electric chair. Idolizing Eddie's memory, Tom and his buddies are also fascinated with Eddie's former partner, gangster Monk Bangor (Paul Fix). Police officer Frank Conroy (Dick Foran) tries to steer the kids away from a life of crime by setting up a neighborhood recreational center, but while he's able to interest Pig (Huntz Hall), Ape (Bernard Punsley) and String (Gabe Dell) in the project, Tom remains determined to follow in his brother's footsteps-even more so when he discovers that Sgt. Conroy was responsible for Eddie's arrest. Eventually, Tom realizes that his true enemy is the double-crossing Monk Bangor, prompting an instantaneous reformation. Versatile juvenile performer Darryl Hickman adds a bit of class to the proceedings as a pugnacious little Dead-Ender named Butch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1940
In this entry in the long running saga of the "Dead End Kids," the East Side boys leave the Big Apple and go to California to seek their fortunes. They'd rather not have to work for their money, but end up working on the ranch of an aged Italian woman who treats her employees kindly (unlike other farmers of the era, who often treated their migrant workers worse than animals). Her son disappeared as a baby and one of the boy's decides to convince her that he is the long lost child in hopes of getting an inheritance. After a while, he is so moved by her kindness that he changes his mind and tries to help her for real when the truckers team up with a union to keep her harvest from reaching the market. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nan Grey, Billy Halop, (more)
Police detective Pat O'Day (Leon Ames) involves himself with a gang of slum kids led by Dutch Kuhn (Hally Chester) and Danny Dolan (Harris Berger). He tries to keep them from getting into trouble and to help out Danny, whose brother, Knuckles Dolan (Dave "Tex" O'Brien), is about to be executed for a murder allegedly committed as part of his involvement in a counterfeiting ring. O'Day knows Knuckles, having tried to keep him on the right side of the law, and knows that he couldn't have done the shooting, regardless of the circumstantial evidence, because Knuckles resolutely refused to carry a gun -- the real killer is the gang leader, Mileaway (Dennis Moore), a smooth-talker who earned his nickname through his knack for always being "a mile away" whenever a crime is committed by his gang. O'Day not only wants to catch Mileaway, but tries to keep the teenagers from falling in with the hood. When the detective starts to get too close, Mileaway sets him up for a brutality charge using crooked shop owner Schmidt, and gets O'Day busted back to uniformed patrolman. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Ames, Dennis Moore, (more)
- 1940
The Dead End Kids fight alongside the government to find a famed scientist who has been abducted by wartime traitors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
In their second Monogram caper, Knuckles (Dave O'Brien) and the East Side Kids (Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Sunshine Sammy Morrison, et al.) are on their way to camp in the Adirondacks when they offer a lift to Judge Parker (Forrest Taylor) and his ward Louise (Inna Gest), who are having car trouble. Much to the boys' derision, the judge is the very same who wrongly convicted Knuckles in the previous film. And if that isn't enough, the learned jurist's secluded mansion proves to be in the haunted house category complete with sliding panels, hidden passageways, and a deranged housekeeper (Minerva Urecal). When the judge is found murdered and his ward missing, henchmen Giles (Denny Moore) and Simp (Vince Barnett) naturally accuse Knuckles, who has a motive but no alibi. In their bumbling search for the judge's missing ward, the boys stumble across a prowling detective (Alden Chase), however, and the real culprit is soon unmasked to be none other than -- well, suffice it to say, the killer is the least likely candidate, the East Side Kids, Louise, and Knuckles not included. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, (more)
- 1939
Call a Messenger is the second entry in Universal's "Dead End Kids/Little Tough Guys" series. In this one, the Little Tough Guys (Hally Chester, Harris Berger, David Gorcey) cede most of the screen time to Dead Enders Billy Halop (as Jimmy Hogan) and Huntz Hall (as Pig). When he and his pals are caught robbing their local branch of the Postal Union, Jimmy valiantly takes the blame for his friends' action. Given a choice between going to reform school and taking an honest job as a messenger boy, Jimmy opts for the latter-and before long, all of his buddies are wearing messenger uniforms. With the help of his Postal Union confreres, Jimmy manages to thwart the criminal activities of his ex-con brother Ed (Victor Jory) and Ed's gangster partner Chuck Walsh (Larry "Buster" Crabbe). Billy Benedict makes his first appearance as a Dead End Kid/East Side Kid/Bowery Boy in Call a Messenger, while comedy relief is provided by veteran funster El Brendel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, (more)
- 1939
The "Little Tough Guys" get involved in a circulation war between a paper with underhanded tactics and a paper being mismanaged by the woman who inherited it. The Tough Guys' leader is partial to the latter, since it took him in when his sheriff father was murdered. He helps draw readers away from the other paper and gets to avenge his father's death, since the man playing dirty is his father's killer. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1939
Universal's Code of the Streets stars the Little Tough Guys, an offshoot of Warner Bros.' Dead End Kids. This time Frankie Thomas plays Bob Lewis, leader of a gang consisting of Sailor (Harris Berger), Murph (Hally Chester), Monk (Charles Duncan), Trouble (Billy Benedict) and Yap (David Gorcey). The son of disgraced police officer Lt. Lewis (Harry Carey), Bob vows to clear his dad's name, and also to prove that accused murderer Tommy Shay (Paul Fix) is innocent. With the help of Tommy's brother Danny (James McCallion), the kids track down and trap the real culprits, who in addition to their other crimes had been responsible for Lt. Lewis' demotion. The nominal leading lady in Code of the Streets is Juanita Quigley, who during her child star days was billed as Baby Jane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Frankie Thomas, (more)
- 1939
Following up their successful film Love Affair, Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne team up again for the romantic melodrama When Tomorrow Comes, based on a story by James M. Cain. Philip (Boyer) is a concert pianist who stops into a restaurant for lunch and meets waitress Helen Lawrence (Dunne). He follows her to a rally where she is planning a strike. The two fall in love despite the fact that Philip is married to Madeline (Barbara O'Neil), who suffers from psychotic spells after a miscarriage has brought her to madness. Helen goes on strike and Philip wants to take her to Long Island on his sailboat, but they are stranded by a hurricane. Taking refuge in a destroyed church, Helen learns about his wife and is forced to make a difficult decision. When Tomorrow Comes won an Academy award in 1939 for Best Sound, mostly due to the novel hurricane scene. This is one of three films by director John M. Stahl to be remade by Douglas Sirk in the late '50s and early '60s. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, (more)
The first of the "splinter" groups to emerge from the Dead End Kids was the Little Tough Guys, consisting of veteran Dead-Enders Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly and David Gorcey (Hally Chester and Billy Benedict would also appear in this new grouping from time to time). Though most of the "Little Tough Guy" vehicles were played for laugh, the initial entry was not. When labor activist Jim Boylan (Edward Pawley) is executed for a murder he didn't commit, his son Johnny (Billy Halop) decides to become a crook. He and his pals Pig (Huntz Hall), String (Gabe Dell), Sniper (David Gorcey) and Dopey (Hally Chester), embark upon a crime spree, aided and abetted by thrill-seeking rich kid Cyril (Jackie Searl), who happens to be the son of the district attorney. While committing a robbery orchestrated by Cyril, Johnny and Pig are trapped by the police. Pig makes a break for it, only to be killed in a hail of bullets. This startling turn of events convinces Johnny to mend his ways, but not before an obligatory stretch in reform school with his fellow Little Tough Guys-including Cyril! Beyond the spectacle of Huntz Hall dying in agony, Little Tough Guy offers very little that is new and innovational: still, the film made money, prompting a whole series of "Little Tough Guy" quickies from the Universal assembly line. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Halop, Helen Parrish, (more)
- 1938
In this socially conscious drama a sextet of juvenile delinquents flee a crime screen in their seedy ghetto and wind up getting invited to a posh mansion by a wealthy criminal. Their attempts to accustom themselves to the opulent surroundings nearly results in the destruction of the manse. Eventually they boys decide that they must return to the city and pay for their crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mischa Auer, Mary Boland, (more)
- 1938
This entry in the Dead End Kids series of adventures makes critical comments about the failings of reform schools. The story begins as the boys are sent to the Gatesville Reformatory, a cruel institution where the discipline is often violent. They boys do their best, but it is difficult to cope. Things get a little better when the deputy commissioner of corrections makes a surprise visit to the institution. He is appalled and immediately fires the sadistic warden. He then begins instituting gentler ways of treating the inmates. The grateful youths save the new warden's life after he is machine gunned during a political double-cross. As a reward, the boys are paroled. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, (more)
- 1938
Rising star Rita Hayworth puts in a little box-office duty in the Columbia "B" Juvenile Court. The star of the proceedings is Paul Kelly as crusading public defender Gary Franklin, who hopes to establish a Police Athletic League to give street kids a new chance in life. His toughest charge is Stubby (Frankie Darro), a born leader with potential for either the White House or the Electric Chair. Once he's won over Stubby, Franklin is able to get the rest of the neighborhood kids to attend his new athletic outfit. The far- reaching influence of Franklin's pet project is proven when a group of young punks change their minds about committing a robbery. As Franklin's girl friend Marcia Kelly, Rita Hayworth has virtually nothing to do but stand around and look pretty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Kelly, Rita Hayworth, (more)
