''Flying Wild'' (aka ''The East Side Kids in Flying Wild'' and ''Air Devils'') is a 1941 film directed by

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

under the pseudonym "William West" as the fifth installment of the

East Side Kids The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The B ...

series which eventually totaled 22 films. The film is the team's first one in the

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films) ...

genre.Pendo 1985, p. 20.

Plot

Pals Skinny, Danny Graham, Peewee, Algy Reynolds, and Scruno all work at the Reynolds Aviation Company, which is run by Algy's father. Muggs, however, is the only one of the kids who refuses to work, although he drives the gang to work in his

jalopy A decrepit car is a car that is often old and damaged and is in a barely functional state. There are many slang terms used to describe such cars, the more popular including junk car, beater, clunker, hooptie, jalopy, shitbox, junker, and bange ...

. Once at the aviation company, he spends his time flirting with a

flight nurse A flight nurse is a registered nurse who specialises in the field of providing comprehensive pre-hospital, emergency critical care, and hospital care to a vast scope of patients. The care of these patients is generally during aeromedical evacua ...

named Helen Munson who is in love with her test pilot boyfriend, Tom Lawson . One day, when Tom's aircraft crashes at the plant airstrip, Reynolds suspects that the crash may have been the work of saboteurs. Later, at the airfield, Muggs jokingly appoints himself as the new operator of the

flying ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

owned by Dr. Richard Nagel and gives his pals a tour of the aircraft. Their playful games are soon brought to a halt by Nagel, the secret leader of a spy ring, who angrily orders the group off his aircraft. Mr. Reynolds, certain that spies are working at the plant, asks Danny to act as a decoy so that the spies can be identified, and has him deliver to a downtown office a fake set of plans for a new

bombsight A bombsight is a device used by military aircraft to drop bombs accurately. Bombsights, a feature of combat aircraft since World War I, were first found on purpose-designed bomber aircraft and then moved to fighter-bombers and modern tactical ...

. As Reynolds predicted, Nagel's men ambush Danny on his way to the office, but the plan goes awry when the detectives sent to trail Danny lose him. Danny eventually turns up unharmed some time later. When Muggs reports to Reynolds his suspicions that Nagel is behind the espionage ring, Reynolds dismisses the accusation as a product of the boy's imagination. Not convinced by Reynolds that Nagel is innocent, Muggs and Danny begin their own investigation into Nagel, starting with a visit to the doctor on the pretext of a fake ailment. The visit turns up nothing, however, and when Danny and Muggs return to the hangar, a suspicious "accident" that was apparently meant to harm them leaves Peewee injured. While Peewee recovers at the hospital, Tom nearly loses his life when he is unable to make contact with the control tower for a landing. The controller is later found bound and gagged in the tower, prompting the kids to resume their investigation in earnest. Helen provides the gang with further clues when she confirms that the ambulance plane was being flown on many unusual trips to Mexico, supposedly to deliver patients. When Helen tells the East Side Kids that a man named Forbes is the next "patient" to be transported, they rush to his house, where they find secret plans hidden in his head bandage. Disguising Danny as the transportee, the kids send Danny and Muggs on the flight to learn who is behind the espionage ring. Danny and Muggs soon find themselves in trouble, however, when Nagel, having found Forbes locked in his closet, tries to warn the pilot of the boys' ruse. Meanwhile, Tom learns of the dangerous mission and goes after the flying ambulance in his own aircraft. Tom arrives in Mexico in time to save Danny and Muggs, and all the spies are arrested. Back at the plant, Reynolds rewards Muggs for his heroism by giving him a job as his driver, but his stint there is short-lived as he is soon distracted by a pretty woman and crashes the car with Reynolds in it.

Cast

The East Side Kids

Leo Gorcey Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey was ...

as Muggs McGinnis *

Bobby Jordan Robert G. Jordan (April 1, 1923 – September 10, 1965) was an American actor, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, and The Bowery Boys. Early life and career Jordan was born in Harrison, New York, At ...

as Danny Graham * Sunshine Sammy Morrison as Scruno *

David Gorcey David Gorcey (February 6, 1921 – October 23, 1984) was an American actor and the younger brother of actor Leo Gorcey. Gorcey is best known for portraying "Chuck Anderson" in Monogram Pictures' film series The Bowery Boys, and "Pee Wee" in i ...

as Peewee *

Donald Haines Donald Haines (May 9, 1919 – February 20, 1943) was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1930 to 1933. He appeared in ''Our Gang'' during the early sound days along with Nor ...

as Skinny * Eugene Francis as Algy Reynolds * Bobby Stone as Louie

Additional Cast

Joan Barclay Joan Barclay (born Mary Elizabeth Greear; August 31, 1914 – November 22, 2002) was an American film actress of the 1930s and 1940s, starring mostly in B-movies and cliffhangers, with her career starting during the silent film era. Biography ...

as Helen Munson * Dave O'Brien as Tom Lawson * George Pembroke as Dr. Richard Nagel III *

Herbert Rawlinson Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound f ...

as Mr. Reynolds * Dennis Moore as George *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from silents through talkies to the advent of color films. Early years Taylor was born in Bl ...

as Forbes *

Robert F. Hill Robert F. Hill (April 14, 1886 – March 18, 1966) was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Career Bob Hill began his screen career in 1915 at Universal Pictures. In those early days, members of film crews were sometimes c ...

as Woodward * Mary Bovard as Maisie (uncredited) *

George Eldredge George Edwin Eldredge (September 10, 1898 – March 12, 1977) was an American actor who appeared in over 180 movies during a career that stretched from the 1930s to the early 1960s. He also had a prolific television career during the 1950 ...

as Man * Alden "Stephen" Chase as Jack, Henchman (uncredited) *

Al Ferguson Al Ferguson (19 April 1888 – 4 December 1971) was an Irish-born American film actor. Born in County Wexford, Ireland, he appeared in nearly 300 films between 1912 and 1956. Billed as Smoke Ferguson, by 1912 he was making Westerns for Selig ...

as Henchman * Jack Kenny as Henchman *

Carey Loftin William Carey Loftin (January 31, 1914 – March 4, 1997, a.k.a. Cary Loftin, Carry Loftin, Carey Lofton, Gary Loftin, William Carey Loftin) was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is ...

as Henchman *

Bud Osborne Leonard Miles "Bud" Osborne (July 20, 1884 – February 2, 1964) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 600 films and television programs between 1912 and 1963. Biography Osborne was born Miles Osborne in Knox County, Texas, ...

as Henchman * Eddie Parker as Henchman * Dick Scott as Henchman

Production

Robert F. Hill who plays the role of Woodward, was director of the first

film. The

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of the film was ''Air Devils''. Production was slated from mid-January to February, 1941. The scene in which the car flips onto its side was not scripted;

was driving the car, and had made the turn too fast. The expressions on the gang's faces were one hundred percent real."Flying Wild".
''Internet Archive''. Retrieved: July 18, 2017. ''Flying Wild'' was last East Side Kids film for Eugene Francis. He was drafted for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

service shortly after completing this film.

Aircraft used

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place at the

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

airport. Aircraft in ''Flying Wild'' prominently featured a Ford 4-AT-35 Trimotoras a "Flying Ambulance". Other aircraft that are used included a Lockheed Vega 5C,

Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private ind ...

Bellanca Cruisair The Bellanca 14-7 Cruisair and its successors were a family of single-engined light aircraft manufactured in the United States from the mid-1930s onwards.Palmer 2001, p. 51. Design and development Bellanca established itself in the market for ...

Travel Air 6000 The Travel Air 6000 (later known as the Curtiss-Wright 6B when Travel Air was purchased by Curtiss-Wright) was a six-seat utility aircraft manufactured in the United States in the late 1920s. Design and development It was developed as a luxury ve ...

and

Harlow PJC-4 The Atlas H-10 was the prototype for a four-seat cabin monoplane aircraft, registered ''N37463'', designed by Max Harlow, which was flown in the United States shortly after World War II. History The Atlas H-10 had been constructed from the unfin ...

(in background).

Reception

Film critic

Theodore Strauss Theodore Strauss (December 27, 1912–October 30, 2009) was an American writer. Biography Strauss was born in Oklahoma on December 27, 1912."In memoriam". ''Writers Guild of America West Journal''. Vol. 14, Iss. 1. p. 56. Via Proquest. He worked ...

in his review of ''Flying Wild'', wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "The cycle of the Dead End Kids is slowing down. In fact, with 'Flying Wild', now at the Rialto, it has completely stalled. This time the talkative young toughs are out sleuthing for saboteurs in an airplane plant. Though the original group has been revised somewhat, they are still dropping the same hard-boiled gags with the same corner-of-the-mouth delivery and the plot harks back to some of the naïvetés of the nickelodeon era. 'Flying Wild' is downright tedious."

Re-release

''Flying Wild'' was re-released twice, once in 1949 by Favorite Films and again in 1952 by Savoy Films Corporation.Roughley, N
"Monogram Pictures Corporation Library."
''Monogram Pictures Corporation Library'', June 3, 2017. Retrieved: July 18, 2017.

Home media

Since ''Flying Wild'' is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, there have been several releases from various companies.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

*
IMDB page for ''Flying Wild''

IMPD for ''Flying Wild''
* {{Sam Katzman 1941 films 1941 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American aviation films American black-and-white films Monogram Pictures films American spy films Films produced by Sam Katzman East Side Kids 1940s English-language films 1940s American films