''Gangster's Boy'' is a 1938 American film directed by

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'', ...

. It stars

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor, television director, producer, and executive, known universally as Jackie Cooper. He was a child actor who made the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first ...

in his second film for Monogram Pictures. The film was positively received, and has been released on DVD.

Plot

High school student Larry Kelly's father Tim used to be a gangster. Despite being treated badly by his friends, Kelly takes sides with his father when people try to force him to leave the town. Kelly's girlfriend and her brother Bill Davis continue to be around Kelly even though it makes their fathers unhappy. After a car accident in which Bill was the driver, Kelly takes the blame for the accident and is taken to jail for drunk driving. Judge Davis and Kelly's father are opponents on proving Larry Kelly as guilty or innocent.

Cast

as Larry Kelly *

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien, October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

as Tim 'Knuckles' Kelly * Lucy Gilman as Julie Davis *

Louise Lorimer Louise Lorimer (born Louise Knapp Pinkham, July 14, 1898 – August 12, 1995) was an American actress who played character roles on Broadway, in films, and on television in a career lasting over six decades. Life and career Born Louise Knapp Pi ...

as Molly Kelly * Tommy Wonder as Bill Davis *

Selmer Jackson Selmer Adolf Jackson (May 7, 1888 – March 30, 1971) was an American stage film and television actor. He appeared in nearly 400 films between 1921 and 1963. His name was sometimes spelled Selmar Jackson. Jackson was born in Lake Mills, Iowa an ...

as Judge Roger Davis *

Betty Blythe Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter; September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 t ...

as Mrs. Davis *

Huntley Gordon Huntley Ashworth Gordon (October 8, 1879 – December 7, 1956) was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era. Profile Gordon was born in Montreal, Quebec, educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including w ...

as Principal Benson * Herbert Evans as Stevens (butler) * William Gould as Dist. Atty. Edward Jameson *

Jack Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

as Sergeant * Bobby Stone as Salvatore

Production

was a child actor for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

until the company fired him when he was 13 years old, which was a tradition when child actors became teenagers. The smaller company

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

hired Cooper after he turned 13 years old to star in the film '' Boy of the Streets''. After a successful stint in films that were produced by other companies, Cooper starred in the Monogram Pictures film ''Gangster's Boy'' as part of his contract. The film was produced with a low budget.

, an actress in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s, was considered to be "more or less retired" by the ''Harrisburg Telegraph'' when she took a role in the film despite taking roles that she liked. The '' Scrantonian Tribune'' wrote that

had "the finest opportunity of his entire career as Tim Kelly". The film featured music by Hal Le Roy in a revue. Lucy Gilman Scott, a teenage actress for the radio, had her film debut in the film as the girlfriend of Cooper's character. As it turned out, Blythe was not retired and her career continued until 1960.

Release

The film was released by Monogram Pictures on November 16, 1938. It was first released on DVD by Platinum Disc as part of three different 2005 Mobster Movies sets. Direct Source released the film in its 2007 Bootleggers, Delinquents & Gangsters DVD set.

Alpha Video Alpha Video (also known as Alpha Home Entertainment) is an entertainment company, based near Philadelphia, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD. Alpha Video releases approximately 30 ne ...

released the film on DVD by itself in 2011. It is also available on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

Reception

Karl Krug of the ''

Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph The ''Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1927 to 1960. Part of the Hearst newspaper chain, it competed with ''The Pittsburgh Press'' and the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' until bein ...

'' said, "''Gangster's Boy'' is a neat and comfortable "homey" picture, despite its titles. And, its principal lesson, if any, is that the sins of gangster fathers, although they have reformed, shouldn't be visited upon by their children". The '' Daily Times-News'' said that "the dramatic situations in ''Gangster's Boy'' are tense and go to make a fine afternoon or evening's entertainment".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gangster's Boy 1938 films 1938 drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by William Nigh Monogram Pictures films American drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films