''Keep 'Em Slugging'' is a 1943 American film starring the

Little Tough Guys The Little Tough Guys (later billed as 'The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys') were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios from 1938 through 1943. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End ...

and directed by

Christy Cabanne William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor. Biography Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He a ...

for

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. This was the final film in Universal's

series, and although Universal still billed the group as "The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys", none of the Little Tough Guys appeared in this film.

Plot

Teenage gang leader Tommy Banning is preparing for the Summer vacation by telling his members about the importance of doing their share to help out during the war. The best way to do this, according to Tommy's advice, is to end the gang activities and instead take legitimate useful jobs. But this seems to be a greater task than they could imagine, since most gang members have criminal records for juvenile delinquency, and they fail getting regular jobs. When Tommy's sister Sheila asks her boss, Frank Moulton, at the Carruthers' department store where she works, he agrees to hire Tommy only if she goes on a date with him. Sheila has a boyfriend and won't do that, but her boyfriend Jerry Brady instead gets Tommy the job at the department store. Upon starting his new job, Tommy is smitten by a sales girl, Suzanne Booker, and they go on a movie date together. At the cinema, some of Tommy's gang, Albert "Pig" Gum, String and Ape, turn up and ruin the date. Soon enough Pig, String and Ape all have jobs, the latter two in the same store as Tommy. What Tommy and the gang are unaware of is that Moulton is in cahoots with a gangster, Duke Redman, and meet with him to discuss their dealing. It turns out Redman is disappointed in Moulton for not giving him enough business, and to remedy this Moulton give him the names of Tommy and his gang. After using the sexy singer Lola Laverne as bait, Tommy meets with Redman, but refuses to come work for him stealing goods from the department store. Because of this, Tommy is framed for stealing a piece of jewelry and sent to jail. In protest, Sheila quits her job, and it turns out her boyfriend Jerry is the son of the owner. Jerry gets Tommy out of prison, but his family still think he is guilty of the theft. Tommy decides to act against Moulton and Redman, and meets with his gang. After following Moulton to Redman's headquarters, the gang learn that Redman plans to rob a silk shipment to the department store. Tommy and the gang manage to hold the Redman gangsters enclosed in a room using a fire hose, until the police arrives. As a reward for catching the gang and stopping the robbery, Tommy gets Moulton's job at the store, the rest of the gang start working in the shipping department and Jerry and Sheila reconcile. Thus the gang is disbanded and the members all go legitimate.

Cast

The Dead End Kids

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular " Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bowery ...

as Pig *

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, ...

as Tommy Banning *

Gabriel Dell Gabriel Dell (born Gabriel Marcel Dell Vecchio; October 8, 1919 – July 3, 1988) was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids, then later the East Side Kids and finally The Bowery Boys. Acting car ...

as String *

Norman Abbott Norman Abbott (July 11, 1922 – July 9, 2016) was an American vaudevillian, actor, producer and television director. Abbott was born in New York City, where his uncle, comedian Bud Abbott, and his mother raised him. His early experience in ...

as Ape

Additional cast

* Evelyn Ankers as Sheila Banning *

Elyse Knox Elyse Knox (born Elsie M. Kornbrath, December 14, 1917 – February 16, 2012) was an American actress, model, and fashion designer. Early life Knox was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Austrian immigrants Hermine Sophie (née Muc ...

as Suzanne *

Frank Albertson Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'' (1960). Early life Albertson was a nat ...

as Frank Moulto, store executive * Don Porter as Jerry *

Shemp Howard Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Litvak accent. He is best known as the ...

as Binky, soda jerk *

Samuel S. Hinds Samuel Southey Hinds (April 4, 1875 – October 13, 1948) was an American actor and former lawyer. He was often cast as kindly authority figures and appeared in more than 200 films until his death. Early years Hinds was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

as Carruthers *

Joan Marsh Joan Marsh (July 10, 1914 – August 10, 2000) was an American child actress in silent films between 1915 and 1921. Later, during the sound era, she resumed her acting career and performed in a variety of films during the 1930s and 1940s. Ear ...

as Lela *

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series '' Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the for ...

as Duke Redman

Notes

Billy Halop William Halop (February 11, 1920 – November 9, 1976) was an American actor. Early life Halop was born to Benjamin Cohen Halop and Lucille Elizabeth Halop on February 11, 1920. Halop came from a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer, and ...

and Bernard Punsley, stars of prior films in the series, were both drafted prior to this film. As a result, their usual roles were respectively taken over by

and

. With Halop gone,

graduated to top billing for this one film. Similarly, co-star Don Porter was also drafted, but was allowed to complete the film. Dave Durand, a member of the concurrent running East Side Kids series, appears as an extra in this film, and Jane Frazee and Robert Paige make uncredited appearances as stars in the movie house film. An idea of how quickly the picture was shot can be seen in a blooper that found its way into the finished film. When Jordan arrives home from jail, his sister (Ankers) rushes to hug him and trips on the carpet. The actors' reactions make it clear that this was not scripted, and Jordan, thinking quickly, ad-libs, "I been meaning to fix that rug."

References

External links

* * {{Little Tough Guys 1943 films 1943 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Christy Cabanne Universal Pictures films American comedy films Films scored by Hans J. Salter Films scored by Frank Skinner 1940s English-language films 1940s American films