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Bobby Stone
The East Side Kids were characters in a series of 22 films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. The series was a low-budget imitation of the Dead End Kids, a successful film franchise of the late 1930s. History The 1935 Sidney Kingsley Broadway play '' Dead End'' was a portrait of life in the New York tenements, featuring six tough-talking juvenile delinquents. When film producer Samuel Goldwyn made a film out of the play, he recruited the original kids from the play: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Billy Halop, and Bernard Punsly. In 1938, Warner Brothers signed these six actors for a series of ''Dead End Kids'' dramas, the most successful being 1938's ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, and '' They Made Me a Criminal'' in 1939, starring John Garfield. Also in 1938, Universal Pictures offered a competing series, under the Little Tough Guys brand name. At one time or another, five of the original Dead End K ...
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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 in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure. The company's trademark is now owned by Allied Artists International. The original sprawling brick complex which functioned as home to both Monogram and Allied Artists remains at 4376 Sunset Drive, utilized as part of the Church of Scientology Media Center (formerly KCET's television facilities). History Monogram was created in the early 1930s from two earlier companies: W. Ray Johnston's Rayart Productions (renamed Raytone when sound pictures came in) and ...
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John Garfield
John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theatre (New York), Group Theatre. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner Bros.' stars. He received Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations for his performances in ''Four Daughters (1938 film), Four Daughters'' (1938) and ''Body and Soul (1947 film), Body and Soul'' (1947). Called to testify before the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), he denied Communist Party USA, communist affiliation and refused to "name names", effectively ending his film career. Some have alleged that the stress of this persecution led to his premature death at 39 from a heart attack. Garfield is acknowledged as a predecessor of such Method acting, Method actors as Ma ...
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Pete Smith Specialties
Peter Schmidt (September 4, 1892 – January 12, 1979), Americanized to Pete Smith, was a film producer based in Hollywood, California. He is best known for the ''Pete Smith Specialties'', a long-running series of general-interest short films, ranging from human-interest stories to sports subjects. Best remembered are the comedies, exaggerating common pet peeves and household problems, with Smith offering pointed commentary in his distinctive, nasal tenor. Early life and career Peter Schmidt was born in 1892, in New York City. He became interested in the theatrical business, working behind the scenes as an aide for a vaudeville performers union, an editor and critic for a trade magazine, and a press agent. In 1915, as the new field of motion pictures was transforming show business, Smith became a publicity man for Bosworth, Inc., Oliver Morosco Photoplay Co., Artcraft Pictures Corporation, and Famous Players–Lasky. He was one of the founding members of the Associated Mo ...
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Dave O'Brien (actor)
Dave O'Brien (born David Poole Fronabarger; May 31, 1912 – November 8, 1969) was an American film actor, stunt man, film director, and Emmy awarded comedy writer. He was well known for his portrayal, in the 1942 serial films of the title character in '' Captain Midnight'', performer and comedy writer in the '' Pete Smith Specialties'' and as one of Red Skelton's comedy writers. Life and career Born in Big Spring, Texas, to Mike Fronabarger and his wife, Mary Edith, he started his film career performing in choruses and working as a stunt double, then graduating into larger roles, mostly in B pictures. He adopted "O'Brien" as his acting pseudonym. He had roles in early Western movies such as '' Lightnin' Crandall'' (1937). O'Brien acted in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy short film series ''Pete Smith Specialties''. O'Brien wrote and directed many of these subjects under the name David Barclay. In 1933, O'Brien also had a small dancing part with Bebe Daniels in the Busby Berkel ...
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Ernest Morrison
Ernest Fredric Morrison (December 20, 1912 – July 24, 1989) was an American child actor, comedian, vaudevillian, and dancer who also performed under the stage-name Sunshine Sammy Morrison. He was the only black member of the ''East Side Kids'' and was an original performer in ''Our Gang'', a 1920s silent film franchise. Early life Born in 1912 in New Orleans, Morrison was the brother of Florence Morrison and stage- and screen-actress Dorothy Morrison. He entered show-business as a replacement for another infant actor who constantly cried. A crew member asked Morrison's father, Ernest Morrison Sr., to bring in his newborn son. Because Morrison sat perfectly and didn't cry during filming, the crew christened him with the name "Sunshine". Morrison's father added "Sammy" to his son's stage name to create the iconic character Sunshine Sammy. Biography Morrison ultimately appeared in two-reel silent comedies opposite both Harold Lloyd and Snub Pollard, two of the era's biggest come ...
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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 its antecedent The East Side Kids. Life and career David Gorcey was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York, the son of Josephine (née Condon) and Bernard Gorcey. His father was a Russian Jewish immigrant and his mother was an Irish Catholic immigrant. and entered the entertainment business at a young age. He appeared in vaudeville during his childhood, and eventually made it to the stage and screen. When Gorcey was 10 years old, he was signed by the Vitaphone studio in New York to co-star in its '' Penrod and Sam'' series of short subjects, based on the Booth Tarkington stories. "Dave Gorcey" played Sam Williams opposite Billy Hayes as Penrod Schofield. He is not usually thought of as one of the "original" Dead End Kids, but h ...
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Boys Of The City
''Boys of the City'' (also known as ''The Ghost Creeps'') is a 1940 black-and-white comedy/thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis. It is the second East Side Kids film and the first to star Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, and Ernest Morrison. Plot To escape the heat of the city and a court sentence for malicious mischief, the East Side kids agree to visit a summer camp in the Adirondacks. En route, their car breaks down and they are reluctantly given accommodations in the home of Judge Malcolm Parker. The Judge, under indictment for bribery, has much to fear. His life, as well as that of his niece Louise has been threatened by a gang of racketeers; his companion, Giles, has accused him of embezzling Louise's fortune; and his sinister housekeeper, Agnes, blames him for the death of her mistress, Leonora. The Judge's fears are compounded when he meets Knuckles Dolan, the boys' guardian, whom he had unjustly sentenced to death, only to have his verdict reversed and Knuckles exonera ...
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Frankie Burke
Frankie Burke (June 6, 1915 – April 7, 1983) was a Hollywood actor, best known for his appearance as a member of The East Side Kids. Early life Burke was born Frankie Vaselle and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His name was changed when he began working in films. Burke went to P.S. 25. He grew up watching James Cagney on film in local theaters and, having been told many times how much he resembled him, figured if Cagney could become famous, so could he. Burke sold newspapers on the street corners before deciding to hitchhike to Hollywood in 1937 to meet Cagney, but when the first attempt failed, he went back to Brooklyn. In 1937, Burke worked as a bellhop at a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Life in Hollywood He was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout, out searching for young men who resembled Cagney for a role in 1938's ''Angels with Dirty Faces''. He went on to do eighteen more films, several of which were uncredited, before his last role in 1941's '' Shadow of ...
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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 Norman "Chubby" Chaney, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Jackie Cooper, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, and Dorothy DeBorba. Early years Haines was born in Seward County, Nebraska, the son of Karl and Nola Haines. Their family moved to California when he was 9 years old. ''Our Gang'' Haines's tenure began during the early talkies up through the "Miss Crabtree episodes," and then the early Spanky episodes. He would leave with Jackie Cooper for feature films at Paramount only to return a few months later. He was 11 years old when he joined the gang in 1930. His association with the Our Gang series lasted through 1933. Haines's first short was '' Shivering Shakespeare'', which featured him giggling his way through his lines ...
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Our Gang
''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also produced the Laurel and Hardy films, ''Our Gang'' shorts were produced from 1922 to 1944, spanning the silent film and early sound film periods of American cinema. ''Our Gang'' is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way; Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children, rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. The series also broke new ground by portraying white and black children interacting as equals during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the United States.Leonard Maltin, Maltin, Leonard (1994). ''The Little Rascals: Remastered and Uncut'', vol. 22, introduction. Videorecording. New York: Cabin Fever Entertainment/Hallmark Entert ...
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Hal E
HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bengaluru, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fighter aircraft and helicopters Businesses * HAL Allergy, a Dutch pharmaceutical company * HAL Computer Systems, a defunct computer manufacturer * HAL Laboratory, a Japanese video game developer * Halliburton's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol * Hamburg America Line, a shipping company * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fighter aircraft and helicopters * Hindustan Antibiotics Limited, an Indian public sector pharmaceutical manufacturer * Holland America Line, a cruise ship operator * HAL FM, or CHNS-FM, a classic rock station in Halifax, Nova Scotia Computing * Hardware abstraction layer, a layer of software that hides hardware differences from higher level programs * HAL (software), an implementation of ...
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East Side Kids (film)
''East Side Kids'' is a 1940 film and the first in the ''East Side Kids'' film series. It is the only one not to star any of the original six Dead End Kids.THE SCREEN: At the Globe New York Times 19 Feb 1940: 23. The film was released by producer Sam Katzman. This was also his first project at Monogram Pictures, which he joined shortly after the folding of his company Victory Pictures. Plot Police officer Pat O'Day, a former child of the tenements, tries to reform a gang of street kids by involving them in a boys' police club. When club member Danny Dolan's brother Knuckles is sentenced to death row for killing a treasury agent, Pat vows to help Danny clear his brother, whom he believes is innocent, but before he can begin his investigation, the police commissioner demotes him to walking a beat. Meanwhile, a counterfeiting ring composed of Mileaway Harris, a former tenement kid, Morris, and his girl friend May sets up shop in shopkeeper's Schmidt's, basement. Feeling threatene ...
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