'Neath Brooklyn Bridge (1942)

Although in many of the Bowery Boys films the gang seemed like a bunch of hoodlums, they were never really THAT larcenous in their films. They just acted tough and the police were forever dogging them. But, as usual, they are the good guys in "'Neath Brooklyn Bridge"....and once again the police suspect one of them. This is because someone was horribly beaten to death and Danny (Bobby Jordan) was arrested because his weapons were on the murder weapon, a bat. Little does anyone know that a mute man who can only speak with his eyes was a witness. As for the gang, they spend a lot of the film taking care of a young lady who is in trouble and eventually they are instrumental in finding the real culprits. On hand as one of the supposed ex-members of the gang (he was a bit old for this...Noah Beery, Jr.).Overall, this film is pretty typical of a Bowery Boys film--- modestly entertaining and nothing more. Worth seeing if you are a fan but not among their best.

Another Kids movie. Most of them are pretty good, especially considering the simplistic plots and basic acting that is involved. In this one Mugs and the gang are more good than bad. They come to the rescue of a girl whose step father is beating on her. She only sticks around to take of her paralyzed grandfather. Her step dad gets knocked out by Mugs using a chair leg. The gang leaves to chase the girl when she runs. Now the step father has robbed a local crime boss and the boss climbs through a window, gets his loot back and smashes a gun butt over the guys head. This kills the robber and the boss takes the club Mugs used to hold over his head as evidence. By now the gang has caught up with the girl and take her to their "clubhouse" to hide. Learning that grandpa can communicate with the girl the gang goes and gets him, bringing back to the lair. A former member, now in the Navy, has returned and recognizes that the grandpa is using Morse code. Meanwhile the crime boss has used the non-murder weapon to force Mugs to case a silk warehouse and help rob it. The Navy man takes the girl to the cops with the story grandpa Morsed out. Meanwhile Mugs has the gang stashed in the warehouse and when he lets the crooks in they fight it out and the cops show up. So the baddies get busted, the gang gets a pat on the back and the murder is placed on the right man.

This is one of the best in the long running East Side Kids series.Here Muggs is tricked into thinking that he killed someone and the only way out of it is to help a criminal with his crooked plans.What can I say this is a fun romp that sports the regular band of "kids" as well as a young Noah Beery Jr as one of their friends. Of course we know that Muggs didn't do it, and he knows he didn't do it, so the fun is watching to see how he manages to work out who actually did the deed and makes sure they get blamed. The way Muggs finds out is unique and only adds to the enjoyment.Worth a look for anyone fan or no, who wants a good movie for a moldy oldie movie night.

This time Muggs, Glimpy and the gang take on a real hard case: gangster Marc Lawrence, a cold-blooded baddie who entraps sweet young thing Ann Gillis (whose most recent film credit remains 2001: A Space Odyssey) in a murder case. Lawrence elevates this Poverty Row billfiller above its station; as always, he brings absolute conviction to his role. There's also a fun subplot involving a wheelchair-bound paraplegic played by Ed Wood regular Bud Osborne. The fact that these films were all shot on a shoestring oddly benefits the East Side Kids movies: the threadbare sets, minimal costuming, and muffed lines add a patina of Bowery believability to these endearing little films.