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Little Tough Guy

Play trailer Poster for Little Tough Guy 1938 1h 23m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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An imprisoned man's son turns to a life of crime in this transitional film for the Bowery Boys and the Dead End Kids.

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Little Tough Guy

Critics Reviews

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Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine Practically all the sequences in Little Tough Guy have been used before. Jul 22, 2019 Full Review Graham Greene The Spectator Little Tough Guy is one of the best melodramas in recent years. Sep 6, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Very good and better than average East Side Kids/Bowery Boys movie. The older ones leaned more to melodrama, like this one. As the series progressed they became more comedic. Great little "B" movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member I first became aware of the Dead End Kids via the brilliant film Angels With Dirty Faces. Wisecracking rogues with the 1930s brogue, they hit with my sense of humour. Even though I knew that half of it or more was how they interacted with Cagney, I jumped at the chance to see one of their serial films. Little Tough Guy provides a basic tale of youth in gang trouble. The dialogue is what I expected, but the tale itself in no way resembles the depth and emotional character of the aforementioned "Angels...". It still entertains, though, but I'd caution anybody who doesn't find this style of old time gangster dialogue funny to not bother, as that is the key for me. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member have seen this movie and found it to be somewhat entertaining. It is one of only two movies in which the former Broadway star and (later) radio star (Big Town), Edward Pawley, plays the good guy! He plays the role of "Jim Boylan", father of "Johnny Boylan" (Billy Halop). Mr. Pawley usually played villainous roles in his more than 50 movies during a 10-year stint in Hollywood. One other exception was in the movie "Hoosier Schoolboy" in which he played the role of Captain Carter (Mickey Rooney's father)who was also a war hero with a drinking problem. Edward Pawley was probably best known in movies for his role as Danny Leggett (aka, Public Enemy Number One) in the James Cagney vehicle, "G-MEN." He also had feature roles in movies such as "The Oklahoma Kid" in which he played Humphrey Bogart's partner (Ace Doolin), "Romance of the Limberlost" in which he played Jean Parker's suitor (Jed Corson), Thirteen Women in which he played "Burns", Myrna Loy's accomplice in crime, "Romance On The Range" in which he played Roy Rogers' ranch boss and covert outlaw (Jerome Banning), et cetera, et cetera. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review bill t Rather gritty Dead End Kids movie here. Here, Billy Halop is a struggling youth trying to be the father figure of the family when his Dad is carted off to jail. He gets involved with a street gang that take him on a life of crime, despite attempts at intervention. I love the Dead End Kids, and before they got goofy, presented a pretty scary view of gang life. This is a good movie, aside from the dopey rich-kid-turned-bad subplot. Rather shocking ending.. Poor Huntz Hall! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a good movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Little Tough Guy

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis An imprisoned man's son turns to a life of crime in this transitional film for the Bowery Boys and the Dead End Kids.
Director
Harold Young
Screenwriter
Brenda Weisberg, Gilson Brown
Production Co
Universal Pictures
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 28, 2016
Runtime
1h 23m
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