Plot

Muggs and Glimpy have joined the army. Muggs is proud to be in uniform, until he's discharged for having poor eyesight. Crushed, Muggs has no choice but to return home; Glimpy tags along with his pal. Once the duo arrive back to the East Side, they are quick to learn that Danny (whom Muggs had left in charge of the kids' club in his absence) has been thrown in jail. Danny's arrest resulted in missing medical alcohol from the warehouse he works at. Muggs and Glimpy obviously believe that Danny is innocent, but they have to find out who really stole the missing items.

The duo are suspicious about a new kid in their club, Spider O'Brien. As it turns out, Spider works with Danny at the warehouse, and was invited into the club by Danny. Wanting information from Spider, Muggs pretends to be his friend. Spider fesses up to Muggs, and tells him all about a trap door he has to leave open at night for the gangsters who really stole the items. Muggs also learns that Spider only took this job with the gangsters in order to pay for his ailing mother's medical operation. Sadly, Spider is killed by 'Fingers' Belmont and another gangster, both of whom Spider works with. They feel that Spider ratted them out.

As it turns out, 'Fingers' was once a former member of Muggs' gang. Always skeptical about 'Fingers', Muggs feels that he may have been the one who has really been stealing from the warehouse. Muggs asks permission from the police to try and put a stop to the gangsters' actions, and get Danny off the hook. Meanwhile, Muggs' sister has been working as at the bar owned by the gangsters' leader, named Larry. Larry has taken a liking to Muggs' sister, which could mean trouble for her.

Production

This film marked the final East Side Kids

East Side Kids

The East Side Kids were characters in a series of films released by Monogram Pictures from 1940 through 1945. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys, and several of them later became members of The Bowery Boys....

 appearances for David Durand and Bobby Stone, both of whom were drafted for World War II service after production finished.

In this film, Muggs is discharged from the army for having bad eyesight. Ironically, Huntz Hall

Huntz Hall

Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...

 claimed to have bad eyesight, which managed to get him out of World War II service. Leo Gorcey

Leo Gorcey

Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...

 also managed to get out of service

Cast

The East Side Kids:

• Leo Gorcey
  Leo Gorcey
  Leo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Always the most pugnacious member of the gangs he participated in, young Leo...
  
   - Ethelbert 'Muggs' McGinnis
• Huntz Hall
  Huntz Hall
  Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer noted primarily for his roles in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces , which gave way to the "The Bowery Boys" movie franchise, a prolific and highly successful series of comedies in...
  
   - Glimpy Freedhoff
• David Durand - Danny
• Bobby Stone - Speed (a.k.a. Skinny)
• Jimmy Strand - Dave
• Buddy Gorman
  Buddy Gorman
  Charles J. "Buddy" Gorman is an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying a member of the comedy teams, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. Prior to acting he tried out for the Brooklyn Dodgers farm team, the Montreal Royals, as a shortstop...
  
   - James Aloysius 'Skinny' Bogerty
• Ernest Morrison - Scruno (dream sequence only) (uncredited)

Additional Cast:

• Gabriel Dell
  Gabriel Dell
  Gabriel Dell was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids/East Side Kids/The Bowery Boys.-Early life:...
  
   - W.W. 'Fingers' Belmont
• Billy Benedict - Spider O'Brien
• Joan Marsh
  Joan Marsh
  Joan Marsh was an American film actress.Marsh was the daughter of Charles Rosher. She made her first film appearance as an infant in the Universal Pictures film Hearts Aflame , billed as Dorothy Rosher...
  
   - Milly McGinnis
• Jack La Rue
  Jack La Rue
  Jack La Rue was an American film and stage actor.Born as Gaspere Biondolillo, he worked on the New York stage from 1923 to 1931. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films...
  
   - Larry
• Mary Gordon
  Mary Gordon
  Mary Catherine Gordon is an American writer and is the McIntosh Professor of English at Barnard College. She is best known for her novels, memoirs and literary criticism...
  
   - Mrs. McGinnis
• J. Farrell MacDonald
  J. Farrell MacDonald
  Joseph Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. MacDonald, who was sometimes billed as "John Farrell Macdonald", "J.F...
  
   - Clancy, Policeman
• Gene Austin
  Gene Austin
  Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
  
   - Himself
• The Sherrell Sisters - Themselves
• Bernard Gorcey - Ginsberg (uncredited)
• Bryant Washburn
  Bryant Washburn
  Born Franklin Bryant Washburn , Bryant Washburn was an American film actor. He appeared in 330 films between 1911 and 1947....
  
   - Colonel (uncredited)
• Marie Windsor
  Marie Windsor
  Marie Windsor . Born as Emily Marie Bertelson in Marysvale, Piute County, Utah, Windsor was an actress known as "The Queen of the Bs" because she appeared in so many film noirs and B-movies like Cat-Women of the Moon...
  
  - Native Girl (dream sequence only) (uncredited)