The Little Tough Guys were a group of actors who made a series of films and serials released by Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 from 1938 through 1943. Many of them were originally part of The Dead End Kids

Dead End Kids

The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End in 1935. In 1937 producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film...

, and several of them later became members of The 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....

 and The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....

.

History

The urban drama Dead End became both a successful play and a hit movie, featuring six young actors playing streetwise guttersnipes: Billy Halop

Billy Halop

William "Billy" Halop was an American actor born in New York City.He came from a Jewish theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a child actress, who later worked on radio and in television...

, 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...

, 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...

, 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:...

, Bobby Jordan

Bobby Jordan

Robert "Bobby" Jordan was an American actor, born in Harrison, New York, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and the Bowery Boys.-Early life and career:...

, and Bernard Punsly

Bernard Punsly

Bernard Punsly , was a New York City-born American actor who later left show business to become a physician.-Career and personal life:...

. The troupe became known as The Dead End Kids and starred in a series of features for Warner Brothers.

Little Tough Guys

In 1938, Universal

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 borrowed the Dead End Kids (except Gorcey and Jordan) for a juvenile-delinquency drama called Little Tough Guy. Universal adopted this as a brand name, and turned the film into a series of 'Little Tough Guys' features. The studio filled out the cast with David Gorcey (Leo's younger brother) and Hally Chester

Hal E. Chester

Hal E. "Hally" Chester is a American film producer and former child actor.He is best known for his appearances in Universal Studios's Little Tough Guys series at the end of the 1930s. His last appearance in this series was in Sea Raiders...

.

The next three films did not include any of the original Dead End Kids. Little Tough Guys in Society (1939) was more of a lightweight comedy, while the next two, Newsboys' Home and Code of the Streets (1939), were more dramatic. Jackie Cooper

Jackie Cooper

Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...

 starred in Newsboys' Home, but was not a member of the team. Only David Gorcey and Hally Chester remained from the first film, Little Tough Guy. This was the beginning of the members of the team changing on almost a film-to-film basis. Eleven actors drifted in and out of the series, including Frankie Thomas

Frankie Thomas

Frank Marion Thomas, Jr. was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was best known for his starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.-Early years:Thomas was born...

, Charles Duncan (who was originally hired to play Leo Gorcey's role in the play Dead End), and Billy Benedict.

When Warners released Bobby Jordan from his contract, Universal quickly signed him to join the rest of gang. Now, with five of the original six Dead End Kids on the payroll, Universal revised the billing to read "The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys". In total, the Little Tough Guys made 12 feature films, and three 12-chapter serials. Leading player Halop joined the armed forces and was replaced by Jordan for the final film in the series, Keep 'Em Slugging, released in 1943.

Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges

Three Stooges

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...

 appeared in Give Us Wings, Hit The Road and Keep 'Em Slugging

Keep 'Em Slugging

Keep 'Em Slugging is a 1943 American film starring The Little Tough Guys.-Plot:Tommy and his gang decide to get jobs in order to free draft-age men for the war effort. Because of their previous encounters with the law, the group has a tough time getting hired. Eventually, Tommy gets a job at a...

. Huntz Hall cited Howard as a major influence when his later "Bowery Boys" series shifted to all-out slapstick comedy.

There was still a market for these tough-teen films, and most of the Little Tough Guys principals wound up at Monogram Pictures

Monogram Pictures

Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...

 as The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys

The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....

; see these Wikipedia entries for notes.

Filmography

Year	Movie	Team Name	Notes
1. 1938 1938 in film The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...	Little Tough Guy Little Tough Guy Little Tough Guy is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. Although re-release posters and the DVD release credit them as The Dead End Kids they did not go by that title in the on screen credits. It was in the follow-up films that they began using the team name...	None Listed
2. 1938 1938 in film The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...	Little Tough Guys in Society Little Tough Guys in Society Little Tough Guys in Society is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. It was the second film that Universal made in their series and the first of three that they made without any of the original Dead End Kids....	Little Tough Guys
3. 1939 1939 in film The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...	Newsboys' Home Newsboys' Home Newsboys' Home is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred Jackie Cooper and The Little Tough Guys.-Cast:The Little Tough Guys:*Harris Berger as Sailor*Hal E...	Little Tough Guys
4. 1939 1939 in film The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...	Code of the Streets	Little Tough Guys
5. 1939 1939 in film The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...	Call a Messenger Call a Messenger Call a Messenger is a 1939 Universal Studios film that starred Billy Halop and Huntz Hall of the Dead End Kids and several of the Little Tough Guys.-Plot:...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
6. 1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....	You're Not So Tough You're Not So Tough You're Not So Tough is a 1940 Universal Studios film that starred Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.-Plot:The Dead End Kids ride a freight train through California. After the kids get arrested for vacrancy, members Tom and Pig are hired to work on a ranch owned by kindly Mama Posito...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
7. 1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....	Junior G-Men Junior G-Men (serial) Junior G-Men is a Universal film serial. It was Universal's 116th serial of their total of output of 137. It is one of the three serials starring "The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys" who were under contract to Universal at the time...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys	12-Chapter Serial
8. 1940 1940 in film The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....	Give Us Wings Give Us Wings Give Us Wings is a Universal film starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.-Plot:The Dead End Kids work as airplane mechanics in the National Youth Administration Work Program plant. Feeling that they have enough knowledge of planes, they feel the urge to want to become pilots. The...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
9. 1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Hit the Road Hit the Road Hit the Road is a crime comedy film featuring the Dead End Kids. Four juvenile delinquents are released from reform school into the care of a reformed gangster who now runs a ranch with his wife and intends to open a school for wayward boys...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
10. 1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Sea Raiders Sea Raiders Sea Raiders is a Universal film serial starring the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys. This was the child stars' second of three serials, between Junior G-Men and Junior G-Men of the Air . Sea Raiders was the 52nd serial to be released by Universal...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys	12-Chapter Serial
11. 1941 1941 in film The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...	Mob Town	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
12. 1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Junior G-Men of the Air Junior G-Men of the Air Junior G-Men of the Air is a Universal film serial starring the Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys.-Plot:Japanese sabateurs attack America in preparation for an invasion during World War II. They are discovered by "Ace" Holden and The Dead End Kids, who do not trust the police enough to help...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys	12-Chapter Serial
13. 1942 1942 in film The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...	Tough As They Come	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
14. 1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....	Mug Town	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys
15. 1943 1943 in film The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....	Keep 'Em Slugging Keep 'Em Slugging Keep 'Em Slugging is a 1943 American film starring The Little Tough Guys.-Plot:Tommy and his gang decide to get jobs in order to free draft-age men for the war effort. Because of their previous encounters with the law, the group has a tough time getting hired. Eventually, Tommy gets a job at a...	Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys

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