Movie Review: Clancy Street Boys (1943)
Synopsis: On his 18th birthday, Mugs McGinnis learns his father's wealthy ex-business partner, "Uncle" Pete Monahan, is coming to visit from Texas. Mugs, an only child, also learns his uncle, through a series of lies told by his now-deceased father, believes he has five brothers and a sister.
Wanting to protect his dad's reputation as well as his mother, who has been accepting annual birthday checks for her fictional children, he convinces his friends to pose as his family, with Glimpy dressed in drag as his sister. However, a local gangster, looking to score a big payday, complicates things when he learns of the ruse.
Who's in it? The movie stars Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Noah Beery and Amelita Ward.
Review: I added Clancy Street Boys to my movie library some time ago but as sometimes happens, it temporarily disappeared when I tried to watch it. It re-appeared in the library recently and I finally gave it a try this morning. While I wasn't completely sold on the plot at first, it proved to be an entertaining film.
One thing I found about these earlier East Side Kids/Bowery Boys films that I really like is how they add quite a bit more depth to Mugs (Gorcey) compared to the later films. This one tells us his real first name (Ethelbert), fills us in on some details about his father and, most importantly, demonstrates just how seriously he takes his head of household responsibilities, especially when it comes to protecting his mother (Martha Wentworth). I was sincerely impressed with the last one and the way he was willing to take full responsibility for everything/stood up to the neighbors when the details of his plan leaked.
While a little predictable, that plan did prove to work as far as the plot went. It probably could have been easily shot to pieces had Pete (Beery) asked their names, which I don't think Mugs' mother ever gave him the full list, but the "siblings" were fun to watch. I loved how Mugs described Scruno (Ernest Morrison) as adopted to explain the skin color difference, just so he could be part of the ruse too.
His Uncle Pete was an intriguing character with the way he traveled to New York with his daughter, Judy (Ward) on horseback and was quick to flash cash whenever he could. I wasn't sure if he was as gullible as he seemed or if he was lying about his wealth and trying to pull off some scam. I was fully expecting the local criminal, George Mooney (Rick Vallin) to go through the effort of kidnapping Pete and Judy only to find they aren't worth nearly as much as the claimed.
My only real complaint about the movie, and this was probably just because of time restrictions, is I wish it did more with the Glimpy (Hall) as Annabelle part of the plan. Since he was the one who spent the most time with Judy, I was disappointed when there wasn't any sort of payoff from it - either a romantic angle or even her being extra angry with him. Instead, as soon as he was out of the dress and wig, it was as though it was completely forgotten about. There wasn't even a scene showing Judy meeting the "boy" version of Glimpy. leaving me wondering if she ever learned which of the gang went dress shopping with her.
Final Opinion: It's a good film with a simple plot but enough twists to keep it from becoming too predictable. The ending was probably rushed a bit because of trying to squeeze everything into an hour-long film, but I did still enjoy the movie.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1943:
Movie Review: Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Movie Review: Girls in Chains (1943)
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