“Those Tenement Terrors Are In For The Scrap of Their Lives!” Wallace Fox, veteran of at least 27 pictures for poverty row studio Monogram, directed this feisty entry in The East Side Kids (aka Bowery Boys) series. Muggs (Leo Gorcey), in a stint as a boxer, is kidnapped by gangsters when he refuses to throw a fight. But pal Danny (Bobby Jordan) substitutes in the ring, unexpectedly triumphs, and the mobsters release Muggs in frustration. However, resentful Muggs believes Danny was in on the kidnapping and proceeds to treat him like dirt for most of the picture. That is until Danny has had enough of the bullying and fights back. Complicating matters, Danny is engaged to Muggs’ sister (Pamela Blake). Punctuated midway through with a wild and funny jitterbug contest, with Gimpy (Huntz Hall) saddled with a very tall dancing partner. Before things wrap up, the boys have all enlisted in the armed forces to go off to fight in WW2. This feature proved unusual in that Muggs’ character is much more mean-spirited than in other East Side Kids efforts, and this seems to have been a bone of contention among fans of the series.
Kim Morgan discusses Kid Dynamite on the New Beverly blog.
