Gallant Sons

For fans of mystery films, this is not the stuff of great whodunits, but if you like Saturday Matinee fare with an "A-Film" look (though not budget), then don't pass this up.

It stars some of the cream of the period's juvenile actors, in their teenage prime. The only one who is older than his "star-kid" days is Jackie Cooper. (but he went on to a successful adult acting career, anyway-- mostly on TV).

Bonita Granville, who received 2nd billing to Cooper, did her best (which is not much different than her 'Nancy Drew' roles at Warners). I've always been fond of Granville in supporting roles (or B-film leads), but a little bit of Bonita can go a long way. She wisely gave up acting before outgrowing her youthful charms.

Gene Reynolds, who was billed 3rd, was easily the best of all of this film's young actors. As the central character, who's innocent father is imprisoned for a murder that all the teens set out to solve, he pretty much steals the show.

Reynolds, a good-looking and accomplished young actor, made many films as a teenager but none as an adult. He did, however, go on to become an extremely successful (and extremely rich) TV producer-director. Reynolds would become best known for winning numerous Emmys for his long-running hit television series, "M.A.S.H.".

Leo Gorcey, fresh out of the 'Dead End Kids', but before starting in Monogram's 'East Side Kids' series, isn't given much to say in this film, and is actually relegated to a role as one of the 'background' kids!

He probably never forgot this experience. -- When Gorcey was adult enough to have a hand in producing the 'Bowery Boys' films, he made sure that he had ALL the lines, and that the other guys (except Huntz Hall) had only enough lines to discern them from the backdrops.

Gail Patrick, the leading female adult in "Gallant Sons", has a pivotal role in this story playing Bonita Granville's mother. A much under-rated actress, Gail Patrick gives a lot to this supporting part. She received 4th billing, after Cooper, Granville and Reynolds.

The film has the usual MGM polish, though none of the excesses of the Rooney-Garland juvenile extravaganzas produced in the same period. (And, thank goodness, no singing & dancing...)

I thoroughly enjoyed "Gallant Sons", and I especially liked seeing Gene Reynolds handle the most complex role of any of the young characters. Certainly more endearing than Cooper or Gorcey, I can't help wondering why Reynolds didn't pursue acting as an adult. Could he have seen the coming bonanza that television producing would bring his way?

... says the villain, figuratively if not literally, in true Scooby Doo tradition in this entertaining and amusing entry from MGM and director George Seitz.

Local newspaper editor Barton Newbold is always talking about the exploits of local gambling house owner "Natural" Davis (Ian Hunter), who always manages to avoid getting raided. But Davis can't avoid being arrested, charged, and convicted for murder when he visits a woman who has been blackmailing him and finds her already dead from a gunshot wound. The police had been following him and catch him standing over the body, gun in hand. He is given a life sentence.

Davis' son, Johnny (Gene Reynolds) and the newspaper editor's son, Byron (Jackie Cooper) decide to team up along with their friends and solve the murder. Whether Johnny's dad is proven to be the killer or not they say they will shake hands and stay friends. Causing a bit of discord is the fact that they are both sweet on a local girl, Kate (Bonita Granville), who is also helping with this investigation.

This turned out to be a pretty interesting film, from the kids following the clues that help them find the murderer, to the camaraderie depicted among this diverse group of teens, to the interesting way in which they bring said murderer down. After all, the murderer is not going to be stressed out by what a bunch of kids happen to think with no proof - or will he?

Being a pre-war production code MGM family film of the period, don't expect much gritty reality. Take professional gambler Natural Davis. To begin with, wholesome looking Ian Hunter just doesn't give off the vibe of a professional gambler. Plus note his lecture to son Johnny about how he should not try to be like him and to keep his nose clean and in books. And I have to wonder about where the character name "Natural Davis" came from. It's odd because in 1930 William Powell played a professional gambler with the exact same name, although being a pre-code he was not cast from the same wholesome mold as Ian Hunter's interpretation. I can't find a real person who was a gambler who had this name.

I'd recommend this for the ensemble acting as well as for seeing Gail Patrick play a likeable person for a change, although I have to wonder how she felt about, at age 29, having 17-year-old Bonita Granville call her "mommy" throughout the film.

Jackie Cooper leads a cast of young actors in "Gallant Sons," from 1940.

A group of friends (Cooper, Leo Gorcey, Gene Reynolds, Bonita Granville, William Tracy, Tommy Kelly) set out to prove that Johnny's (Reynolds) father (Ian Hunter), who runs a gambling house, did not murder a woman. He was caught by the police standing over the body holding the murder weapon and was convicted.

Byron's (Cooper) dad (Minor Watson) is a newspaper man and naturally covers it in the paper. Johnny and Byron are then on the outs.

Byron asks Johnny, if they can find out what really happened the night of the murder, can they just shake hands and forget it, no matter the outcome? Johnny agrees.

The kids soon become involved in what turns out to be a case with some interesting clues that also expose a long-held secret that Kate's (Granville) mother (Gail Patrick) knows, which concerns Johnny.

Ultimately they take a page out of Hamlet's book in order to solve the case.

It's a good story, given energy by the young talent. Jackie Cooper, who was a beautiful little boy and effective actor, made the transition to adult actor, as well as directing and producing and continued until retirement in 1990.

In his grown-up years, he played likable men who did not seem to have a lot of angst,as opposed to the roles he played in childhood, and he was always very natural.

Leo Gorcey gives the film his "Dead End Kids" performance, and Bonita Granville is her usual pretty and vivacious self. Gail Patrick, with her beautiful speaking voice, is elegant and lovely.

Both Granville and Patrick are known for off-camera work -- Granville being the owner of TV's Lassie, and Gail Patrick as the producer of TV's Perry Mason.

Enjoyable. I admit to loving Jackie Cooper - my mother used to talk about seeing him in the movies when she was a child, and I watched him faithfully on "The People's Choice" and "Hennessy."

This is such a find and succeeds so far beyond any reasonable expectations one might bring to it, I'm tempted to rate it a "10."

The only flaw, to my mind, was including Leo Gorcey in the cast of juveniles; but he is relatively toned down.

Gene Reynolds was a most appealing actor playing in this age range. Here, we see him looking a little plump (especially in the derriere); but he was handsome and a fine actor. Too bad his career as a star didn't continue into adulthood. (He made a big name for himself behind the scenes, but that was a loss, because here and in such movies as "The Get-Away" he was an excellent actor.)

The plot involves two friends, one of whose father is put in jail for a murder he didn't commit. The other's father is a newspaper man who printed the story.

These two and their pals do some good sleuthing and come up with a suspect. To smoke him out, they put on a play, a la the play within the play in "Hamlet," which they feel will make him confess.

It's all suspenseful, exciting, and fun.

B-mystery films were quite the rage in the 1930s and 40s. So were the films of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in which they played precocious teens who wanted to put on a who. Well, "Gallant Sons" is much like combining the two types of films and it's pleasant and entertaining.

The story centers around a group of teenagers and a variety of famous child actors were used in the film, such as Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville and William Tracy. Well, one of the kids has a father who is sent to prison for murder and this causes friction in the gang. Later, however, the teens all put their differences aside and work together to prove that the man was framed. And, to do this, they need to figure out the real killer and get them to incriminate themselves.

Enjoyable and filled with some nice young actors who do a good job in their various roles. Not brilliant but fun and worth seeing.