How could Tojo and his Pearl Harbor sneaks hope to win a war when we've got Gorcey, Hall, and the East Side Kids on our side. Released just a few months after Dec. 7, '41, the flick's a hurry-up job, but still manages to amuse in typical Kids' fashion. Okay, so whatever you do, don't let Hall teach you the violin- otherwise you may avoid music forever. Also, don't let him fix your burning stove unless he spits on your stew. Plot-wise, our patriotic guys want to join up, and any service branch will do. Trouble is they're too young to be accepted; nevertheless, they show goofy tactics that could soon make guns obsolete.
Story-wise, our red-white-and blue Kids soon tumble into a Japanese scheme to smuggle explosives into the US. Too bad it appears to involve Glimpy's (Hall) brother Phil (Brown). So, Americans, beware, the enemy could be anywhere. After all, it is 1942 and the war's still young.
Hall and the guys are in usual lick-speed form, along with rapid fire pacing. The flick does okay in combining the patriotic subtext with the Kids brand of knock-about humor, not letting either overwhelm the other. All in all, however, you may need a score-card to keep up with all the characters who keep ricocheting in and out. At the same time, note the great Korean-American actor Phillip Ahn (Joe Matsui) who got a ton of war-time work as the all-purpose Japanese enemy. I wonder if those Hollywood roles redounded into his personal life and safety. I hope not.
No, the flick's not front-rank Kids. Still, fans of the knock-about shouldn't pass this one up, not only for the usual laughs but for insight into how even Hollywood's goofiest productions were gearing up for The Big One.
(In passing- note how the Japanese are referred to in the movie as "Japs", a now politically incorrect term, but perhaps understandable at the time given the adversarial conditions. Much, I suppose, like "Krauts" for Germans.)
