I've seen this movie several times and enjoy it more with each viewing. It is what it is: a B movie with heart. How can you not love a film where the family dog kicks the key under the door to the misunderstood son, who has been locked in his room by his father? It's fun to see the Mauch twins in their street clothes, speaking in their mid-western accents and playing cops and robbers. Especially entertaining is Bobby's first scene in drag as the captive of some sleazy Carnival "Professor." As a window into the world of what it was like to be a kid in 1938, the film is a most nostalgic trip back in time.
Billy and Bobby Mauch rightfully dominate the screen with their presence and ability to toss off a line and make it ring true. They personify the ideal of American boyhood of the 30s: forthright, honest and respectful of their parents... no matter how clueless they may be. The antithesis of the Dead End Kids, also employed at Warner Bros. at the time. Other actors who stand out are Jackie Morrow, as the obnoxious Rodney Bitts and Philip Hurlick, as Verman (pronounced vermin).
The film accurately reflects the status of blacks at the time as domestic help and caretakers of the white folks. Still, Verman is an essential member of the Junior G-Man Club. At the film's end, the Mauchs turn over their reward money for capturing the bad guys so Verman can attend college.
The highlight of the proceedings is when the gang attends a party and performs The Big Apple, a dance craze of the time, at which Bobby executes a mean jitterbug. Too bad these boys - who could sing in a clear soprano and tap dance at age 8 - didn't appear in any musicals. The last of the Penrod series, as the variations on the mistaken ID thing seemed to have run their course. Not available on DVD at this time... petition Turner, Boxed Set with all three entries in the series!
Billy and Bobby Mauch rightfully dominate the screen with their presence and ability to toss off a line and make it ring true. They personify the ideal of American boyhood of the 30s: forthright, honest and respectful of their parents... no matter how clueless they may be. The antithesis of the Dead End Kids, also employed at Warner Bros. at the time. Other actors who stand out are Jackie Morrow, as the obnoxious Rodney Bitts and Philip Hurlick, as Verman (pronounced vermin).
The film accurately reflects the status of blacks at the time as domestic help and caretakers of the white folks. Still, Verman is an essential member of the Junior G-Man Club. At the film's end, the Mauchs turn over their reward money for capturing the bad guys so Verman can attend college.
The highlight of the proceedings is when the gang attends a party and performs The Big Apple, a dance craze of the time, at which Bobby executes a mean jitterbug. Too bad these boys - who could sing in a clear soprano and tap dance at age 8 - didn't appear in any musicals. The last of the Penrod series, as the variations on the mistaken ID thing seemed to have run their course. Not available on DVD at this time... petition Turner, Boxed Set with all three entries in the series!