The junior G-Men led by Billy Mauch's Penrod will have you riveted to the screen during this hour long programmer made by Warner Brothers that was the beginning of a three-part series of second features based on stories by Booth Tarkington. The character of Penrod is better known to movie musical fans as the basis for the fun loving bratty little brother in the Doris Day and Gordon MacRae musicals "On Moonlight Bay" and "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", but here, he's an only child, the son of the seemingly much older Frank Craven and Spring Byington. Ironically, Byington was the original Mrs. Hardy in the "Andy Hardy" series, and it is pretty obvious that the two characters are not much different.
At the beginning of the film, Billy Mauch's Penrod is seen protecting a sweet little black boy, Philip Hurlic, the victim of the bullying Jackie Morrow. I wanted to hop through the screen in the sequence where Morrow keeps throwing something at poor Hurlic's head causing a little kid to cry simply for no reason. A good thrashing is what that kid needed, and when Morrow's father confronts Craven, it seems that Mauch is in for quite a thrashing for causing a brawl in public. But after Morrow squawks again, Craven realizes that he is the instigator behind the fights and this leads to a comical fight between the two fathers, setting the stage for Craven to be more understanding to his son.
But the boys who fight can quickly become the best of friends and that happens in the blink of an eye after a bank robbery results and sudden tragedy which leaves poor Hurlic an orphan. If you don't have tears in your eyes by the end of this scene, you need to check and see if you are a human being. It's up to the junior G-Men which now includes Morrow to expose the hiding place of this nasty gang, making them all heroes. Stymie Beard of the "Our Gang" series appears briefly as another black boy in the foundling home where Huric has been put to let Craven, Byington and Mauch that Huric is missing. it becomes apparent that Craven will have to swallow any prejudices that he has and find a proper home for the little orphan or possibly bring him into his own home.
The message that this film leaves today, 80 years later, is that prejudice is something that is taught and that little kids will make friends with other children regardless of race, and will go out of their way to protect them from bullies. Certainly, there are the obvious stereotypes utilized which will cause some eyes to roll, but for the most part, the black children presented in this film are your typical normal children, unspoiled until an act of violence disturbs their world. Bernice Pilot is touching as the family's black cook who becomes Huric's surrogate mom (along with Byington) after the disturbing scene where his real mother (Mildred Gover) is heartlessly gunned down. I will forever remember the drop of my jaw in that horrifying scene and the heartbreaking performance that Huric gives as his character realizes the tragedy that he has just witnessed.
At the beginning of the film, Billy Mauch's Penrod is seen protecting a sweet little black boy, Philip Hurlic, the victim of the bullying Jackie Morrow. I wanted to hop through the screen in the sequence where Morrow keeps throwing something at poor Hurlic's head causing a little kid to cry simply for no reason. A good thrashing is what that kid needed, and when Morrow's father confronts Craven, it seems that Mauch is in for quite a thrashing for causing a brawl in public. But after Morrow squawks again, Craven realizes that he is the instigator behind the fights and this leads to a comical fight between the two fathers, setting the stage for Craven to be more understanding to his son.
But the boys who fight can quickly become the best of friends and that happens in the blink of an eye after a bank robbery results and sudden tragedy which leaves poor Hurlic an orphan. If you don't have tears in your eyes by the end of this scene, you need to check and see if you are a human being. It's up to the junior G-Men which now includes Morrow to expose the hiding place of this nasty gang, making them all heroes. Stymie Beard of the "Our Gang" series appears briefly as another black boy in the foundling home where Huric has been put to let Craven, Byington and Mauch that Huric is missing. it becomes apparent that Craven will have to swallow any prejudices that he has and find a proper home for the little orphan or possibly bring him into his own home.
The message that this film leaves today, 80 years later, is that prejudice is something that is taught and that little kids will make friends with other children regardless of race, and will go out of their way to protect them from bullies. Certainly, there are the obvious stereotypes utilized which will cause some eyes to roll, but for the most part, the black children presented in this film are your typical normal children, unspoiled until an act of violence disturbs their world. Bernice Pilot is touching as the family's black cook who becomes Huric's surrogate mom (along with Byington) after the disturbing scene where his real mother (Mildred Gover) is heartlessly gunned down. I will forever remember the drop of my jaw in that horrifying scene and the heartbreaking performance that Huric gives as his character realizes the tragedy that he has just witnessed.
