Sheriff Joseph Crehan is killed by escaping criminal Edward Norris. His son, Jackie Cooper is left with a few bucks. He follows the harvest east and winds up in New York, where he sells Samuel S. Hind's paper, and sleeps in the newsboy's home Hinds has established. But gangster Irving Pichel has cleaned up, is running for office, and has bought Hinds' direct rival. When Hinds dies, his daughter, Wendy Barrie, tries to make it a respectable paper, despite the urgings of editor Edmund Lowe. Pichel's editor pours on the competition, including recruiting newsboy Elisha Cook Jr. From Miss Barrie's paper. As the paper starts to go under, others of the newsboys also flee, but Cooper and a few others stay loyal.
Universal decided to go into the tough street kid market, and recruited a few of the Dead End kids for their Little Tough Guys series, like Billy Benedict and David Gorcey. Although directors Harold Young and Arthur Lubin seem to have some issues with the performances, it's a decent piece of juvenalia, with a couple of couples about loyalty amidst the street fighting and shooting.
Universal decided to go into the tough street kid market, and recruited a few of the Dead End kids for their Little Tough Guys series, like Billy Benedict and David Gorcey. Although directors Harold Young and Arthur Lubin seem to have some issues with the performances, it's a decent piece of juvenalia, with a couple of couples about loyalty amidst the street fighting and shooting.
