Jackie Cooper's acting career started when his grandmother brought him along with her to open calls for movie extras. Appearances in "Our Gang" comedies, as well as an Oscar nomination in 1931 (the first given to a child actor) soon followed. But by 1940, the 18-year-old actor couldn't find his place in films. While not unhandsome, his looks didn't transfer well to a particular adolescent "type", and while talented, he didn't have the same bouyant charisma that Mickey Rooney relied upon to overcome his physical shortcomings. A spin as the meek "Henry Aldrich" in What A Life (1939) (a film adaptation of the popular radio show The Aldrich Family) proved unsatisfying, so Cooper spent the next year seeking tough guy roles, like a gunslinger in The Return Of Frank James (1940) and here, as a teen embroiled in an expose of an illegal gambling ring and a murder. The New York Times said Gallant Sons was "a satisfying, amusing and smartly paced mystery", but it wasn't enough to jump-start an adult career for Cooper. Electing instead to join the Navy, he took a few years to find his bearings again upon his Hollywood return.

By Violet LeVoit