Newsboys' Home
Cast & Crew
Harold Young
Jackie Cooper
Edmund Lowe
Wendy Barrie
Samuel S. Hinds
Edward Norris
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When his father, a small town sheriff, is slain by a big city gangster, "Rifle" Edwards becomes a homeless vagabond, drifting from town to town. Arriving broke and hungry in a large metropolis, he seeks food and shelter at the Newsboy's Home, where the kids force him to fight an amateur bout with the champ, Danny Shay, before he can eat. When Rifle knocks out Danny, the country boy is accepted into the gang of newsies. He goes to work selling the Globe , which is published by Howard Price Dutton, the founder and benefactor of the home. When Dutton dies, his daughter Gwen becomes the new publisher. Globe reporter Perry Warner is in love with Gwen, but they quarrel over her ideas about turning the Globe into a highbrow paper. Perry warns Gwen that she will ruin the paper, but she is stubborn and refuses to listen. Meanwhile, Tom Davenport, a crooked politician, buys the opposition paper, the Star , in order to swing the election for his candidates, and tries to bribe Perry to work for him. After Perry refuses, Davenport starts a ruthless circulation war, and Globe sales begin to fall off dramatically, but Gwen still refuses to heed Perry's advice and abandon her disastrous editorial policies, and in frustration, Perry quits and leaves on a trip. When the Globe can no longer support the Newsboy's Home, Danny and some of the boys go to work for Bartsch on the Star , leaving only Rifle and Sailor behind at the Globe . Perry returns him to find the Globe in dire straights and Gwen tearfully refutes her policies. Assuming editorship of the paper, Perry sets out to whip the Star at its own game. Growing bolder, Davenport hires mobster Francis Barber to escalate the circulation war, and Globe trucks are wrecked, newsstands smashed and burned. The war comes to a climax when a street fight erupts during which boys from the two rival papers meet in open combat, and police squads are required to quell the riot. Angered because one of his pals has been shot by one of Barber's men, Danny goes to Barber to quit his job while Rifle follows the gangsters to Barber, whom he recognizes as his father's killer. Barber and his men are preparing to take Rifle "for a ride" when Danny and the newsboys stage a sensational rescue in which they take Barber prisoner and turn him over to the police. With the newspaper war brought to a close, the Globe regains its popularity and Gwen and Perry are married.
Director
Harold Young
Cast
Jackie Cooper
Edmund Lowe
Wendy Barrie
Samuel S. Hinds
Edward Norris
Harry Beresford
Horace Macmahon
Irving Pichel
George Mckay
Elisha Cook Jr.
Harris Berger
William Benedict
Charles Duncan
David Gorcey
Hally Chester
Michael Conroy
Hi Roberts
Bill Cartledge
Billy Graff Jr.
Lee Murray
Lawrence Lathrop
Edwin Stanley
Joseph Crehan
Pat Flaherty
Peter Lynn
Matty Fain
William Gould
Edward Earle
Edward Gargan
Ralph Dunn
Sydney Grayler
Jerry Frank
Howard "red" Christie
Joe Devlin
Jimmy O'gatty
Russ Powell
Johnnie Morris
Kernan Cripps
Jack Egan
Francis Sayles
Frank O'connor
Heinie Conklin
Desmond Gallagher
Eric Wilton
Eric Efron
Crew
J. Ash
J. Bolger
John W. Boyle
Bernard B. Brown
Philip Cahn
John Ewing
Nate Ferber
William Fox
R. Frank
R. A. Gausman
Ken Goldsmith
Robert Gordon
Charles Gould
Charles Grayson
Hal Herman
Ben C. Kahn
Gordon Kahn
Gordon Kahn
Phil Karlstein
Wally Kirkpatrick
Irving Klein
Milton Krasner
Joseph Lapis
Arthur Lubin
Ernst Maas
John Martin
M. Mathison
D. Mcclatchy
John Mehl
Emily Moore
F. Moran
Jack Otterson
Vaughn Paul
Jack Pierce
Charles Previn
J. Rutchland
Nagene Searle
Robert T. Shannon
Frank Shaw
William Sickner
Ernest M. Smith
Frank Tate
Ray Taylor
William W. Watson
Seward Webb
George Webster
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although a print of this film was not viewed, the above credits and plot summary were taken from a cutting continuity included in studio files. According to materials contained in the MPAA/PCA Files at the AMPAS Library, Joseph I. Breen originally rejected this picture because in the initial story, the newspapers were depicted as sponsoring the violence in the film. Breen feared that this would offend newspaper publishers throughout the country and consequently, the story was changed so that the newspaper condoning violence was owned by a crooked politician. In the opening credits, the title of The Little Tough Guys preceeds the names of the actors who portray them. Although the continuity lists John Boyle as photographer, Film Daily lists Milton Krasner. For additional information about the series, see entries above for Little Tough Guys and Crime School and consult the Series Index under "The Dead End Kids," "The East Side Kids" and "The Little Tough Guys."
