EAST SIDE KIDS, FLYING WILD (1941) Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan & Joan Barclay | Mystery, Comedy | B&W

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Flying Wild (aka The East Side Kids in Flying Wild and Air Devils) is a 1941 American comedy thriller film directed by William Beaudine under the pseudonym "William West" as the fifth installment of the East Side Kids series which eventually totalled 22 films. The film is the team's first one in the spy film genre. The supporting cast includes Joan Barclay, Dave O'Brien and Herbert Rawlinson. It was distributed by Monogram Pictures.

Synopsis

Pals Skinny, Danny Graham, Peewee, Algy Reynolds, and Scruno all work at the Reynolds Aviation Company,[2] which is run by Algy's father. Muggs, however, is the only one of the kids who refuses to work, although he drives the gang to work in his jalopy. Once at the aviation company, he spends his time flirting with a flight nurse named Helen Munson who is in love with her test pilot boyfriend, Tom Lawson .

One day, when Tom's aircraft crashes at the plant airstrip, Reynolds suspects that the crash may have been the work of saboteurs. Later, at the airfield, Muggs jokingly appoints himself as the new operator of the flying ambulance owned by Dr. Richard Nagel and gives his pals a tour of the aircraft. Their playful games are soon brought to a halt by Nagel, the secret leader of a spy ring, who angrily orders the group off his aircraft.

Mr. Reynolds, certain that spies are working at the plant, asks Danny to act as a decoy so that the spies can be identified, and has him deliver to a downtown office a fake set of plans for a new bombsight. As Reynolds predicted, Nagel's men ambush Danny on his way to the office, but the plan goes awry when the detectives sent to trail Danny lose him. Danny eventually turns up unharmed some time later. When Muggs reports to Reynolds his suspicions that Nagel is behind the espionage ring, Reynolds dismisses the accusation as a product of the boy's imagination.

Not convinced by Reynolds that Nagel is innocent, Muggs and Danny begin their own investigation into Nagel, starting with a visit to the doctor on the pretext of a fake ailment. The visit turns up nothing, however, and when Danny and Muggs return to the hangar, a suspicious "accident" that was apparently meant to harm them leaves Peewee injured. While Peewee recovers at the hospital, Tom nearly loses his life when he is unable to make contact with the control tower for a landing. The controller is later found bound and gagged in the tower, prompting the kids to resume their investigation in earnest.

Helen provides the gang with further clues when she confirms that the ambulance plane was being flown on many unusual trips to Mexico, supposedly to deliver patients. When Helen tells the East Side Kids that a man named Forbes is the next "patient" to be transported, they rush to his house, where they find secret plans hidden in his head bandage. Disguising Danny as the transportee, the kids send Danny and Muggs on the flight to learn who is behind the espionage ring. Danny and Muggs soon find themselves in trouble, however, when Nagel, having found Forbes locked in his closet, tries to warn the pilot of the boys' ruse.

Meanwhile, Tom learns of the dangerous mission and goes after the flying ambulance in his own aircraft. Tom arrives in Mexico in time to save Danny and Muggs, and all the spies are arrested. Back at the plant, Reynolds rewards Muggs for his heroism by giving him a job as his driver, but his stint there is short-lived as he is soon distracted by a pretty woman and crashes the car with Reynolds in it.

Cast
The East Side Kids
Leo Gorcey as Muggs McGinnis
Bobby Jordan as Danny Graham
Sunshine Sammy Morrison as Scruno
David Gorcey as Peewee
Donald Haines as Skinny
Eugene Francis as Algy Reynolds
Bobby Stone as Louie
Additional Cast
Joan Barclay as Helen Munson
Dave O'Brien as Tom Lawson
George Pembroke as Dr. Richard Nagel III
Herbert Rawlinson as Mr. Reynolds
Dennis Moore as George
Forrest Taylor as Forbes
Robert F. Hill as Woodward
Mary Bovard as Maisie (uncredited)
George Eldredge as Man [Note 1]
Alden "Stephen" Chase as Jack, Henchman (uncredited)
Al Ferguson as Henchman
Jack Kenny as Henchman
Carey Loftin as Henchman
Bud Osborne as Henchman
Eddie Parker as Henchman
Dick Scott as Henchman

Directed by: William Beaudine
Written by: Al Martin
Produced by: Sam Katzman
Cinematography: Fred Jacklman, Jr.
Edited by: Robert Golden
Music by: Johnny Lange, Lew Porter

Production Company: Banner Pictures
Distributed by: Monogram Pictures
Release Date: March 10, 1941
Running Time: 64 minutes
Language: English