Nicely crafted programmer. No one expects a Ben Hur from the likes of poverty row Monogram. Nonetheless, this 60-minute production is well-paced, engagingly acted, and shrewdly mounted within limits. In short, results again show the vibrancy of Hollywood's B-movie era.
Younger folks may not know about the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps. It was one of the 1930's New Deal programs meant to alleviate effects of the Great Depression. The government funded Corps employed jobless young men to tend parts of America's great natural forests. Here, city boy delinquents Coghlan and Arnold join up to escape the law. Coghlan amounts to a tough punk on his way to prison unless he reforms. Arnold is his slow-thinking buddy. The movie's main part dramatizes the changes brought upon the toughie by his experience as a Corps member. Of course, winsome sweetie McKinney also helps, (I really like their first meet-up). Anyway, we get an idea of the Corps' paramilitary structure, which makes sense given tough conditions on the outside.
Watch for Gunsmoke's Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) in a featured part early in his career. Then too, there's a colorful turn from Post as a ham actor, and from whoever the guy is playing the murderous hayseed, a really thankless role. However, I'm still wondering about tough street kids at movie's beginning who stroll the streets in suits and ties, no less. Maybe they're applying to Harvard or Yale. Such costuming seems odd to say the least. I guess the talent show that sort of drops in was meant to show the Corps' lighter side.
Still and all, it's a lively little flick, along with an informative peek into a difficult period gone by.
Younger folks may not know about the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps. It was one of the 1930's New Deal programs meant to alleviate effects of the Great Depression. The government funded Corps employed jobless young men to tend parts of America's great natural forests. Here, city boy delinquents Coghlan and Arnold join up to escape the law. Coghlan amounts to a tough punk on his way to prison unless he reforms. Arnold is his slow-thinking buddy. The movie's main part dramatizes the changes brought upon the toughie by his experience as a Corps member. Of course, winsome sweetie McKinney also helps, (I really like their first meet-up). Anyway, we get an idea of the Corps' paramilitary structure, which makes sense given tough conditions on the outside.
Watch for Gunsmoke's Doc Adams (Milburn Stone) in a featured part early in his career. Then too, there's a colorful turn from Post as a ham actor, and from whoever the guy is playing the murderous hayseed, a really thankless role. However, I'm still wondering about tough street kids at movie's beginning who stroll the streets in suits and ties, no less. Maybe they're applying to Harvard or Yale. Such costuming seems odd to say the least. I guess the talent show that sort of drops in was meant to show the Corps' lighter side.
Still and all, it's a lively little flick, along with an informative peek into a difficult period gone by.