King of the Newsboys

Republic Pictures which normally was in the B western business did this urban drama that more properly belonged over at Warner Brothers. King Of The Newsboys stars Lew Ayres as a rough young man from 11th Avenue looking to move up in the world to impress the girl next door Helen Mack. The problem is that Ayres ain't moving fast enough to suit her and she's starting to step out with gangster Victor Varconi.

Ayres starts a circulation business from one newstand and that has him branching out into publishing a racetrack sheet something like the old Morning Telegraph. That also has him bumping up against Varconi and Ayres has now taken up with society girl Sheila Bromley.

If this had been done at Warner Brothers, Jack Warner would have offered it on the spot to James Cagney and Cagney would have turned it down. In the economical tradition of Herbert J. Yates and Republic Studios, King Of The Newsboys looks like it was shot on a weekend commuting between the track and the studio for interiors.

Still the stars and a host of good character actors like Horace McMahon, Jack Pennick, and Billy Benedict pull it through.