Penrod and Sam

Aimed at the pre-teen set, this is the first of three "Penrod" films made at Warners in the late 30s. The series was based on the Booth Tarkington Penrod books that were written in the WWI era. For this series the settings were updated to the late 1930s.

This is a kid's film, set in a world where rules are actually respected, and while parents and kids come into conflict with each other, both sides actually trust and respect each other. Its a world where you know that the good guys will win, and you know who the good guys are too. This might be hard to take seriously today, but there is enough fun, warmth, whimsy and high spirits to make this a good time at the movies.

The kids are in charge in this film, but only to a point. They have their secret "Jr. G Men" club, a club so secret that Penrod is reluctant to tell his father about it. But when pressed to do so he not only tells his father about the club but swears him in as a member. And his dad not only takes the secret oath, he actually wears the official badge everywhere he goes! This example of parental affection is part of the film's charm. And while the adults take the G Men more seriously than would happen in the real world, its the way kid's would want it to be and this is, after all, a kid's film.

Billy Mauch is delightful as Penrod. Or is it sometimes his twin brother, Bobby? Bobby was a stand-in on his brother's films, but later the boys confessed that they played the twin game of switching identities on the set and nobody, including the director, was the wiser. Which ever Mauch twin is on screen, he had a wonderful way with a line and a look that could make even sometimes stilted dialog ring true.

The always excellent Harry Watson is Sam. Unfortunately for Watson, Mauch was the star, so he doesn't get the attention he deserves. Nor did he ever, really. Harry was one of many Watson siblings who worked in films. He was a boy who knew how to play a bit or an entire scene and always make it right. He stood out in most everything he did, but for some reason he was never a big star.

A boy by the name of Jackie Morrow is Rodney Bits, the enemy of the G Men until the bank robbers come into the picture, and then Rodney reforms and becomes one of the good guys. There is scant information available about Morrow and that's too bad. He had good screen presence and turns in an excellent performance in this film.

And little Philip Hurlic is also in top form. He's bright, he's funny, and he's believable when he cries at the death of his mother, something that is often difficult for even adult actors to do convincingly. The wonderful "Our Gang" series often is credited as being the only place in movies of the 20s and 30s where African-American children had a chance to be treated as equals with the white children. But in this film Hurlic's character is treated with the same respect given to the rest of the children. He's younger than the other boys so he hasn't earned full membership in the G Men at the beginning of the film. But he becomes a full member before the film is ended. I noticed only two aspects of questionable taste about how his character is presented. First, the character's name is Verman. Although not spelled the same, its pronounced that same as Vermin. And second, at the end of the film Penrod's dad tells him that he can be a banker, a doctor or a lawyer when he grows up. I was delighted to hear something like this in a film from 1937. But then Verman says he doesn't want to be any of the those things so Penrod's dad asks him what he does want to be. "A Pullman Porter" he says with strong conviction. Oh well. We can't have everything.

"Penrod and Sam" is quick and tightly edited. At 64 minutes its just right and undeserving of the negative write up it gets in "The Warner Bros. Story" book. And I confess to thinking that any film with Spring Byington has to be worth watching.

School bully Rodney Bitts keeps picking on little Verman. Penrod Schofield (Billy Mauch) comes to the rescue to fight Rodney. Rodney goes crying to his powerful father who owns the local bank and makes up all kinds of lies about Penrod's criminal gang. Penrod's father works for Rodney's father. In reality, Penrod leads the local boys in a crime solving G-Man group to catch real criminals in their neighborhood. When the bank gets robbed, Verman's mother gets killed in the shootout. The bank robbers and the boys get tangled up.

It's pre-Code and it's a book. Director William Beaudine made the previous silent film adaptation. It's all very Our Gang like for awhile and then somebody's mother dies. That's dark. It's Disney dark. It's a little jarring. While keeping it light would have been better, this is still fine for the kids, I think.

First: every other review manages to get some details wrong, so don't believe everything you read in reviews (including this one).

Second: I read all three Penrod books last year (2024), and this movie is not from any of them. While it's not unusual to make some differences in a movie adaptation, this is really an entirely original story, using the same names and circumstances. For a movie which actually represents those books, see the 1931 PENROD AND SAM.

Third: don't be offended by African-American roles, when watching them 90 years later. Delia is shown as hard-working and authoritative, Verman is shown as receiving (and deserving) the full loyalty of his fellows -- even though he is much younger.

Fourth: Yes, his name is Verman (or didn't you read the books?). And absolutely nobody makes fun of him for it. Would the real world be so kind .... Now that we've handled 21st-century political intrigue, shall we see this as a movie? It's kiddie fare, with about as much reality as Gomer Pyle. Despite that, the adults manage to pull some dignity out of their line reads, and there's no denying the charisma of the junior leads. It isn't great cinema, but it is tightly paced with enough varying shots to keep it from being too dull. Like most junior movies of this time, the juniors seem more like little adults than kids -- and the adults sometimes seem little more adult than the kids. But Frank Craven really elevates the father-son dynamic, and the mother figures all come across with believable dignity. At 64 minutes, it largely feels like two episodes of a TV series thrown together, like a 1930s Leave It To Beaver.

The first of a series of films from Warner Brothers B picture unit based on Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories is this item with Billy Mauch, Penrod and Sam. Playing Penrod's parents are Frank Craven and Spring Byington.

Mauch's gang are all tried and true members of the junior G-men club and they put aside all their usual kid rivalries when publc enemy Craig Reynolds comes to town, robs the bank and in the process kills young Philip Hurlic's mom.

Sadly young Hurlic's performance conforms to all the racial stereotyping. But it's still a poignant especially after his mother is killed.

As for the climax Reynolds better hope he gets the chair. All the ribbing he'll take about those junior G-men.