Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Just what I expected

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This movie has all the trappings of kids film, but it is a who dun it. In a salute to Jackie Cooper, this gem was run recently on TCM but this movie has a whole ensemble cast with Cooper.It seems one of the kids in this has his father in jail for murder, a murder of which he is innocent. This one goes much deeper. It seems there is a real person who committed the crime. The kids here go through a long trail to find him. Then they invite him to the high school play they have put together to expose him.Though this was an MGM B picture without Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland, it has a much too serious tone for those stars. This one is well produced and the cast features some of the East Side/ Dead End Kids from other films. I found it quite engrossing as it is kind of a "Saved By The Bell " only this is the adult version and it is pulled off about as well as it could have been done.George Seitz who directed the Andy Hardy series did this one and it gives you the feeling of the veteran director's work.

Some of the best known juvenile stars from pretty disparate movie backgrounds got together for Gallant Sons, a comedy/drama in which the gang gets together to solve a mystery for which one of their fathers has been arrested.Gene Reynolds is the kid whom they are trying to help. His father is Ian Hunter who is a professional gambler, owner of a swank club who's been accused of murdering a woman who had something on him. The rest of the group is Jackie Cooper, June Preisser, Bonita Granville, Leo Gorcey, Tommy Kelly, and William Tracy. After a little Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew type sleuthing, when they have their suspect in mind the boys use a bit from none other than Master Will Shakespeare himself. As Hamlet said, 'the play's the thing where I'll catch the conscience of the king' and the kids put on a play to get their quarry rattled enough to confess. The juvenile cast is most appealing and Gail Patrick is also in the film, taking a break from her usual roles as the 'other' woman.This is a fine film from MGM's B picture unit. And for once MGM did a film about young people without Mickey and Judy getting together to 'put on a show'. Come to think of it, that is what the kids did here.

This is such a find and succeeds so far beyond any reasonable expectations one might bring to it, I'm tempted to rate it a "10."The only flaw, to my mind, was including Leo Gorcey in the cast of juveniles; but he is relatively toned down.Gene Reynolds was a most appealing actor playing in this age range. Here, we see him looking a little plump (especially in the derriere); but he was handsome and a fine actor. Too bad his career as a star didn't continue into adulthood. (He made a big name for himself behind the scenes, but that was a loss, because here and in such movies as "The Get-Away" he was an excellent actor.)The plot involves two friends, one of whose father is put in jail for a murder he didn't commit. The other's father is a newspaper man who printed the story.These two and their pals do some good sleuthing and come up with a suspect. To smoke him out, they put on a play, a la the play within the play in "Hamlet," which they feel will make him confess.It's all suspenseful, exciting, and fun.

For fans of mystery films, this is not the stuff of great whodunits, but if you like Saturday Matinee fare with an "A-Film" look (though not budget), then don't pass this up.It stars some of the cream of the period's juvenile actors, in their teenage prime. The only one who is older than his "star-kid" days is Jackie Cooper. (but he went on to a successful adult acting career, anyway-- mostly on TV).Bonita Granville, who received 2nd billing to Cooper, did her best (which is not much different than her 'Nancy Drew' roles at Warners). I've always been fond of Granville in supporting roles (or B-film leads), but a little bit of Bonita can go a long way. She wisely gave up acting before outgrowing her youthful charms.Gene Reynolds, who was billed 3rd, was easily the best of all of this film's young actors. As the central character, who's innocent father is imprisoned for a murder that all the teens set out to solve, he pretty much steals the show.Reynolds, a good-looking and accomplished young actor, made many films as a teenager but none as an adult. He did, however, go on to become an extremely successful (and extremely rich) TV producer-director. Reynolds would become best known for winning numerous Emmys for his long-running hit television series, "M.A.S.H.".Leo Gorcey, fresh out of the 'Dead End Kids', but before starting in Monogram's 'East Side Kids' series, isn't given much to say in this film, and is actually relegated to a role as one of the 'background' kids! He probably never forgot this experience. -- When Gorcey was adult enough to have a hand in producing the 'Bowery Boys' films, he made sure that he had ALL the lines, and that the other guys (except Huntz Hall) had only enough lines to discern them from the backdrops.Gail Patrick, the leading female adult in "Gallant Sons", has a pivotal role in this story playing Bonita Granville's mother. A much under-rated actress, Gail Patrick gives a lot to this supporting part. She received 4th billing, after Cooper, Granville and Reynolds.The film has the usual MGM polish, though none of the excesses of the Rooney-Garland juvenile extravaganzas produced in the same period. (And, thank goodness, no singing & dancing...)I thoroughly enjoyed "Gallant Sons", and I especially liked seeing Gene Reynolds handle the most complex role of any of the young characters. Certainly more endearing than Cooper or Gorcey, I can't help wondering why Reynolds didn't pursue acting as an adult. Could he have seen the coming bonanza that television producing would bring his way?