East Side Kids: Let's Get Tough

It's a crying shame to have to report that the first DVD release of the East Side Kids movie Let's Get Tough! is less than pleasing, mostly because of the source that Alpha used for its master. The print looks decent enough, and there are no overly dark or badly faded stretches, but, oh, those missing frames! In just about every key scene and dialogue passage, there are enough fragments of movement and script absent to lose the intended joke or break up the suspense (or whatever the mood is supposed to be). The five chapter breaks are barely adequate, even for a movie as short as this one, and the running time is another issue, as this print doesn't clock in at 62 minutes (as listed) or anywhere near it, 53 being far closer to the running time of the disc. It's still a fun movie, but only about 70% as much fun as it might be -- and it's nice to see Robert Armstrong playing a tough New York cop on the Lower East Side. A lot of modern audiences will probably not appreciate the treatment of Japanese-Americans, who are depicted by a man as disloyal to the United States and every bit as much of an enemy as Japanese nationals in uniform. The five chapters, as previously mentioned, are hardly adequate for the movie, which is highly episodic and, between the comedy and the mystery, fairly complicated as well.