The Gang's All Here (1941) User Reviews

A little bit of sinister cinema with a dash of comedy makes for a surprisingly enjoyable programmer!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 28 January 2014]

Don't expect banana-clad Carmen Miranda, polka dot wearing Alice Faye or leg-lifting Charlotte Greenwood. This is not at all related to that blockbuster musical from just a few years hence. This is a racket film where different moods move in and out and make the film fly by extremely fast.

When you start watching the first 10 minutes of this Monogram crime drama, you may be confused with the listing of Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland as the frequently paired co-stars, as their teamings were mostly on the light side. It does move into that direction when they take over the action, determined to unmask the villains behind a sabotaging ring out to discredit a trucking company. The actions of the villains are sinister and deadly but toss in the un-aging Darro and the bug-eyed Moreland, and comedy is sure to erupt.

Marcia Mae Jones, a forgotten teen-aged actress in such films as "These Three" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", is the romantic interest here, and in a scene with her beau (Jackie Moran), she goes through all the women who stood by important men in history, hesitating ironically only once when she mentions Alexander the Great, adding hesitatingly, "Mrs. Alexander the Great". It turns out that the beloved head of the trucking company (Robert Homans) knows more than he's let on, and the motivations behind the hijackings are rather surprising. But don't underestimate Darro and the seemingly scaredy-cat Moreland who is certainly braver than he realizes he is, especially when he takes on another stereotypical black character, a henchman of the villains played by Laurence Criner (given the silly name of "Ham Shanks").

At just an hour's running time, there's a lot to enjoy here, reminding me that sometimes the best gifts come in small packages and you could get them from a Woolworth's rather than a Bloomingdale's.

Pretty typical of the Darro-Moreland films.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 3 July 2018]

In the late 1930s into the 40s, Monogram Studios made a string of films starring Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland. What makes them unique is that Moreland was Darro's friend and partner in the film....and Moreland was black. While in their relationship Darro seems to be the boss, the fact that they'd be friends and treat each other as near equals is very unusual and quite progressive for the day.

The films they made together share two things in common. First, Darro, despite being a tiny guy, is very pugnacious. And, second, Moreland is more of a coward....going along with Darro but protesting all the way when times get tough!

In "The Gang's All Here", the pair look for work as truck drivers...unaware that one trucking company will stop at nothing to destroy the other. This means that the gang has no problem running them off the road or even killing them. So, it's up to the pair...plus an undercover man (Keye Luke) to get to the bottom of everything.

The casting here is interesting, as Moreland AND Luke both were veterans of the Charlie Chan series and appeared in several of these films together. Moreland plays a similar character to Birmingham Brown in the Chan films, though he's not quite as cowardly.

So is it any good? For a B-movie, it's decent....nothing great but not bad. The story is pretty good, however the Patsy character is pretty annoying and Darro's pugnaciousness is a bit silly at times. Overall it's worth watching....a decent time-passer and pretty comparable to the other Darro-Moreland pictures.

rival trucking companies duke it out

[ksf-2 · 5/10 · 30 March 2018]

Stars Fank Darro as "Frank"... takes a job as a truck driver, unaware of the shenanigans behind the scenes. Apparently the competitor has hired thugs to drive the company out of business, but Frank and sidekick "Jeff" need the money. A lot of repetition.. we keep seeing the same two trucks on the same stretch of road.... but in different incidents and different smashups. Then Mr. Lee shows up, and no-one knows what he's really doing there. Because of his shorter size, Darro had played the robot in "Forbidden Planet", although someone else did the robot's voice. Darro died quite young of a heart attack. This one is a Monogram Pictures shortie, at only 62 minutes. Which in this case is a blessing, since it's really not so good. Directed by Jean Yarbrough, who was known as king of the hacks, according to his bio here. Yarbrough and writer Edmond Kelso made twelve films together! It's just ok. No big names in this one.

For those with three-day memories...who like to know the story line.

[horn-5 · 18 April 2006]

Frankie O'Malley (Frankie Darro) and Jefferson Smith (Mantan Moreland) are broke and looking for work. In the help-wanted section of the newspaper (a quaint object that people used to read...when people could read)they see employment offered at the Overland Transport Company, a hauling firm owned by "Pop" Wallace (Robert Homans.) Unaware that a trucking war is going on and that Wallace's trucks are being wrecked and his men killed, Frankie and Jefferson apply for work and are hired by "Chick" Daly (Jackie Moran), mechanic at the garage, and by Patsy Wallace (Marcia Mae Jones), the daughter of "Pop" Wallace. On their first haul---Frankie is the driver and Jefferson is the swamper sent along to do the heavy lifting---they have a run-in with the hi-jackers, but escape after a race between the two five-ton trucks. But they aren't as lucky on their second trip as their truck is run off the road and the hi-jackers take them prisoner. Frankie recognizes the assailants as drivers for a rival trucking firm.

Meanwhile, George Lee (Keye Luke), Chinese undercover agent for the insurance company that is covering Wallace's claims, has learned that Wallace is working with Ray Saunders (Irving Mitchell), division superintendent for the insurance company. Saunders has a hold over Wallace and his forcing him to participate against his will.

Frankie and Jefferson, after a knock-down battle, escape for the hi-jacker's garage in a stolen truck---it was already a stolen truck before they stole it to make a get-away---and return to Wallace's garage to find him slugged and unconscious. Frankie and Jefferson decide to get the evidence that will clear Wallace before the police move in. Frankie, Jefferson, "Chick" and Patsy break into the hi-jacker's stronghold, but are captured by Saunders' men. Saunders has the foursome loaded into a truck and driven out into the country-side and killed.

Things look bleak indeed but the driver, as was the wont for muggs driving vehicles out into the country-side loaded with potential victims, breaks the speed limit and is soon being chased by motorcycle cops.

They're Still Out of Luck

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 17 April 2010]

"Two young friends decide to become truck drivers but find themselves thrown into the middle of a war between the trucking firm owner and a gang of saboteurs. Hoping to help their new employer, the two men set out to track down the head of the saboteurs. Their hope is to expose the gang leader and save the company from being bought out by a rival firm," according to the DVD sleeve summary. "The Gang's All Here" features some occasionally amusing but more often offensive observations on race and gender.

The "two men" are ambitious, tough Frankie Darro (as Frankie O'Malley) and his shiftless, cowardly companion Mantan Moreland (as Jefferson "Jeff" Smith). Mr. Darro and Mr. Moreland played these characters, the young tough and stereotypically lazy sidekick, in a series of films. A romantic subplot involves young mechanic Jackie Moran (as Chick Daly) and pretty girlfriend Marcia Mae Jones (as Patsy Wallace). While smaller in stature, Darro threatens to take Chick's chick, because Darro acts more manly.

*** The Gang's All Here (6/11/41) Jean Yarbrough ~ Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland, Marcia Mae Jones, Jackie Moran

Good run of the mill hijack thriller with two under rated stars

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 13 August 2005]

This is the story of two friends who end up driving for a trucking company that has become plagued by hijackings. As things go on one falls for the daughter of the company owner, things get complicated as the hijackings turn deadly and the friends realize that there is much more going on than meets the eye.

Montan Moreland was paired several times with Frankie Darro. What was great about this was that Moreland was always portrayed as Darro's equal even if he was just being comedy relief. This put a nice spin on things and proved that you could get away with a fair representation of how people got along. Better for the audience was the fact that the interplay became sharper and more real. We end up with two friends talking to each other and not two actors.

The movie itself is not one of the best that Moreland and Darro did together. The plot is a bit herky jerky and there was one or two times that I thought things were being kept in motion just to meet a required running time. Allowing for that this is a good little thriller and certainly worth a bag of popcorn and an hour of your time. You may not remember it three days later but you certainly will enjoy it while its on.

The gang may be here, but it's nothing to get excited about

[bensonmum2 · 4/10 · 27 October 2008]

A series of truck hijackings threatens to put the Overland Transport Company out of business. In fact, the company is so desperate, they agree to hire the inexperienced team of Frankie O'Malley (Frankie Darro) and Jeff Smith (Mantan Moreland) to be their saving grace. But who's really behind the hijackings? When Frankie and Jeff find themselves on the wrong end of a gun barrel, it soon becomes apparent just who the bad guys really are.

It's a good thing that The Gang's All Here only runs 61 minutes. Anymore and it would have overstayed its welcome. Oh, it's okay I suppose in an inoffensive sort of way, but it's an awfully lifeless way to spend an hour. While some of the movie is mildly entertaining, most scenes are just plain old dull. The only real entertainment comes from Mantan Moreland. He's one of those few people with enough talent and screen presence to make anything worth watching at least once. This is the first movie I've seen where Moreland is paired with Frankie Darro. I've noticed that the two made a few more movies together, but I'm not sure how much of a hurry I'm in to seek them out. Darro did absolutely nothing for me. In fact, I more often than not found his on-screen persona annoying. The rest of the cast is unremarkable and completely unmemorable. The plot – boring is the first word that comes to mind. And the supposed action sequences are anything but. Maybe there are better Darro/Moreland movies out there, but it will be a while until I'm up for discovering them.

Mantan Moreland, Frankie Darro -- and Keye Luke!

[CatherineYronwode · 7/10 · 12 April 2007]

While this comedy does not feature the complex screenplay of "Up In the Air," the best of the Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland team-ups, it is certainly an above-average comedy for its time -- that being a time of segregation laws and the dawning of the nascent civil rights movement. And as if a Black/White buddy movie were not enough of a ground-breaker for 1941, this film also features the wonderful Chinese-American actor Keye Luke as an insurance investigator. Nowadays dual-racial and cross-cultural buddy movies are so common as to hardly merit special notice, but long before such famous films as "48 Hours" with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, savvy audiences were amazed at the comedic interplay between Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland. I sincerely believe that in their own way, fun little movies like this laid the groundwork for racial tolerance and an end to segregation laws -- but that is not the only reason to watch them -- the truth is, Mantan Moreland is one of the great comedians of the 20th century, and every film he made is worth a look.

Dull!

[JohnHowardReid · 3/10 · 30 March 2018]

Director: JEAN YARBROUGH. Original screenplay: Edmond Kelso. Photography: Mack Stengler. Film editor: Jack Ogilvie. Settings: David Milton. Art director: Charles Clague. Music director: Edward J. Kay. Production manager: Glenn Cook. Sound recording: Glen Glenn. Producer: Lindsley Parsons.

Copyright 11 June 1941 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: not recorded, but probably similar to copyright date. No recorded Australian theatrical release. 6 reels. 63 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: The good guy's trucking firm is sabotaged by the bad guy's rival operation.

COMMENT: I are not surprised I can find no record of this film's release anywhere, though American exhibitors, keen to save a few bucks, no doubt used it as a first half for a particularly strong "A" feature. True, the cast is not uninteresting (though Robert Homans looks uncomfortable out of his customary cop uniform), with both Keye Luke and Mantan Moreland giving it a bit of luster.

But the script is on the dull side. Worse, its lack of vitality becomes progressively compounded by Yarbrough's flat, lifeless direction with its reliance on long, static takes. Worse still, production values are minimal. If ever a movie looked like it had been created in the proverbial phone booth, The Gang's All Here is it!

One Truck Drivers Opinion

[ehrldawg · 7/10 · 15 October 2012]

A trucking company owner tries to get out of debt by killing some truck drivers.

This is a neat movie. Well written ,directed,acted, and cast. The interracial angel was particularly heartening. It just goes to show,crime doesn't always pay.

Pat Gleason drove the International big truck.

Frankie Darro drove the Brockway big truck.

Frankie Darro and Pat Gleason were permanent A list actors.

Marcia Mae Jones was hot!!

erldwgstruckermovies.com

compelling yarn about tough truck-drivers and a dominatrix

[Cristi_Ciopron · 8/10 · 12 May 2016]

An action comedy directed by Yarbrough, and gathering Darro, Moreland, Marcia Mae Jones, Keye Luke, Moran, Homans as a dishonest patriarch, and Laurence Criner as Ham Shanks, the black henchman. The script's ideas about dignity and honor seem very conventional (the dubious morality of exonerating the compromised oldster), so there's enough silliness and amorality, coldly registered and assumed. The humor is light, but the main characters do face death. Today, this may seem indifference, perhaps it was a tougher mind. This trend of making crime comedies very light has vanished since. But even back in the day some protested against the mindless playfulness of the crime comedies.

Luke plays a distinguished detective, who's ahead of everyone else in understanding the situation.

Moreland, who offers the acting highlight (as in almost every other movie he has been in), is sadly billed 5th. But he has been given the 2nd lead, because he's more than the truck-driver's sidekick. For the early '40s, 75 yrs ago, Mantan was Frankie's sidekick, assistant, the unworthy carrier of his shield, nowadays we perceive him as the buddy, indeed like a foreboding of the '80s crime movies; there's an implied more positive attitude toward other races in this movie, see the Chinese detective, also the fact that Criner has been given a part, though a not very flattering one, yet he managed to make a strong impression.

Both Darro and Luke are very likable. As in other comedies, Darro and Moran are contrasting characters, with the 2nd being the sillier, and the 1st, more determined, sterner, tenacious, pushing.

The usual couple of Marcia and Moran is relegated to the supporting cast. Even in terms of acting, she was way better.

Much of the movie's genuine fun should be credited to its director, who knew how to handle light humor (the girl educating the mechanic, or Frankie giving Mantan a driving lesson in the garage).

Most of what Monogram had best to give is here.

Very funny Mantan Moreland, Keye Luke, Frankie Darro

[ctyankee1 · 17 July 2012]

I like this movie with Frankie Darro, Mantan Moreland and Keye Luke. It was funny and interesting. Mantan Moreland is so funny in all the movies he makes, he has those big eyes that pop out at you when he is scared. Keye Luke also played a part with humor.

The story is about trucks that get hijacked and who benefits from the stolen and damaged trucks and the products inside.

I like Frankie Darro but I thought he played a very bossy part and acted like a bully at times with Jeff (Mantan Moreland) his friend. Darro is a little bit of a man who thinks he is a pitbull.

One of the things I did not like was that Jeff (Mantan Moreland)called Darro "Mr Frankie" in the movie. Moreland is black and is never called "Mr Jeff" in the movie.Mantan had to address Darro like he worked for him or that Frankie Darro was his boss. In the beginning neither of them had a job, they were just friends so this highhanded way to address his white friend was improper. The end of the movie had a lot of action.

Great cast with some clever dialogue

[morrisonhimself · 9/10 · 9 February 2020]

Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland made a bunch of films together, but since they seem to play different characters in each, the movies can't be really considered a series.

Years ago, some commentator noted that when these movies got re-made, the Moreland character was made white and played by white actors. It means, among other things, that Mantan Moreland played more than a stereotype.

Keye Luke's character was also not a stereotype, and the producers of this picture deserve a lot of credit for avoiding such things.

It bothered me how often the Darro character was bossy, even harsh, to the Moreland character, but ultimately the two were friends.

The rest of the cast is first rate, and the dialogue is often funny. Making it all even more enjoyable was that frequently the Darro character smiled or even laughed at some comment by the Moreland character.

"The Gang's All Here" title was used by other movies, and at least some of this plot was used also, but this is for fun, and probably needn't be compared to great classic cinema. But, it is good fun, and I recommend it -- except for one problem: The print at YouTube is terribly dark and much of the action is lost because of that. Still, it can be enjoyed with tolerance and patience.