PIC of the Week – Kid Monk Baroni
Article series by Ray Schillaci
Mind you, there is not a great deal to choose from this week. That’s not to say that I scraped the bottom of the barrel for this week’s PIC. I must confess, I have a soft spot for old juvenile delinquent films. I loved the original Dead End Kids in the 1937 classic Dead End starring a very young Sylvia Sidney, who would later become even better known for her role in Beetlejuice. The film also starred Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart. The Dead End Kids spawned a massive delinquent genre for over twenty years, which leads me to Twilight Time’s DVD of the 1952 sport/action/drama Kid Monk Baroni.
The film sounds like a Dead End Kids or Bowery Boys feature, but it’s far more serious fare incorporating juvies and the sordid world of boxing, gambling, money-grubbing “sex kittens,” and the mob. Instead of the Dead End Kids we get “The Billy Goat Gang”, which to my knowledge was their only appearance in a feature. What makes this film special from so many others is that a young, 20 year-old Leonard Nimoy (yes, Mr. Spock) stars in it! If that was not nostalgic enough, Jack Larson, best remembered as Jimmy Olsen from the George Reeves Superman TV series is also on hand along with Bruce Cabot from the original King Kong.
The real amusing part of this movie is the casting of Nimoy as a handsome woman chaser. He does an admirable job even though he doesn’t quite fit the bill. The film is a forgotten gem that Twilight Time has resurrected. We’re not just talking nostalgia here. Kid Monk Baroni is a good film, well acted and directed. But this is not one you can find for rent. A decent copy may be found on YouTube, but it will not be anywhere near as good as Twilight Time’s 480i picture with an audio of English Dolby Digital Mono.
You may get a decent picture on YouTube, but what you will not get is a very rare audio commentary with Leonard Nimoy, Jack Larson, and star Mona Knox. Other extras include:
¥ Video interview with Madelynn Kopple, actress and daughter of producer Jack Broder who also produced the “B” classics The Navy vs. The Night Monsters and Women of the Prehistoric Planet.
¥ Rare photos
¥ Promotional materials
¥ Collectible booklet with liner notes
If purchased at Amazon, you could only get it through a 3rd party seller and it would be Image Entertainment’s 2007 version, and due to it being OOP, the price has been jacked up from $55.40 to (I kid you not) $476! Twilight Time has a special offer right now…
Best Price – Twilight Time – $9.95 + shipping
