Hit the Road [1941] [DVD]

Tommy (Billy Halop), "Pig (Huntz Hall)," "String(Gabriel Dell)," and "Ape (Bernard Punsly)" are all inmates of a reform school, along with little "Pesky" (Bobs Watson),and they are orphan sons of deceased members of the Valentine Gang which was wiped out by Spike the Butcher (Edward Pawley) and his gang a few years earlier. The only survivor of the Valentine gang was Valentine and he was sent to prison.

Later the boys are paroled to the custody of a man using the name of James J. Ryan (Barton MacLane), but Ryan is really Valentine, who has served his sentence, and is living quietly on a stock ranch with his wife Mary Ryan (Gladys George). Ryan (now reformed) is trying to raise $50,000 to build a trade school to help unfortunate boys. But Tom isn't all reformed yet and meets up with a stranger who enlists him in a conspiracy to steal the money.

The stranger turns out to be none other than Spike the Butcher, the man responsible for killing Tom's and the other four boy's fathers. Tom raises a stink when he learns who Spike the Butcher really is, but Spike locks Tom and the others in a basement and goes off to kill Valentine / Ryan and steal the trade-school money. ~ imdb