No Greater Glory (1934)

George Breakston plays a frail youngster who idolizes gang leader Jimmy Butler. The gang is modeled after an army, complete with uniforms and a flag. Breakston's ill health makes him something of an outcast, but he is allowed to join up as a private, the only enlisted soldier in an army otherwise composed of officers. Butler despises him for his weakness, but Breakston cannot see this, so great is his admiration and his need to belong. When their flag is stolen by a rival gang of older boys called "The Red Shirts," Breakston takes it upon himself to retrieve the banner. He invades the enemy camp in a driving rain and confronts their leader Frankie Darro, who repeatedly shoves the younger boy's head under water. Darro cannot break the boy's spirit and gradually comes to respect his pluck. Breakston catches pneumonia and is forced to remain in bed but, when he learns that Butler's gang is taking on the Red Shirts, he sneaks off to join the battle. The excitement is too much for him and he dies fighting for his cause. Butler, realizing the true meaning of strength and courage, tearfully watches as Breakston's mother carries away the limp body of her son.