I would give the BOWERY BOYS a 10 rating anytime, because they made me laugh out loud as a kid, and still do to this day. These guys were off the charts, no shame, who cares --and let's do it our way. You have to give them a lot of credit. They're still around.
If you watched the series from the beginning, you'd notice that the 1940s series episodes were far different than the 50s episodes. The earlier installments were more comedy slash dramas, where the gang tackled gangsters and gobs between routines. The 50s films relied more on wild, campy situations, much like the THREE STOOGES, and rightly so because Edward Bernds, who wrote and directed the Stooges comedies, was called in to alternate with long time director William Beaudine, in addition to writing material. His trademark is everywhere here.
In this case, Bill Beaudine directed and Bernds did the script, and its real goofy stuff. In fact, there was a turnabout in the series, an experiment of sorts, that would have Sach (Huntz Hall) the subject of cartoonish-like gags; whether he suddenly possessed special powers, such as acquiring super strength or reading minds. How about a case of mistaken identity? Sach is mistaken by French professors as a distinguished scientist this time.
It gets better. After mistaking Sach for the doctor, the "learned" gentlemen send him, along with Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Louie to Paris, due to the fact that the real rocket scientist, Professor Le Beau, is missing! This is where all the insanity
begins along with Gorcey's rapid fire malaprops.
DO NOT forget Louie. Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) gets into the act and offers his lines of Yiddishisms, which are hilarious, ranging from schlemiel to mishugah! Basically, it's a three man show, at least for this episode.
Yes, the Bowery Boys got smaller, usually with just David Gorcey (as Chuck) and Bennie Bartlett (as Butch), and they're left back in New York while Slip, Sach and Louie head out to Paris. Ed Bernds later commented that both David and Bennie got used to being out of the picture... sometimes, because they were just hanging around anyway.
From here, the story blasts off in all different directions with Sach meeting up with beautiful Veola Vonn (as Mimi DuBoise) and also his evil "twin", an arrogant, egotiscal Sach --that only Huntz Hall could play to the max. In fact, PARIS PLAYBOYS is Huntz Hall's show and William Beaudine let the cameras roll on him, which was his style. Veola Vonn was married to Frank Nelson, the hilarious "yeeeeesssss" guy in tv and films.
Also keep watch for some Stooge gags, such as Slip's bow tie spinning like a propeller (which would usually happen to Shemp), Sach's hair spikes up (like Moe) and smoke coming from Louie's ears (as was the custom with Larry or Curly). This happens when the guys drink a spiked cocktail. There were also some well known character actors who would pop up in the episodes, in this case veteran actor Steven Geray, playing Gaspard. Geray, who was Hungarian, played various roles in scores of classic movies, prior to this film cast as a hotel manager in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. Also look for the great comedian, Fritz Feld, the mouth popper guy, playing Marcel. This was his second appearance in the series.
Plastered with some hilarious one liners, and wait for the ending. PARIS PLAYBOYS was officially followed by BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS. What a double feature! Restored in dvd box sets by Warner Brothers, which contain about 6 to 8 episodes per box. And a special thank you to TCM for rerunning the Bowery Boys once again.
