Loose in London (1953)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Pretty good Bowery Boys entry has Sach (Huntz Hall) being informed that his rich uncle in Britain is about to die and needs to meet him to see if he's civil enough for the family money. Slip (Leo Gorcey), Louie (Bernard Gorcey) and the "other two" end up in Britain as well as they try and teach Sach the proper way to act but soon it appears some jealous family members might be trying to knock him off. Number thirty in the series is actually a refreshing change of pace as William Beaudine was replaced by Edward Bernds who helped co-write the screenplay with Edward Ullman. Ullman was a veteran of countless Three Stooges shorts and it's clear he brought some of that frantic pacing to this film. There were countless times during the film where you'd think you were watching a Stooges short simply because of how fast pace the film was. You can also see several examples of Hall doing a mixture of Curly and Larry including one sequence where he gives that angry squeal that Curly often gives after getting frustrated. We're also treated to much more physical humor and poor Louie takes the majority of the abuse including his scenes on a ship where he drinks a tad bit too much and ends up getting knocked out, which is why he ends up in London. Both Gorcey and Hall seem re-energized by the newer material and it's clear that Leo is back of full strength. I certainly wouldn't say this was one of his better performances in the series but at least it seems like he's into what's going on. One of the funniest bits in the series is when Hall thinks a stuffed fox on the wall is moving and he gets too close only to have the creature attack his nose. Those hoping to see the boys actually in London might be somewhat disappointed because everything that does take place overseas is simply shot against rear projection. That really doesn't hurt the film too much as everything is so fast paced and energetic that you can't help but enjoy all the madness going on. At 62-minutes the film goes by very quickly and the crazy ending will certainly have a smile on your face. LOOSE IN London is a long way from a classic but following such bad entries as the previous three films you can't help but see it as a mini-masterpiece for the series.
