This film is an extra on the Alpha Video release of "Sin You Sinners". I am actually surprised, as "Dance Hall Racket" isn't even mentioned on the DVD cover--though it is clearly the better film ("Sin You Sinners" is REEEALLY bad). And, unlike "Sin You Sinners", a few of the 'dames' in "Dance Hall Racket" are actually nice looking ladies--whereas the ones in "Sin You Sinners" are enough to kill anyone's sex drive...permanently! Both films clearly earn scores of 1--though if I could give one lower to "Sin You Sinners", I would!
Considering that this film stars Timothy Farrell, you can safely assume the film is crap. This 'actor' has the distinction of having appeared in such classics of dreck cinema as "Test Tube Babies", "The Violent Years" and Ed Wood's masterpieces "Jail Bait" and "Glen Or Glenda"! Surely this is a record for awfulness that few, if any, actors can match! And, watching his smooth yet sleazy character is pretty entertaining, as I am a bad movie aficionado.
On top of Farrell, the film also is pretty weird because it was written by Lenny Bruce...and he even is one of the stars of this ultra-low budget movie! His wife, Honey, even got a starring role as a sexy B-girl. There is also a character named 'Punky' (Bernie Jones)--who might be one of the most obnoxious characters I've seen in many years. His routine is pretty sad--with a terrible fake Swedish accent, a goofy Pinky Lee-style hat and no discernible talent. He is meant as comic relief, but he's about as funny as watching a cat coughing up a hairball! He and most of the rest of the male actors are supposed to be sailors, but not a one of them looks or acts anything like you'd expect from such characters.
The film is about a dance hall that is run by Farrell. It's a clip-joint where drunks are routinely robbed and drugs are sold by this mobster who is cleverly called 'Boss' throughout the film! Along the way, you see a bit of skin--hot stuff for 1953 but very, very, very tame when seen today.
So with all these terrible actors and no budget whatsoever, is this movie any good? Well, no...but at least it's not 100% terrible--though this is hardly a glowing endorsement! The film was clearly meant as an exploitation movie--with cat-fights, skin, sleaze galore and dames...lots and lots of dames! And, if you like very bad exploitation films, it IS worth seeing--it IS fascinating viewing--sort of like a train wreck! However, for the average viewer, it's best to steer clear of this grade-z monstrosity--it's a real turkey.
By the way, although I really have seen very, very little of Lenny Bruce on screen, this film and his short "Thank You Mask Man" are enough to make me doubt those who have proclaimed him as a misunderstood genius. I certainly haven't yet seen anything resembling genius from his films. Perhaps you just had to catch his infamous stand-up act.
