In their later films, I always marveled that the boys in The Bowery Boys were in their 30s. By the time the series ended, they were nearly 40! And, since the gang join the navy, you have to wonder if maybe they were too old to enlist back in 1951!
When the story begins, the Boys have been collecting for charity. However, two crooks dressed as sailors jump Slip and Sach and steal the money. To make it worse, there's no sign of the crooks and folks in the neighborhood begin wondering whether Sach and Slip stole the money and just blamed it on 'some sailors'. Given that the police seem to have no leads, the gang decides to join the navy and look for the crooks. After all, one has an unusual tattoo...and if they find the tattoed man, they'll solve the crime.
I always find it funny how easy it is to join and quit the service...as Abbott & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges, Martin & Lewis, and the Bowery Boys join up only to civilians by their next movie! I also find it funny that the Boys want to find two specific sailors...at a time when there were probably a couple hundred thousand sailors (give or take)!
So is this any good? Well, like all the Bowery Boys films, it's NOT a film the average peson will enjoy. However, fans of the series should enjoy it well enough. While I am a bit of a fan, I must admit that the story makes less sense than usual, Sach might even be stupider than usual AND the inclusion of a 'funny' talking parrot is a mistake.
