Jail Busters

In this surprisingly energetic later Bowery Boys flick, the thirty-ninth in the series, Chuck gets a job as a reporter and goes undercover -- wait wait wait! Did I just say Chuck? As in the guy played by Leo Gorcey's brother who stood around in the background for over thirty Bowery Boys movies, sometimes not even getting a line?!? Holy crap they not only finally gave Chuck some lines, but he even gets an old leftover story from the Gabriel Dell days. I'll be damned. Anyway, the plot to this miraculous entry has Chuck going undercover at a prison, where he promptly has the stuffing beaten out of him by some toughs. So the rest of the Boys - Slip, Sach, and Butch - get themselves arrested so they can go into the pen to investigate. I use 'boys' only in reference to the official title of the gang, since these guys are all looking paunchy and middle-aged by this point.

So yeah, David Gorcey gets his moment to shine here. It will come as a surprise to no fan of this series that he doesn't make the most of it. His big part only lasts the first ten minutes or so of the film. Back to being wallpaper, Chuck. Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are up to their usual buffoonery. Leo also gets to play it serious in a cringeworthy dramatic hospital scene. Bernard Gorcey's Louie is fun, particularly when he tries to help the boys escape prison. Bennie Bartlett also gets a lot more lines this time around. Someone was being very charitable towards the lesser Bowery Boys in this entry. Good support from Barton MacLane, Lyle Talbot, Percy Helton, and Anthony Caruso. No pretty girls in this one. Poor Chuck. Back when Gabe got these kinds of stories there was always a pretty girl waiting for him at the end.

I liked this one quite a bit. There's a 'pep' to it that's lacking in this series around this time when it was showing its age more with every movie. There are some really funny scenes and a cute ending. The stuff with the psychiatrist is terrific. Definitely worth a look for fans, if for no other reason than to see David Gorcey finally get the spotlight for a brief moment.