User reviews

This Bowery boys entry is one where the production code was slightly ignored as the "Mata Hari" character loses a dress and is not wearing a slip; she's wearing a teddy. The Old Production code prohibited showing the female form that revealingly, but that was a crazy idea. Leon Askin was here and playing a version of the middle European villain he always played; whether it was in Hogan's Heroes, What did you do in the War Daddy?, or One,Two, Three. The difference here was he was not facing Bob Crane or James Cagney; he lost to Huntz Hall. It is light hearted fare and should be taken as what it is, a B-movie and the equivalent cinematically of a hot dog.

The biggest disappointment to me in Spy Chasers was that Bernard Gorcey had an opportunity to play a dual role and it was passed up. I would like to have seen him as his own brother as the plot called for.

But we never see General Dumbrowsky in this Bowery Boys film. But the princess of the eastern European country that Louie Dumbrowsky hails from comes to the fabled eatery on the Bowery and asks for help because some spies are trailing her and she wants the tail removed. Of course Bernard Gorcey and the Bowery Boys comply with her wishes.

Princess Lisa Davis further wishes that the Boys help out her father regain his throne. Louie's brother across the sea is a general in the underground army and the delivery of half a coin, matched with the one she and her father the king played by Sig Ruman has will signify that the king should return to claim his throne.

But he's got a pair of fifth columnists in his own entourage in the persons of Leon Askin and Veola Vonn working real hard to see this doesn't happen. Vonn works her wondrous charms on Huntz Hall and he does some things to sabotage their efforts.

As this is a fictional Eastern European country, we can assume that the people who threw the king out were Communists. In 1955 there were still several monarchs and heirs to the crowns of eastern European countries in exile who probably might have been heartened to see one of them start a successful counterrevolution. But they might have been surprised at the source of the help that Sig Ruman got.

All in all your average Bowery Boy comedy.

Much later chapter for the Bowery Boys stories.. Leo Gorcey dropped out pretty soon after this, and they were ALL done in 1958. This one DOES have Gorcey's real dad and brother, and of course, Sig Ruman, who had a steady paycheck from the Marx Brothers' films. and watch for Leon Askin, who was General Burkhalter on Hogan's Heroes. when a princess runs into the shop to hide out from evil-doers, the BB band together to help out the royal family. But not everyone on the royal entourage is loyal to the royal! as usual, the boys stumble over themselves and there's the usual mix of physical and verbal mumbling about. and this one has an annoying little girl that shrieks. the usual antics, misunderstandings, goof-ups but thing usually work out by accident in a Bowery Boys film. Directed by the usual BB director, Edward Bernds. Its okay. shown occasionally on Turner Classics.!

The Bowery Boys are in fine form in "Spy Chasers". There are quite a few laughs in this movie. The story is good as is the supporting cast. This is one of the Bowery Boys movies that I will always stop and watch when I see it on.

Princess Ann (Lisa Davis), daughter of a deposed European king (Sig Ruman) asks Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey) for help because spies from her home country are following her. It seems that Louie's brother Felix is a General in Truania working underground to restore the king. The princess gives a half coin to Louis which, when joined with the other half, signals that the king can return to Truania. But there is treachery and skulduggery afoot and it takes the Bowery Boys to sort it all out. A highlight scene is when a little tomboy (Linda Bennett) accidentally ends up with the half coin. It often happens that in B movies one can see both actors on their way down and actors on their way up. Sig Ruman was such a talented actor that this role must have been a let down for him. On the other hand, as a fan of both The Naked City and Twelve O'Clock High television shows, it was fun seeing Paul Burke early in his career in an uncredited bit part as a messenger from Truania. This is a pleasant and enjoyable Bowery Boys outing.

Spy Chasers (1955)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Number thirty-eight is certainly a step up in the series has a King and Princess from a fake European country find themselves hiding in the Bowery after being kicked out of the country. It turns out Louie (Bernard Gorcey) is the brother of a rebel who is fighting to bring the King back but in the meantime Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) must fight the bad guys who plan on double-crossing the King. Considering how fair to poor the previous few films were I really wasn't expecting too much out of SPY CHASERS but it actually turned out to be pretty good and in the end it delivered more laughs than many in the series. The plot is certainly a very stupid one with one big hole after another but then again it's doubtful anyone expected anything better. The film does a nice job with the humor as it comes in a variety of ways but the highlights are when the boys are making fun of Col. Alex Baxis (Leon Askin) who happens to be a bad guy. The stuff that happens when Slip and Sach first meet him is priceless and gets plenty of laughs. Another terrific sequence is a later scene when Slip and Sach come up with a plan to get the Princess back after she's been kidnapped. This includes going into a restaurant where the owner is played by Roger Corman regular Mel Welles. The insults start flying and contain some of the best jokes in the series and Sach's "act" is without question one of the funniest bits you'll see in any of the films. Both Gorcey and Hall seem re-energized as both of them are working at a very fast pace and both deliver what they do best. Gorcey has some very funny lines this time out and Hall plays dumb as well as he can. Daddy Gorcey also does a pretty good job in his role but it's a shame the screenplay didn't include a scene of his brother, the General in battle as it would have been great seeing this "brave" brother. Askin is fun as the bad guy as is Veola Davis in the role of the vixen who uses Sach to carry out her orders. SPY CHASERS certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's a decent enough of an entry and I'm sure fans of the series will have a good time with it.

Princess Ann visits Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey). Louie's brother is a military leader working to return her family back to the throne. Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall), Butch, and Chuck join Louie at a meeting with the King who wants to make Louie's shop a communication center.

It's a Bowery Boys screwball comedy. It's got their usual stupidity. It is nice to have a spunky little girl deliver some fresh energy. She plays well with the boys. She's smarter and more capable than them. It's too bad that she only has a couple of scenes. She steals the scenes right out from under the boys.

I've seen quite a few of the Bowery Boys films and must admit that they are a very uneven lot. A few are very good....a few are terrible...and many fall somewhere in between. Of all their films, I think one of their weakest is "Spy Chasers"....mostly because it's not all that funny and the writing is weak.

When the story begins, you learn, rather out of the blue, that Louie is originally from some fictitious country...and his country is in the middle of a revolution and counter-revolution. For some reason, again it's rather inexplicable, the gang get pulled into the middle of this and the gang are trying to restore the King to his throne....though WHY is totally uncertain. Along the way, Sach is naturally an easy victim for a vamp who hypnotizes him to do her evil bidding. What's to come of all this odd intrigue? Who really cares??!!

While I'd never consider the writing for a Bowery Boys film to be brilliant (after all, they were quickly made B movies), this one seems more rushed and nonsensical than usual. Making Louie's birth place some weird kingdom seems to be reaching....especially since this was never mentioned before and because his brother is a general in the country's army. Plus, it is really odd that Louie had no knowledge of any revolution nor counter-revolution until the King's agents told him about this. But the biggest problem here isn't the contrived plot but a much more important thing...it's just never funny. The writers forgot to include laughs and just having Sach hypnotized alone isn't funny....as they never really do anything with this plot device.

Overall, this is a pretty limp and silly film....even by the Boys' standards. Watch if you are a die-hard fan, otherwise you might want to see one of their better films such as "Crashing Las Vegas" or "Ghost Chasers".

As I have written earlier, Ed Bernds, who was the director for the THREE STOOGES, pooled his resources and poured lots of stooge antics into the later Bowery Boys films. Actually, by this stage in the series, the guys just let it ride, putting insane Huntz Hall out front to lead the charge. The story is also rather clever as it all unfolds, Bowery Boys style.

Slip and Sach come to the aid of Princess Ann (Lisa Davis) from a small country called Truania(?) --where Louie happened to be born?? There's some nasty business brewing with the introduction of crafty Colonel Baxis (well played by popular character actor Leon Askin), who is trying to overthrow the kindly king (noneother than Sig Rumann).

Rumann was a staple in many classic films and plays well off Huntz Hall. The magic to many of these later episodes was the introduction of some popular actors who you can tell were having a lot of fun. In fact, behind the scenes Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall had a blast and producer Ben Schwalb commented that they both became their roles and knew what would work at the particular moment.

Many years later, director Ed Bernds added that he had his fair share of disagreements with Leo over material, and it was tough going. He sat down one day and watched one of the films being rerun on tv, one that he directed, and admitted Gorcey was right the whole time. Had they did it any other way, the film would have been flat. Credit a lot of ad libs also, goofy lines that were just thrown into the mix. The masters of this were actually Laurel and Hardy, who came up with ideas as they filmed their scenes.

There's also a super running gag here with the introduction of half of a mysterious rare coin, which will identify the rightful couriers to the king --with the other half! Rather ingenious.

As always, theres some laugh out loud fight and busted furniture scenes. Here, Slip and Sach turn up at a greasy spoon cafe run by a guy named Nick, played by noneother than Mel Welles. Welles was a staple in Roger Corman's cult films, such as LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.

He is perfect for this role and trades some super one-liners with Sach.

Nick is connected to the bad guys and Sach retaliates, claiming he's gotten food poisoning from his lousy burgers. He gags, chokes, drops to the floor, going nuts and manages to wreck the place in about thirty seconds. Nick gets slugged and Princess Ann -- being held captive by him -- is freed! Huntz Hall is totally BANANAS and if you watch Leo Gorcey closely, he is trying very hard not to burst out laughing, which was an unwritten rule not to be broken in the series.

There's also some very good sets in this production, adding a more realistic side to the elite royalty scenario. Bottom line, it's a wild free for all until the king's enemies are finally exposed and brought to justice, which usually is a konk to the head!

Author Leonard Getz, who wrote the most recent book on the Bowery Boys, called "From Broadway to the Bowery" noted that throughout the series the gang's home life is debatable, including Louie. They're basically just sitting around the sweet shop waiting for something to happen, such is the case here!

Louie, in earlier episodes, was apparently married, yet generally sleeps in a back room alone. The rest of the gang it would seem live on the street, and that includes Slip and Sach.

Earlier episodes briefly saw Slip's mom (played by Mary Gordon, better known as Sherlock Holmes housekeeper), and he also had sister, but by this stage, they're long gone. Here, Louie has a brother called Felix --but he's nowhere to be found???

Yah, it's all insane... but we love these goofy guys and will never ever forget them.

Do not miss this one. Remastered by Warner Brothers, generally allowing 6 to 8 episodes per box set.

The thirty-eighth film in the Bowery Boys series is a lot of nonsense about the fictional European kingdom of Truania, a coin split in half, and Louie's brother that we never see -- a Truanian general named Felix. Pretty tired movie with some much-needed assistance from Sig Ruman and Leon Askin. Lisa Davis is the pretty princess who brings Louie and the Boys into the whole mess. As for the gang, Huntz Hall is once again trying too hard and Leo Gorcey seems to be phoning in his malapropisms and yelling at Hall. Bernard Gorcey plays a major part in this one but he doesn't have any particularly funny bits. David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett are also here, barely ever speaking as usual. Best scenes involve the little girl who wants some candy ("Do you want to hear me scream?"). The series was past its prime by this point so you take your laughs where you can get them. The 'boys' all look like they're pushing forty and all seem content to go through the motions. It's nothing great but watchable if you're a fan of the series.

Beautiful brown-eyed Lisa Davis (as Princess Ann) follows Huntz Hall (as as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) into the "Sweet Shop" and asks to see proprietor Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky). Ms. Davis reveals she is a blue-blood from Louie's home country, the "Kingdom of Truania". We learn Louie has a brother named "Felix" who is a loyal subject (unfortunately, this Dumbrowsky does not appear). Davis' father, a heavily German-accented Sig Ruman (as King Rako), has been deposed.

Naturally, "The Bowery Boys" are enlisted to help restore King Ruman to his throne. Leo Gorcey (as Terence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) begins drilling Mr. Hall, David "Condon" Gorcey (as Chuck) and Benny "Bennie" Bartlett (as Butch) in military maneuvers. The "Spy Chasers" must guard half a coin from Truania, and defeat revolutionaries led by Leon Askin (as Alex Baxis) and his busty moll Veola Vonn (as Zelda). Her underwear, and a diner scene with Hall and Gorcey, are highlights.

**** Spy Chasers (7/31/55) Edward Bernds ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Gorcey, Veola Vonn