Feudin' Fools

The twenty-seventh film in the Bowery Boys series at Monogram has Sach inheriting a farm in Kentucky. The boys travel South and wind up in the middle of a hillbilly feud. A by-the-numbers plot if there ever was one, the only saving grace is the fish-out-of-water aspect of seeing the New Yorkers interacting with the hillbillies. The series was struggling by this point to come up with an idea that was even in the same zip code as original. Leo Gorcey still has a few chuckle-worthy malapropisms and Huntz Hall plays the buffoon to the hilt, but it all just goes so far. David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett hang around in the background. You'd forget they were there except for the few times they're given something to do, like carry the bags for Slip. Bernard Gorcey, frequently the best part of the '50s Bowery Boys films, isn't in this one much but once he joins the gang in Kentucky things pick up. There are hillbilly jokes galore here like moonshine stills, revenuers, feuds, and the obligatory pretty farmer's daughter. My favorite part of the movie is this exchange between Slip and Sach:

Slip: "I think we better sympathize our watches." Sach: "You mean synchronize?" Slip: "I was usin' the past tense."

Sach inherits property in rural hillbilly country. The gang arrives to find a rundown farm. Sach also inherits a local war with a rival family but he manages to hide his Jones name. Then a trio of criminals shows up looking to use the farmhouse as their hideout.

The Bowery Boys are headed into the hills. They are fish out of water. There is plenty of ridiculous rural comedy and a couple of babes. The bank robbers are a little left field but they are a good plot device. This is better than most Bowery Boys flicks. It's silly fun like always.

Sach learns that he is the sole heir to a southern plantation. Naturally, he and the others set out in their old jalopy for a life of ease. Unfortunately, the place turns out to be the biggest rundown dump this side of Hooverville! Also, the Jones family is involved in a feud with the Smith family, and the rustic Smith men are determined to kill the last surviving member of the Jones clan, namely Sach. Louie arrives to see the boys. Throw in a gang of bank robbers and you have all the ingredients for the Bowery Boys brand of slapstick humor.

No Whitey in this one, and only Butch and Chuck round out the BB gang. But, they are mainly background scenery anyway.

Anne Kimbrell and 6'2" Dorothy Ford provide the female interests in this entry.

O. Z. Whitehead appears as Yancey Smith. He often acted in John Ford films, but preferred the theater to movies. O. Z., or Zebbie, as he was known, had a long term and very private relationship with Katherine Hepburn.

Feudin' Fools is an enjoyable entry in the Bowery Boys series.

One day while idling at Louie's Sweet Shop on the Bowery, Huntz Hall learns he's now the proud owner of a nice bit of farm land somewhere in the South. So he and the rest of the Bowery Boys head down to Dixie where they do find Hall has a piece of land next to a family of rustics named Smith.

The only problem is that these folks just don't cotton to anyone named Jones. They think they've driven the Joneses out, but just the name Jones gets them thar trigger fingers to itch.

Add to that a group of bank robbers who've just robbed the bank in Hog's Liver Hollow who seek refuge at the Jones farm and you have the ingredients of the plot for Feudin' Fools.

The Bowery Boys were getting a little stale with this one. The comparisons to Abbott&Costello's Comin' Round the Mountain are fairly obvious and Bud&Lou's film is far better than this one.

Still Bowery Boys fans should like it.

The writers obviously kept tabs on what Abbott and Costello were doing. In response to A & C's COMIN ROUND THE MOUNTAIN, thus came FEUDIN FOOLS. Many thanks to series writer Tim Ryan.

Sach inherits a farm from his uncle who lived in the South, way out in the middle of nowhere? Also a giant dose of poetic license at work; Slip, Sach and everyone else piles into the jalopy and drive all the way from New York to Kentucky? Their destination is a place called Hogliver Hallow. The story is about Smith versus Jones (Sach Jones, that is), a hillbilly feud that has gone on for generations, and the gang gets caught in the middle. Toss in a broken down farm house. "It looks like a rest home for old vampires!" Slip exclaims.

Good support from reliable heavy Lyle Talbot, playing a gangster called BIG JIM, who gets shot robbing a bank, only to take refuge with his goons at the Jones farm.

Louie (Bernard Gorcey, Leo's real dad) is a hoot playing Dr. Dumbrowski, who pretends to operate on Talbot in order to stall for more time and, hopefully, trick and capture the gangsters. Chock full of Leo Gorcey's malaprops and Huntz Hall is super nuts.

In one scene he opens a trap door and offers the bad guy to go first. The answer NO. "In that case, I'll see if there's a ladder!" Keep an eye on Benny Baker as Corky, one of Big Jim's mob. Benny played everything from sidekicks to bad guys, perfect window dressing for this story.

Note the cartoon characters of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall at the beginning of the film, which always made me wonder what a terrific cartoon series this would have been. Possibly inspired by the cartoon characters of Laurel and Hardy in their comedy films at Fox in the 40s.

Character actress Anne Kimbell plays Elly May. Did that name inspire the writers for the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES? Look for Robert Bray, later to star on LASSIE, playing one of the detectives. Veteran western actor Fuzzy Knight plays Traps.

A real treat from start to finish, and good theme music thanks to Edward Kay, who scored many of the episodes. Huntz Hall has a super closing line.

Applause to director William Beaudine for pulling this one through, and with some clever touches. On remastered dvd via Warner Brothers box sets, generally containing 6 to 8 episodes per box.