Angels' Alley

Back when the East Side Kids were popular in films (late 1930s into the 40s), they were essentially lovable juvenile delinquents. To some, they might not have been all the lovable but they clearly were delinquents and had MANY brushes with the law. However, when many members of this group of young people morphed into the Bowery Boys around the end of WWII, there was a huge change...they no longer were criminally oriented. Instead, at times, they were like idiotic social workers living in the Bowery in New York City. A great example of this change is the team's 9th film, "Angel's Alley".

When the story begins, Slip's cousin, Jimmy (Frankie Darro) has just been released from prison. He was caught stealing cars and he seems destined to go back to this same life of crime. The guy behind this is Locarno...an adult that loves employing young hoodlums to boost cars for him. Slip and the gang decide that their calling is to get evidence to prove Locarno's crimes...and the impetus to do this is when Slip is set up and accused of a crime he never committed.

This is pretty much what you'd expect.... Slip acts tough, Sach is an idiot and the rest of the gang are essentially unimportant. I was surprised because Sach (Huntz Hall) usually is really annoying but I liked seeing and hearing him do some impersonations of Hollywood stars....they weren't half bad. Overall, a film that is pretty typical of their post-war movies....both good (a decent plot) and bad (a little of the Bowery Boys goes a LONG way).

A comedy with the Bowery Boys that had too much emotion for the normal goofiness.

Slip's cousin Jimmy gets released from prison and quickly turns back to a life of crime. Slip tries to help him out by going undercover in a car-theft ring. It's the ninth Bowery Boys film and the first without Bobby Jordan. Stars Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are both good here, doing as much drama as comedy. Gabriel Dell, William Benedict, and David Gorcey are all fine. Frankie Darro is enjoyable as Jimmy. Early in his career he was great at playing young street toughs, despite not being one of the Dead End Kids/Bowery Boys. Bennie Bartlett appears for the first time in a Bowery Boys movie. He would become a regular member of the gang in the next film. Geneva Gray and former Miss America Rosemary LaPlanche provide the pretty. Sadly Bernard Gorcey's Louie is absent from this one. Instead we get an annoying little kid that looks up to Slip. You get the impression they were trying out a new character hoping he would catch on. He has a 'Bobs Watson scene' that has to be seen to be believed. The rest of the cast includes vets like John Eldredge, Nestor Paiva, and Dewey Robinson. There's a little more drama than comedy with this one, which might not please all fans. It reminds me of some of the gang's 1930s Dead End efforts. There is some comedy, though. The scene where Huntz Hall does impressions of Ronald Colman, Jimmy Durante, and James Cagney is a highlight. It's not one of my favorite Bowery Boys movies but it is an interesting one.

ANGELS ALLEY was probably the very last Bowery Boys film patterned after the EAST SIDE KIDS. What separated the Bowery Boys films from the latter series was a more dramatic slant, and film has its moments, though you can always rely on Leo Gorcey to spice things up with some outrageous malaprops. This one is still a fun adventure as Slip's cousin (well played by Frankie Darro), just released from prison, is invited to stay with he and his mom (played by old favorite Mary Gordon), and he gets involved with a car theft ring. This one moves fast, and with a lot of classic stolen cars. We also get a glimpse of former Miss America, Rosemary La Planche, who appeared in mostly low budget films, though her appearance in the cult classic STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP brought the actress a great deal of recognition. Character actor Nestor Paiva plays the no-account head of the car jacking ring, called Piggy! William Beaudine does a good job of directing and to note, this is the only film in which Gorcey "laughs", as there was an unwritten rule that Slip wasn't supposed to find anything Sach did funny, though through the years you could catch, here and there, Gorcey holding back a giggle. Sach steps out of character at the end and tells Slip... "This is the last picture i make with you!" Warner Brothers dvd box set.

As if the world did not have enough troubles, the English language was sent back a few generations as Leo Gorcey acquired an understudy in diction and grammar in Angels' Alley. Other than that, this film takes a more serious tone than most of the Bowery Boys features.

Young Thomas Menzies has adopted Gorcey as a hero and has taken to wearing the creased old fedora like him and using the big words without quite knowing the meaning. It's the best thing about Angels' Alley.

Another actor who played troubled city kids, Frankie Darro, plays Leo Gorcey's cousin just released from prison. Immediately he gets tied up with the local gangster Nestor Paiva. It's up to the Bowery Boys to get the whole situation straightened.

This film did miss Bernard Gorcey as Louie Dombrowski, proprietor of Louie's sweetshop and hangout for Leo, Huntz Hall and the rest. Nice film, but not in the usual Bowery Boys spirit.