Paris Playboys

Huntz Hall fans will glory in "Paris Playboys" (1954), one of the funnier Bowery Boys movies, as their beloved Horace Debussy Jones, better known as "Sach," dominates the story and even puts the abusive Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) in his place a few times. The clever premise has Sach recruited by a team of U.N. scientists to take the place of a missing French scientist, Maurice Gaston Le Beau, who looks just like him. An all-expenses-paid trip to Paris follows, with Slip and soda shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey) going along for the ride (leaving the rest of the "Bowery Boys" in nothing more than walk-on roles). Once in Paris, the U.N. team disappears from the film, leaving poor Sach at the mercy of a corrupt pair (Steven Geray and John Wengraf) who've been told Le Beau has amnesia and who spend much of the film trying to jog his memory enough to recall the high-powered rocket fuel formula he'd invented.

Sach has the time of his life, adopting a broad French accent and making comic attempts to fit in with the high life Le Beau enjoyed, including fancy French cuisine ("Finger bowl? My favorite soup!"); kisses from Le Beau's attractive fiancée, Mimi (Veola Vonn); the attentions of a gaggle of Le Beau's female admirers; alcoholic concoctions at a sidewalk café (with Fritz Feld as the waiter!); and even putting on a beret, sitting at an easel and attempting a painting. The diminutive Louie even gets into the act and dresses up as "TouLouie-Lautrec." Even though the material is never as funny as it ought to be (a frequent problem with Bowery Boys comedies), Hall just runs with it and gives it his all, making for a very entertaining 62 minutes.

Things get even better when the real Dr. Le Beau (also played by Hall, of course) shows up after a South Seas vacation spent with a flock of "native" girls (who oblige him every time he says, "You may kiss me") and confronts all these strangers in his house. Some great farcical situations play out as Sach and Le Beau pop in and out of rooms without knowing the other is there and poor Louie and Slip are ordered about by the outraged Dr. Le Beau, followed by Sach coming in and gently asking what the matter is. Le Beau finally challenges Slip to a sword duel, broken up only when Sach enters and the truth is revealed. Eventually they all have to take on the bad guys who want the rocket fuel.

Hall is hilarious in these scenes as he plays grandly against type as the womanizing French scientist who is quite aggressive and quite put out by all the "foreigners" in his house, mixing French words with his English in a way that Sach could never hope to have achieved. Hall must have had a ball filming the scenes where he plays the real doctor. He was an actor with great comic gifts that were never fully utilized by his role as second banana to Gorcey in the East Side Kids and Bowery Boys series. He may have reveled in sharing top dog status with Gorcey at Monogram Pictures throughout the 1940s and '50s and he may have lived comfortably off of it (until it all ended), but I can't help but wonder how Hall's career might have turned out had he gotten the chance to work with some great comedy directors along the lines of Preston Sturges or Frank Tashlin, or any of the old hands who guided Bob Hope's comedies at Paramount during Hope's peak years. Don't get me wrong, I love Hall's work in these films and am grateful to have been exposed to so many of them on TV while growing up. It's just that he might have done even greater work under other circumstances.

United Nations dignitaries spot habitually hapless Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones) in the "Sweet Shop" and mistake him for a missing French scientist. Before you can say "Jacques Robinson," Mr. Hall is off to Paris with "Bowery Boys" leader Leo Gorcey (as Terrence Aloysius "Slip" Mahoney) and father Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky). Abroad, Hall poses as the amnesiac "Professor Maurice Gaston Le Beau" and gets to court busty fiancée Veola Vonn (as Mimi Du Bois). Oui, oui!

The elder Gorcey has a faulty memory, forgetting the gang's "Loose in London" (1953) trip by asserting Hall had never been out of the United States. Hall, now billed equally with Gorcey in the opening credits, continues to dominate the comedy; his "dual role" performance and the "special effects" give this entry its better moments. Regulars David Gorcey and Benny Bartlett are briefly glimpsed extras. "Paris Playboys" is otherwise routine. The next two 1954 films showed they could do better… and worse.

**** Paris Playboys (3/7/54) William Beaudine ~ Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Gorcey, Veola Vonn

Paris Playboys finds Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall off to Gay Paree for the life of a pair on bon vivants. I doubt either could spell that and Gorcey was sure to misinterpret the words.

It's all a case of 'mistaken indemnity' as a quartet of continental gentlemen enter Louie's Sweet Shop on the Bowery and are sure that Hall is a famous French rocket scientist who disappeared as he was working on a new fuel formula. As the scientist was known for being quite the ladies man as well as a brilliant researcher, it ain't rocket science to figure out Horace DeBussy Jones isn't him even if he does look alike.

Still in a scheme to aid the free world, Hall, Gorcey, and Bernard Gorcey head to Paris in the hope that the ringer Hall might lure out those who are trying to disrupt his work one way or another.

Despite Leo Gorcey's usual command of the English language this Bowery Boy film belongs to Huntz Hall in his dual role as the simple minded Satch and the playboy scientist. For Huntz Hall's fans.

I would give the BOWERY BOYS a 10 rating anytime, because they made me laugh out loud as a kid, and still do to this day. These guys were off the charts, no shame, who cares --and let's do it our way. You have to give them a lot of credit. They're still around.

If you watched the series from the beginning, you'd notice the 1940s episodes were far different than the 50s episodes. The earlier installments were more semi-comedies, the gang vs gangsters between routines. The 50s films relied on more camp situations, much like the THREE STOOGES, and rightly so because Edward Bernds, who wrote and directed the Stooges comedies, was called in to make changes. His trademark is everywhere here.

There was a turnabout in the series that would find Sach the subject of cartoonish-like gags; whether he suddenly possessed special powers, such as acquiring super strength or reading minds. In this case mistaken identity? Sach is mistaken by French professors as a distinguished scientist. A dead-ringer for the guy. What are the chances?

The distinguished gentlemen send Sach, along with Slip and Louie to Paris, due to the fact the real rocket scientist, Professor Le Beau, is missing. Where all the insanity begins mixed with Gorcey's rapid fire malaprops.

Not to forget Louie. Bernard Gorcey (Leo's dad) gets into the act and offers his lines of Yiddishisms, which are hilarious, ranging from schlemiel to mishugah? Basically, it's a three man show, at least for this episode.

Yes, the Bowery Boys got smaller, usually with just David Gorcey (as Chuck) and Bennie Bartlett (as Butch), and they're left back in New York while Slip, Sach and Louie head out to Paris. Ed Bernds later commented that both David and Bennie got used to being out of the picture... sometimes... because they were just hanging around.

Sach meets up with beautiful Veola Vonn (as Mimi DuBoise) and his arrogant, egotistical "twin"--that only Huntz Hall could play to the max. Veola Vonn was married to Frank Nelson, the hilarious "yeeeeess" guy in tv and films.

Keep watch for some Stooge gags; Slip's bow tie spinning like a propeller (which would usually happen to Shemp), Sach's hair spikes up (like Moe) and smoke coming from Louie's ears (as was the custom with Larry or Curly). This happens when the guys drink a spiked cocktail. Also some well known character actors who would pop up in the episodes, in this case veteran actor Steven Geray, playing Gaspard. Prior to this film he was cast as a hotel manager in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. Look for comedian, Fritz Feld, the mouth popper guy, playing Marcel. His second appearance in the series.

Plastered with goofy one liners (ad libs many times) and wait for the ending. PARIS PLAYBOYS was followed by BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS. What a double feature! Restored in dvd box sets by Warner Brothers, which contain about 6 to 8 episodes per box. And a special thank you to TCM for rerunning the Bowery Boys once again.

If you are expecting, based on the title, from this movie to take you on a tour of Paris, forget it. It's pretty obvious that the cast and the production crew never set foot outside the Hollywood studios where this was filmed (there are only some brief establishing shots outside). With that said, the film is lively and short enough not to cause any boredom. Huntz Hall gets to play a dual role, and he does it well, while Veola Vonn is gorgeous as the Parisian fiancè. Funniest scene (in my book): the Boys changing the rules of a high-class French dinner, with the guests gradually joining in. **1/2 out of 4.