Loose in London

Possible good fortune knocks on the door of Louie's Sweet Shop on the Bowery where four guys who every now and then have jobs are known to hang out. It seems as though a fellow with the high sounding moniker of Horace DeBussy Jones might actually rate that kind of a name. He could be the long lost descendant of a collateral branch of the Earl of Walsingham's family. And the current Earl is not doing all that well health wise.

Instead of just Huntz Hall coming over the whole gang departs and the sight of them seems to perk the old Earl played by Walter Kingsford up. They've been slowly poisoning him in the hopes of at least one of them being made his heir. But Kingsford is actually charmed by the moronic clowning of The Bowery Boys and he goes off the medicines the relatives have him on and starts getting a little color back in his cheeks.

The relatives are played by Norma Varden, Angela Greene, William Cottrell, John Dodsworth, and Rex Evans and they're not happy about their cousin from across the pond to say the least. It might further their interests if Kingsford got more suddenly dispatched and the Bowery Boys blamed for it.

The Bowery Boys recycle a lot of material from other films and use it in their's. The characters of Walsingham family come from just about every film with an English setting you can name. Still the results here aren't too bad. Huntz Hall's battle with a stuffed fox that may still have some life in it is a classic.

This Bowery Boys film did not have all that much of Leo Gorcey and his original language malapropisms. Huntz Hall has center stage here and if you are fans of his, this film is for you.

The Bowery Boys films were mindless entertainment. This is NOT meant as a criticism--they were quickly made and interesting B-movies with very modest pretenses. I mention this because you shouldn't expect a film that you'd find on a disc from The Criterion Collection or at a fancy film festival--they were popular entertainment for the masses. Because of that, I cut their films a lot of slack and realize they aren't 'high art'!

"Loose in London" is one of the later films from the Boys. Because of that Sach and Slip are looking practically geriatric (they're hardly boys any more) and all the familiar old members of the gang have long since disappeared. It's simply the Sach and Slip show.

The film begins with Sach (Huntz Hall) learning that a very, very distant relative in Britain wants to see him. Once there, the gang learn that the old man plans on leaving his fortune to someone...but hasn't yet decided. As for Sach's other family members, they've decided...Sach must die because he looks like the likely candidate because the Uncle seems to like him a lot! What follows is predictable and a nice time-passer. And, as usual, they manage to escape death...though you'd sure think these idiots would be the FIRST to die in real life!

Nothing special, nothing bad here. The usual blend of slapstick and laughs and nothing more.

And, they nor anybody else in this film saw London or England during its six-day production.

As fate, and the writers, would have it, word comes to the Bowery that titled, great, great granduncle of Horace Debussy Jones (Huntz Hall), better known as Sach, is near death and has provided transportation to summon relatives from around the world. Sach and the Bowery Boys, Slip Mahoney (Leo Gorcey), Butch Williams (Bennie Bartlett), Chuck Anderson (David Gorcey as David Condon)and Soda Shoppe owner Louie Dumbrowsky (Bernard Gorcey), trade Sach's pre-paid first class ticket for lesser (much lesser) accommodations and embark for ye olde London towne.

There, they find the old man, the Earl of Walsingham (Walter Kingsford) already surrounded by sinister Sir Edgar Whipsnade (John Dodsworth); Reggie (William Cottrell), the obligatory Fop; the spinster Aunt Agatha (Norma Varden); the young and seductive Lady Marcia (the young and seductive Angela Greene), moronic Cousin Herbert (Rex Evans), and Hoskins (James Logan), the Butler.

They, of course,are assembled in a plot to slowly poison the old Earl and to get rid of Sach and his pals.

No giveaway to lay their chances at slim-to-none.

Fair is fair Oliver came to America to make movies, so America sent its finest...Mr. Huntz Hall to England.

This BB movie marks the first time that opening theme is an instrumental version of "The Gang's All Here." Also, this is the first time that caricatures of Slip and Sach appear on either side of the screen as the opening credits roll. These are fresh, welcome changes that emphasize that Sach and Slip are going to be the main focus of the BB movies from now on. Louie has better lines, but Chuck and Butch are pure background scenery and have almost no lines.

The plot revolves around Sach learning that he is one of the heirs to a British fortune. The patriarch, Sir Percy, wants to gather the clan at his London castle to see which one deserve to be named in his will. Naturally, a few of the other potential legatees want to do away with the Sir Percy. This is the situation the BBs find themselves in when they arrive at the castle. Can they protect Percy from the evil distant cousins?

Angela Greene plays Lady Marcia. In the early 1940s, she dated young naval Lieutenant John F. Kennedy. Seeing Angela in Loose in London, it's easy to see why the future President was so interested in her.

Loose in London does mark a big change in the Bowery Boys movies. The accent is now on Sach and Slip, the comedy, and away from the gangster/crime elements that featured so prominently in previous movies in the series.