Dig That Uranium

Now granted that the IQ level of The Bowery Boys isn't stratospheric despite Leo Gorcey's sophisticated linguistics, but even Slip and Satch should know better than to buy a mine from somebody known as Shifty.

What could they expect from Carl Switzer as this Shifty character. Yet the boys pack up and go to the desert, financed of course by the ever hapless Louie Dumbrowsky with Geiger counter in hand looking for uranium.

Of course they run into the usual crooks led by Harry Lauter with henchmen Myron Healey and Tom Keene who are almost as bad as the boys are. They convince themselves that the Bowery Boys have a uranium strike and the guys have to go through the usual routines to win the battle, but lose the war because you know they inevitably go back to The Bowery and we see them hanging around Louie's Sweet Shop.

Which is what makes Dig That Uranium so poignant because this was Bernard Gorcey's farewell film, he was killed in automobile accident right after the film was made. But Bernard had one of his finest hours in The Bowery Boys series in a poker game with the villain where sitting in the middle of the bad guys he gets dealt a winning end when they start passing cards back and forth under the table not knowing he's a middle man.

Mary Beth Hughes is the femme fatale as she usually is and gets a chance to vamp Huntz Hall. Her most memorable leading man since Henry Fonda in The Oxbow Incident, I'm sure. Raymond Hatton is also in the film playing his usual desert rat prospector who aids the Boys in teaching them the ways of the frontier.

A really nice film for Bernard Gorcey to have as a swansong.

Released during the Christmas holidays, and what a gift. 10 Stars.

Thanks much to Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall for making all us kids laugh out loud for years. This is one of the final episodes with the entire cast, and perhaps, the most outrageous. Excellent direction by Edward Bernds, and with some very good on location work. Bernds used the famous Iverson Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, the setting for hundreds of B westerns Monogram Pictures cranked out in its heyday.

Some clever casting here, featuring Cal "Alfalfa" Switzer as Shifty Robertson, who sells Slip the "rights" to a uranium mine in the town of Panther Pass, Nevada? You know where this is going, and it takes off as the guys pile into the jalopy and drive across country(?) to the old west?

Writers Elwood Ullman and Bert Lawrence put together some real goofy dialogue. The poker game scene, thanks to Bernds, was lifted from the THREE STOOGES. The crooks, lead by Harry Lauter (as Haskell), challenge the guys to a crooked game of cards, exchanging cards under the table, which gets all messed up by Louie. They also meet an old prospector played by veteran actor Raymond Hatton -- and his "talking" mule Josephine. Hatton was perfect for this semi-western, lending some words of encouragement to one and all.

Best bit is a dream sequence; Slip and Sach don fancy western gear and march into town as the defiant Lone Arrangers. The shooting scene is darn funny, and you can tell Leo Gorcey is having a blast here. Both he and Huntz Hall look pretty sharp as cowboys. The grande finale is an insane car chase -- around rocks and brush -- with the jalopy going nuts in high gear. Just terrific.

The supporting cast is worth mentioning, lead by lovely Mary Beth Hughes (as Jeanette), kind of a poor man's MIss Kitty from GUNSMOKE. Mary would later appear on Red Skelton's tv show. Francis McDonald plays the indian chief. He entered films in 1913 and appeared in hundreds of silent and sound westerns. After this film, he had a notable role playing a slave in the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Sadly, Bernard Gorcey died shortly after the film was completed in an auto accident in Hollywood. Leo Gorcey, hit hard by the loss, would star in one more film before retiring from the series. Also the final appearance of Bennie Bartlett (as Butch), and Edward Bernds as director. Assistant director Austen Jewell commented in later years that Leo's father was a terrific comedian and had quite an influence on the set. As for Bennie, he added, you needed more than two people to form a gang, and the gang was shrinking. He left the series because he eventually became a background character, going on to work in tv for a few years.

Watch this for the memories. Released on dvd by Warner Brothers, Volume 3. 2013. 6 to 8 episodes per box, which are now collectors items. Thanks to TCM for running all the episodes, especially on Saturday mornings. We love it.

I neglected The Bowery Boys for many years. Shame on me. Their movies were funny. Even though "Dig That Uranium" is one of their later ones, it's still pretty good. It has quite a few laughs. Its very short running time (61 mins) is a big plus. "Dig That Uranium" was a nice way to kill some time on a Saturday morning. Honorable mention: the poker scene.

Dig That Uranium (1955)

** (out of 4)

Flat, unfunny entry in the Bowery Boys series has the group heading out West after buying an uranium mine and equipment. Once out there it doesn't take them long to discover they've been ripped off but three bad guys from town thinks they actually have uranium so the boys must try and figure a way out of the trouble. The fortieths entry in the series isn't a very good film and it's also a rather somber one when you consider this was the last one to feature Bernard Gorcey who would be killed in an automobile wreck shortly after this film wrapped production. In his final film he at least gets some decent moments including one flashback sequence where he gets to play a bartender. The rest of the film contains one recycled gag after another and none of them are very funny. The entire bit with the boys buying something that turns out to be fake has been down countless times and nothing new is done here. The entire subplot of running into bad guys has also been done countless times and nothing new is to be seen here. There's even a joke with their car having to drive backwards, which was unfunny in JALOPY and it's unfunny here. At 61-minutes the thing at least has a good enough of a pace to keep things moving well but the lack of laughs just kills this thing. Both Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall sleepwalk through their roles as they both lack any real energy. Mary Beth Hughes who some will remember from THE OX BOW INCIDENT isn't too bad as the femme fetale and we get Raymond Hatton playing a nutty miner. DIG THAT URANIUM doesn't have a single fresh idea and it's a shame because with a little more imagination I'm sure they could have done something with the film. Anything would have been better than this.

No one expects rocket science out of these grade school dropouts. Still, their brand of lowbrow comedy survived, even into the age of TV, big screen Technicolor, and blonde sex goddesses. Sure, Leo's got a middle-age spread, while Huntz is hitting 39. So, calling them "boys" requires a bit of squinting. Then too, the gang has dwindled to just four aging delinquents, plus granddad Bernard (Louie). But, truth be told, DTU is a pretty funny entry, thanks to some good set-ups and location work, snappy dialogue, and a capable supporting cast. That Sach-trapped-on-a-real-ledge scene is particularly well done, where economy would usually employ a cheesy set.

Note too how the boys are after uranium and not gold or silver or even oil. There was a brief Cold War period when atom bomb uranium was the object of weekend prospectors instead of the more usual precious metals. A Geiger Counter to register radio- activity was all that was needed. I guess my only complaint is about the billing. Why fellow 1930's youth actor Carl (Alfalfa) Switzer isn't credited seems odd. He's got an extended speaking part (Shifty) that should merit listing in the credits, which might also have helped his faltering career. Although their comedy act may be tired, the boys still show a lot of spark, making this one of their better later features.