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.

Louie Dumbrowsky buys an uranium mine in Nevada sight unseen. Upon arrival, the boys get shot at by the locals who don't want the newcomers. After finding out that Louie owns the mine, the scheming locals decide to change their plan and play poker with him. It backfires with Louie intercepting the card cheats. The gang has trouble finding any uranium.

This must be the final nail to the uranium fever. I really love the card game. It gets rather random after that. Nevertheless, the gang is here led by Slip and Sach. There is some enjoyment with seeing those two, but Slip is looking old. It's a tough year for him and the writing is on the wall for the franchise.

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.

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.

The fortieth (!) entry in the Bowery Boys series has the gang heading out west to strike it rich with a uranium mine. Um...yeah. Had to be there, I guess. It's a silly premise but at least it's something a little different for the aging series that had relied on repeating plots for awhile. Leo has quite a few funny malapropisms and Huntz mugs for the camera the whole time. Most of the comedy, hit and miss, comes from these two (which is par for the course for the series). Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer plays Swifty, the Boys' old friend who sells them on the uranium idea to get the story started. This would be the last appearance in the series for two longtime cast members. Wallpaper Bennie Bartlett would leave and be replaced by Jimmy Murphy. Benard Gorcey, who played the lovable Louie and was the father of Leo and David Gorcey, would die in a car accident after this film. His death would lead to Leo leaving after the next entry and ultimately would lead to the end of the series as the 'magic' was gone without Leo and his father. Anyway, this is an enjoyable entry despite the sad trivia behind it. The cast all put in a good effort and the uranium plot is interesting enough.