Angels' Alley

Angels' Alley (1948)

*** (out of 4)

A surprisingly effective entry in the Bowery Boys series has Jimmy (Frankie Darro) being released from prison and staying with Slip (Leo Gorcey) and his mother. Slip soon learns that Jimmy's involved with a small-time gangster and wrapped up in a auto-theft business. This was the ninth film in the series and it comes as a refreshing one as a lot of the silly comedy winds up on the back burner and we're given a lot more drama. The film really comes off as a major throwback to their 30s period when they were known as the Dead End Kids. Pretty much the only thing missing here is Pat O'Brien playing the Father and Humphrey Bogart playing the gangster. The first fifteen-minutes features the type of comedy we've come to expect from the series and it's actually pretty funny. We start off with a pretty good gag with Slip trying to go after the girl who he of course can't have. We get a few other funny pieces but it doesn't take long for the film to take a quick turn and enter the drama mode. The storyline here isn't anything original as we have troubled kids working for a gangster who is of course taking advantage of them. We have a Father (Nelson Leigh) who of course wants to protect his boys and of course we have Slip and the gang taking charge and trying to bring the bad guys down. I was really surprised at how dark some of the subject matter got including one turn of events that you really won't expect. I thought Gorcey gave his most effective performance of the series and manages to handle the comedy well but also the drama. Huntz Hall is once again called on to act the role of the idiot, which he does quite well but at times his comedy style is really out of place. We got Gabriel Dell playing yet a different type of character in Ricky and Nestor Paiva is pretty good as the crime boss. The film's biggest problem is that there's some comedy bits later in the film that don't work as well as they should but this is still a pretty good entry in the series and most importantly a refreshing one.

Slip gets stood up on a date. His cousin Jimmy moves in with the family after getting out of prison. Gangster Tony Locarno is recruiting young hoodlums and working the system. Slip, Sach, and their friend Father O'Hanlon oppose him. Jimmy falls in with Locarno and Slip intends to stop him.

The Bowery Boys are trying to be more serious and more sincere. It's not their strong suit. It's a melodrama and a tearjerker in between Sach doing his comedic bits. Maybe they were looking for a change of pace. It's a curveball and almost gets me out. It has its merit, and the boys can try. It's not their standard fare.

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.

Leo Gorcey (and his brother, of course) star in Angels' Alley, another middle episode of the Bower Boys films. His dad, Bernard, isn't in this one... he must have been busy that week! In this one, Frank Darro is "cousin Jimmy", who comes to visit, and of course, they are caught up in his car theft scheme. Huntz Hall is the usual sidekick "Sach". and the usual clever word play and banter, as Jimmy hangs out with all the wrong crowd, and is headed for more trouble. Billy Benedict was called "Whitey" (for his long blond hair) in every secondary role he had. Slip and Sach try to get to the bottom of the car thieves, but of course, they get involved up to their elbows. Lots of silly laughter by the real crooks. it's pretty good.. nothing earth-shattering, but not so bad either. Directed by Bill Beaudine, who had directed MANY of the Bowery Boys films. sadly, both Gorcey and Darro died pretty young.

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.