Hold That Baby!

"Don't interrupt my strain of thought"

The Bowery Boys open up a laundry service in the rear of Louie Dumbrowski's sweet shop and come across a bundle of joy that's been left there by its mom. Turns out the kid is the heir to a fortune and a group of greedy folks would love to get their hands on him. This is a typical entry in the series with most of the good lines and jokes coming in the first half of the picture. Contains a morbid moment where a doctor tries to convince authorities that the mother's crazy and gives her an unnecessary injection.

Standard Bowery Boys fare.

The Bowery Boys get involved with the infant heir to a fortune when said infant is left in the laundromat in the backroom of Bernard Gorcey's Sweet Shop where Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall have begun their latest business enterprise. Gorcey, Hall, and the rest turn out to be unexpected white knights in saving the fortune left to the infant and his mother from a pair of greedy old maid aunts played by Ida Moore and Florence Auer. The two of them are straight out of Arsenic and Old Lace but they do have enough of their marbles to form an alliance with gangsters Frankie Darro and John Kellogg.

Even scene stealers like Leo and Huntz have some competition with the baby in this film. Leo trying to change the diapers is something to see and Huntz Hall does a nice imitation of Ronald Colman talking to a department store 'mannequin'.

Fans of the Bowery Boys will like Hold That Baby and this is a good film for others to get acquainted with their comedy and command of the English language.

Ida Moore and Florence Auer almost steal the movie as two sweet looking but actually grasping greedy elderly sisters trying to rob a baby of his rightful inheritance by having his mother committed to an insane asylum. Fortunately, the mother, played by Anabel Shaw, hides the baby in the laundromat attached to Louis' Sweet Shop and run by the ever enterprising (and usually unemployed) Terrence "Slip" Mahoney. The boys are up to their usual antics with Slip getting the best lines and Sach doing the most humorous routines. According to the grandfather's will, the baby or his Mom must be at the reading of the will for him to inherit. So the elderly sisters and their crooked partners want to keep the baby from the reading and the Mom in the asylum while the Bowery Boys want to get the Mom out of the asylum and make sure the baby inherits. The routine in the asylum where Slip gets Sach committed is a highlight. This one is a good entry into a long running series.

Slip and Sach crash their laundry delivery truck. They start a laundromat in the back room of Louie's Sweet Shop. A young mother abandons her baby in a basket. The baby is heir to a large inheritance and there are relatives looking to steal the money. Gangster Cherry Nose Mason is looking to cash in on the reward and he knows the Boys have the baby.

The story is a bit convoluted. The plotting is a little chaotic. I would have the will reading up front and lay out the premise a lot clearer. The will reading can also give a ticking clock to the story. Mostly, it's a Bowery Boys film with Slip and Sach. You get what you expect.

It's a Bowery boys. Made right about in the center of the collection of the Bowery Boys films, 1949. co-starring his brother and his dad, of course. and Huntz Hall. in this one, Slip run a laundry out of the back in the soda shop. first, someone abandons a baby, and then the washers explode. another typical bowery boys story. this one is a little sillier than usual, if that's possible! the boys get caught up in a kidnapping scheme, and could end up in big trouble! Anabel Shaw (only 26 credits, on imdb) is Laura, who brings the baby to the laundromat. they actually put blackface on a baby. oh my. this one is over the top. not their best. Slip (Leo Gorcey) died quite young at 51. these show on Turner Classic now and then. directed by Reg LeBorg. he only directed three of the bowery films. LeBorg had also directed a bunch of the Joe Palooka films. this one is okay, but nothing earth shattering.