Lucky Losers

"Lucky Losers" is too straight-forward to be a memorable Bowery Boys picture, though it does contain a good supporting cast. It's just not wacky enough and it lacks memorable set pieces. The scenes with Louis posing as a rich gambling fool, for example, fall flat. Still, it manages to be quite amusing and the Gorcey-Hall chemistry is as incomparable as ever.

Hillary Brooke is one of the glories of B cinema (although, regrettably, she doesn't have much to do here). Dick Elliott, who plays the drunken conventioneer, would turn up as Mike Clancy in a couple entries at the tail end of the series.

"It's one of his idiot syncracies".

Another run-of-the-mill entry as the kids (and with their receding hairlines I use that term every so loosely!) learn to be expert croupiers in order to uncover some shady goings on at a high class gambling club.

LUCKY LOSERS is an uneven mixture of comedy and some occasional dramatic turns (as are a good many of these 'comedies'), but ultimately emerges as average Bowery Boys fare.

One impressive sequence involves a montage of the boys' training in the art of card tricks and slight of hand (not performed by the actors themselves, obviously).

While it might be hard to imagine since they're both morons, the film begins with Slip and Sach working great jobs as runners at a brokerage firm. Life is good and the pair are on top of the world....that is, until their boss is found dead and it's ruled a suicide. But Slip knows that Mr. Thurston was NOT the type to kill himself and the death must have been murder. His only clue is somet dice he finds from the Tip Top Club--a gambling joint. So, he and the gang find an expert to teach them about gambling, as they plan on infiltrating the club and finding anything they can on Thurston's death.

The plot for this Bowery Boys installment is interesting as, if you think about it, is pretty much a film noir plot! Of course it lacks the style and cinematography of such a film....but it IS unusual for them to have a plot like this.

So is it any good? Well, if you like the Bowery Boys, it's pretty much what you'd expect--with fast-talking dope Slip and even dopier Sach--though Slip seems less stupid than usual. As for the rest of the gang, as usual, they're pretty much absent during most of the picture.

So is it any good? Yes...surprisingly so. My only quibble is that that portion of the film where Slip finds an incriminating letter....it just doesn't make any sense why the gamblers would keep such a letter. You'd think they'd destroy it! Otherwise, pretty good stuff...and with a tougher than usual plot...though the final scene is just terrible.

Director bill beaudine made a TON of films in the 1940s and 1950s with slip and the gang, under their various group names. Leo gorcey, huntz hall, and gang. As usual, the brother and dad gorcey are in this one as well. When a friend of the gang ends up D. E. D. Dead, they start investigating. They even take card dealer lessons, so they can infiltrate the scene of the crime. We watch a pro in slow motion, showing us the tricks of the trade, to make sure of a winning hand in blackjack. The big hollywood star lyle talbot is mcdermott, owner of the illegal gambling club. Some other familiar faces here.... dick elliott (the loud guy in the bar) was the mayor on andy griffith. And keep an eye out for chester clute... he was a background character in so many films. It's okay.. the usual zany goings on in a bowery boys film. Don't look too closely, just enjoy the ride.

Saw "Lucky Losers" when I was 7 years old. It was the first time I had ever seen a Bowery Boys movie. My main memory of it is that I laughed harder while watching it than any other movie before or since. It made me an instant Bowery Boys fan. Saw it again (on TV) a few months ago. Doesn't seem nearly as funny now, but still a solid Bowery Boys entry.