Triple Trouble

This has to be one of the dumbest plot premises ever for a Bowery Boys flick. Is there any of you out there that really thinks that any penal institution would allow a short wave radio on the premises or that if one was there it couldn't be located rather easily? Nevertheless Triple Trouble does provide a few laughs in the rough house Bowery Boy style.

The guys witness a warehouse robbery and then they get arrested for it. Billy Benedict as Whitey who for while he was with the gang competed with Huntz Hall for laughs in the dunce department is a ham radio operator and he thinks that instructions for the crime came via a short wave located in state prison.

What to do but plead guilty despite advice from lawyer Gabriel Dell and Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. Where somehow they're mistaken for two reputed killers. Two reputed killers? That somehow strains credulity especially with Horace DeBussy Jones. Nevertheless the rest of the story is Slip and Sach doing their investigation and trying awfully hard to live up to their false reputations.

Triple Trouble is both a laugh and a strain.

Well if you did not grow up watching the DEAD END KIDS/EASTEND KIDS/ BOWERY BOYS...then it is hard to imagine you would find any of their films entertaining. But if you did, like me, then you will enjoy rewatching Triple Trouble. Their huge volume of work (40 plus films) is often the same zaniness rehashed but a few stand out as above average stories and comedies. Triple has a decent script that gives good parts to all the lads including Louie Dumbrowki (Gorceys real life father). The dialogue is witty and the story moves along in fine comedic fashion. A suggested viewing for people first getting a taste of the Bowery Boys to see what they are all about.

In a striking opening sequence, Leo Gorcey (as Slip Mahoney), Huntz Hall (as Horace Debussy "Sach" Jones), William "Billy" Benedict (as Whitey), Buddy Gorman (as Butch), and David Gorcey (as Chuck) appear in menacing plastic masks, at the "Bowling Green Van & Storage Company". The police arrive on the scene, and arrest the gang of five for robbing the place - but, they didn't commit the crime. Leader Gorcey and company claim they are celebrating Halloween (in April).

To bail out "The Bowery Boys", Bernard Gorcey (as Louie Dumbrowsky) puts up his "Sweet Shop" as collateral; and, lawyer pal Gabriel Dell (as Gabriel "Gabe" Moreno) arrives to defend his old friends. Awaiting trial, Mr. Benedict receives information on the real robbers via his "short wave" radio. Acting on Benedict's lead, Gorcey and Mr. Hall plead "guilty" as charged, so they can investigate the case inside the "state pen".

Hall's "Triple Trouble" performance is especially good. And, there are a great bunch of supporting crooks to watch out for - George Chandler (as Squirrelly Davis), Pat Collins (as Bat Armstrong), Paul Dubov (as Pretty Boy Gleason), and Joe Turkel (as Benny the Blood). Also note, "Bowery Boy" Benedict gets a little more screen time than he's usually allotted. Unfortunately, the story really isn't very interesting.

Hall ("I'll have a ham on rye") and Gorcey ("The proper alliteration is you or me") have a courtroom scene which certainly suggests this film may have been seen by Beatles in Liverpool, England. Lennon and McCartney were admirers of Gorcey and Hall - and, in this film, a common sense of humor shows. See if you can identify moments resembling "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Band on the Run", herein. Later, Hall appeared on The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album collage (Gorcey was removed after demanding a fee).

***** Triple Trouble (8/13/50) Jean Yarbrough ~ Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, William "Billy" Benedict

Criminals are breaking into a vault in a storage company. Five masked men come upon the crime and chase away the robbers. The cops finally arrive and catch the five masked men freeing the guard. It's the Bowery Boys going to a costume party when they heard the robbers. Now, the boys are stuck in jail. Louie puts up his sweet shop for bail.

It's another Bowery Boys film. It has all the elements. It has Slip and Sach and a bunch of extra boys. Louie continues to be the father figure. The boys essentially tapped into an illegal cell in prison. Slip's solution is a little extreme and unrealistic and slightly humorous. That's the franchise in a nutshell.

Triple Trouble (1950)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A gangster in prison is using a radio system to give messages to him mom and two buddies on the outside ordering them to rob certain businesses. Slip, Sach and the boys end up catching them in the middle of a robbery but they're find guilty of the crime and sent to the big house where they try to bring down the real culprit. It's hard to believe this was the 19th film in the series and we've still got twenty-nine more to go. This is far from a classic and it's certainly not a "good" movie but at the same time you really have to sit back and tip your hat that the production team and cast could at least deliver something entertaining this far into the series. Most actors/directors couldn't even get nineteen films off the ground yet deliver so many in such a short period of time. This certainly isn't the best of the series but we do get some very funny moments including one where Leo Gorcey does an impersonation of Edward G. Robinson and Huntz Hall does his hand at Cagney. I thought Gorcey was very good and delivered a few of the mannerisms pretty well. Hall, on the other hand, was pretty bad but it's so bad that you'll end up laughing anyways. I think the actual story was an interesting one and I wish they had done a little more with it but for the most part we just get dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue. I think there's a little too much talking going on and we needed a few more action and when we're behind prison bars the film could have benefited from some more spoofing of the prison genre. Tough guy Pat Collins plays the main bad guy and adds some charm to the role. The boys are pretty much on the mark as they always are with Gorcey stealing the film with some nice mixed-up words. His father Bernard also gets some very good moments including one where he's shaken down by the police. The opening robbery sequence is pretty effective and will remind some of Yarbrough's horror films and you might go as far as to say this sequence is the best thing the director has done in the genre. We see the robbery with some masked men approaching the scenes and it's filmed extremely well. In the end, this isn't the strongest film out there but there are enough laughs to make it worth watching for fans of the series.