Triple Trouble

THEY STARTED WITH a vague title and finished up with a weak ending. In between the two "bookends" director Jean Yarbrough & the production put together about as entertaining, funny and even somewhat as complex an entry into the BOWERY BOYS Series as there was.

STARTING WITH THE premise of a botched attempt by the Boys to prevent a robbery and their unlikely status of being charged with the crime (the stick-up gang got away) and their trial, both Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) take to pleading guilty and, after refusing to accept Probation from the Judge (Jonathon Hale) go off to the State Penitentiary. all of this in spite of the efforts of their lawyer, Gabe Moreno (Gabriel Dell).

THERE IS SOME indication of this entry's being greatly influenced by some of the popular Film Noir and other gangster pictures that had been so very popular at the time. So many elements portrayed point to one in particular; that being WHITE HEAT (Warner Brothers, 1949). The fact that the gang had the leader's mother in it, the in-prison undercover work by Slip & Sach and a a spectacular prison break with hostages all support our assertion.

FURTHERMORE, MORE THAN once the two break into impersonations of Warner Brothers' stars with racketeer resumes. Leo does a fine impersonation of Edward G. Robinson(Gorcey's idol) while Huntz does his best as James Cagney (doing Mr. Cagney's Coady Jarrett psycho from WHITE HEAT).

THEY ALSO EMPLOYED a seemingly greater number of extras and non-credited players, including (surprisingly) Lyle Talbot, unbilled and briefly appearing as a very wise "Screw." (Convict slang for a Prison Guard)

THE REST OF the regular characters does a good job in support, as usual; but, as always, Chuck (David Gorcey), Whitey (Billy Benedict) and Butch (Buddy Gorman) could really have used some more dialogue.

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.

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

This one starts off kind of creepy, with the guys wearing Halloween masks and stumbling upon some real deal crooks late at night. Actually, it's a take-off on all those Warner Brothers crime thrillers, and even Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall do some goofy impersonations of Cagney and Eddie G. Robinson.

Bottom line. Slip, Sach and the guys go to prison to expose a ring of tough robbers --lead by a little old lady??? Hilarious stuff, and the gangs schtick and one liners are everywhere. Best scenes are jail, especially Sach whose stuck with a loon named Squirley, played over the top by George Chandler.

Squirley likes to cut off ears and cook 'em, to which Sach replies, "Ears give me heartburn!"

Veteran actor G. Pat Collins is excellent, playing a hardened criminal called Bat Armstrong, who runs the outside operations from the inside --via a secret radio, and he sounds like he gargles with razor blades! Collins was in films for decades, and even had a small role in the classic James Cagney thriller, WHITE HEAT. He is perfect for this stuff.

Some other honorable mentions here, such as Richard Benedict, as Skeets, who would later become a popular tv director. The warden is played by old reliable Joseph Crehan, who seemed born to play cops and exasperated Jonathan Hale (best known as Mr. Dithers in BLONDIE), plays the judge who can't figure the Bowery Boys out.

The gang's all here, and Louie, as usual goes nuts, learning that his sweetshop is going to be robbed.

Also some fun stuff from Whitey (Billy Benedict), who always was the most ingenious of the bunch. This time around Gabe Dell plays a lawyer, who sort of bounced from one career to the next in the series.

And don't forget the secret code, ""Three times three o'clock, black as night...." Best line from Leo Gorcey, "Let me vegetate this matter over in my mind!" And many more...

Do NOT miss. Followed by the classic musical comedy BLUES BUSTERS. Released on dvd via Warner Brothers in box sets of 6 to 8 films. A thank you to TCM for rerunning the Bowery Boys on Saturdays, like the old days.

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.