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This was the first and last Bowery Boys comedy Leo Gorcey made after the death of his father, Bernard. While it can be seen that he is intoxicated during most of the filming, this film is hysterical. Leo and Huntz recite the old wheezy jokes as if they were brand new. The supporting players are poor, but their ineptitude adds to the comedy. This is the first film with Jimmy "Myron" Murphy replacing Bennie "Butch" Bartlett. Murphy and David Gorcey actually get to do more than usual and they even get some good punch lines. True, the story revolves around Huntz Hall, but Gorcey has a lot of funny comments to make during the 63 minutes. It is surprising that the film is so funny since neither Ed Bernds nor Elwood Ullman have anything to do with it. Jean Yarbrough directs this time and he makes it look like his work with Abbott and Costello. The Bowery Boys series was never the same after Leo Gorcey left. He was replaced by that "other guy", Stanley Clements. Clements is OK, but it's like Joe Besser replacing Shemp (not to mention Shemp replacing Curly) in the Three Stooges. Besser and Clements are good performers, but they just don't have the spark of their predecessors. I always wondered why David Gorcey just didn't get promoted; "Chuck" could have been the new chief of the Bowery Boys. Why not?

I remember seeing this TV version of "Of Thee I Sing" when I was very young. It helped turn me into a life long Gershwin fan. I even have the LP made by Columbia. Since that time, I have seen and been involved with productions of this brilliant musical comedy. A few of the songs ("Of Thee I Sing", Who Cares", "Love Is Sweeping the Country") have become world class standards. Then there are the hidden gems like "A Kiss for Cinderella" and "Because, Because".

Paramount was supposed to make a movie version. It was discussed as a vehicle for the Marx Brothers. Would Groucho have played Wintergreen or Fulton? Harpo would have been hysterical as a silent Throttlebottom. Chico would have added to the hilarity as an immigrant committee member. Maybe Zeppo would have been Wintergreen! In the 1940s,Bob Hope was to star in a movie version. Hope would have been perfect as Wintergreen, but looking at Paramount 40s musicals, it wouldn't have been great. Musically, we probably would have ended up with only "Wintergreen for President", "Love Is Sweeping the Country" and the title song. Paramount used Hope instead of William Gaxton for its production of "Louisiana Purchase"; Victor Moore repeated his Broadway role. However, most of Irving Berlin's score was unused and Hope did not get one single musical number. What a shame! Paramount also made messes of Broadway hits "Let's Face It" and "Lady in the Dark".

As for the CBS production, the libretto was truncated to fit into a 90 minute slot and the southern senator became the villain, replacing the French Ambassador, which would not make much sense in the 1970s. Peter Matz's musical arrangements are crisp and swinging. They are far superior to the Don Walker arrangements from the 1952 Broadway version. Jack Gilford was so perfect as Throttlebottom that he was used again for the Brooklyn Accademy of Music production in the 1980s. With the Gershwin music still vital at the time, CBS was able to update the story and place it in the 1970s. However, if this show was revived on Broadway today, unfortunately it would have to be treated as a period piece.

Although this was released under the "Taxi Boys" banner, this Ben Blue and Billy Gilbert short has nothing to do with taxis. Gus Meins' production deals with the opening of a deli owned by Billy, who is "helped" by Ben. Billy plays his "Schmaltz" character, a middle European stereotype, which he played in Roach comedies through 1934. I guess Roach knew that the Taxi series wasn't working and tried a couple of films to keep the Blue and Gilbert teaming going. (The other film is "The Rummy", which is not as good.) Besides the typical Roach slapstick, Ben and Billy engage in some verbal acrobatics similar to Abbott and Costello. However, the timing is slower, and it doesn't really work. After "The Rummy", Ben Blue returned to New York where he appeared in some Vitaphone shorts. Roach still tried to promote Billy as a leading comic doing his Schmaltz character or a variation of it. "Apples to You" and "Music in Your Hair" are particularly good short comedies from this period. Gilbert freelanced at most of the studios, even though he was a Roach regular. He even has a showy role in the later Roach comedy "Blockheads".