Here Come the Marines

One thing for sure, THE BOWERY BOYS were put to good use by Uncle Sam! The gang always got caught up in the military, someway or another, and it made good sense the screw up the "by the book" orders, if not drive a sergeant or even a colonel nuts. Here the Bowery Boys go after a gambling ring that's stealing marines paychecks. A lot of fun, particularly between Huntz Hall and veteran actor Hanley Stafford (famous on radio; BABY SNOOKS and BLONDIE) who plays a colonel who thinks that Sach's father was a legendary marine, Hard Hat Jones! Sach becomes a sergeant and theres a running gag with Stafford getting into all kinds of trouble, including falling into a thinly disguised fox hole. Exasperated Slip exclaims, "If you could break a couple of the colonel's ribs, he'll make you a captain!" Rotund Paul Maxey makes a solid bad guy, the head of the gambling ring and there's also lovely Myrna Dell as LuLu Mae, out to get the gang in big trouble. Series writer Tim Ryan also has a part as the corrupt sheriff. Lots of familiar faces and and you can tell Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall are having fun, or at least throwin' out one liners! Gorcey has a good closing line. Box set dvd by Warner brothers.

In an earlier film, the Bowery Boys found themselves in the army. Well, now, once again, they are in the service...though by this point the films were less about a group of fellows but mostly about Sach (Huntz Hall) and Slip (Leo Gorcey). Considering they are not exactly kids any more (both were approaching mid-life) and how amazingly bone-headed the characters were, as you watch you are amazed that the US military would be THIS desperate for soldiers!

When the film begins, Slip is drafted. Soon, his friends volunteer and Slip spends much of the early part of the film trying to keep them out of trouble...but to no avail. However, it turns out that Sach is the son of 'Hardhead' Jones--a sergeant who was apparently quite the soldier. In fact, based JUST ON THIS, Sach (who's IQ approaches that of a grapefruit) is made a sergeant and he spends most of the film lording this over his friends and making their lives miserable. However, despite his being a total dope, he's also much like Curious George...and every mistake turned out to be mistakenly GOOD and he kept getting promoted! But, when a nearly dead marine is discovered, Slip shows some amazing deduction skills and fans of the series would be shocked to see that he's actually pretty competent in getting to the bottom of all this. As for Sach, well, he's still Sach...

This is a film that is far from the best material for the Bowery Boys plus the idea of a group of friends is all but gone. Instead of the usual friends, two completely forgettable guys are there but contribute nothing to the film. As a result, it's entertaining but really a film for the die-hard fans and the average viewer would be hard-pressed to see a reason to watch this one.

Slip gets a draft notice from the government. He joins the Marines but it's a lot tougher than expected. Sach and the boys follow him into the Marines. Sach gets promoted by his father's war buddy and he becomes the boys' superior. It's good clean fun from the Boys during the depths of the Korean War. It is simple Bowery Boys silliness and nothing more.

Here Come the Marines (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Number twenty-six has Slip (Leo Gorcey) drafted into the Marines and soon after Sach (Huntz Hall) and the other three join him. It goes without saying but Sach causes one major problem after another but he accidentally stumbles onto a special chemical, which gets him in good with the Colonel who just happen to serve with his father. As Sach goes higher up the ladder, the boys begin to investigate the murder of a marine and it might lead back to a gambling house. Gorcey still has his name above the title here but as with the previous entries, there's no doubt that this one has him taking a backseat to Hall who ends up playing the lead and doing a very good job with it. Usually I can only take so much of him but he actually gets in a pretty good groove here and manages to make the film his very own. I think Hall does a very good job here and I think this is without question one of his best performances as Sach. The dumbness is all here but I think what really works is him slowing rising up the ladder and getting to boss around Slip and the other guys. Seeing Hall get to play the tough guy was extremely fun and I think it added a touch of freshness to the film. Gorcey is also pretty good in his role but the less of him really didn't turn out to be that much of a negative. Paul Maxey turns in a nice performance in his small role as the ring leader of the gambling house and Myrna Dell gets a few nice laughs as the blonde bimbo. We even get Bernard Gorcey in a couple funny bits. No matter what name they were under, the service type comedies were always rather familiar and this one here certainly doesn't offer anything new but I think there are enough laughs to make it worth viewing for fans of the series. I think the weakest aspects involve the gamblers since this has been seen way too many times before.

The army got bashed in "Bowery Battalion" and then the navy got it in "Let's Go Navy" now it's the Marines turn to taste the slapstick antics of the BBs.

This one opens with a salesman trying to unload a movie projector on Louie. He shows Louie and the boys stock footage of WWII combat action. The paratroopers shown jumping and landing is the actual film of the 503rd PRCT landing on Corregidor on February 16, 1945.

The Boys get drafted into the marine corps. Aturally, Sach gets into trouble by impersonating a doctor, and then a chef. But when Colonel Brown learns that Sach's dad was his sergeant from WWI, he promotes him to sergeant. Sach turns into the toughest marine since John Wayne in "Sands of Iwo Jima." While on a Sach ordered 20-mile hike with full packs, slip finds a badly beaten up marine, along with a unique playing card. The boys get a pass and are steered to an illegal gambling joint by gorgeous fur-draped Lulu Mae. Slip sees that the cards are the same as the one he found by the beaten marine. Can the BBs use this information to bring these crooks to justice?

Hanley Stafford plays Colonel Brown. He is best remembered for playing "Daddy" to Fanny Brice's "Baby Snooks" on the radio for many years.

Myrna Dell is Lulu Mae. She and fellow actress Marguerite Chapman are credited with having invented the autograph show. They started with just two chairs and a card table at a supermarket and it evolved into the big industry that it is today. Quite a legacy for those two lovely ladies.

"Here Come The Marines" is a very good entry in the Bowery Boys series. Worth watching.