Hold That Line

It was made for a certain audience at a certain time, and the producers, writers, directors and players delivered exactly what was called for...and had no idea that self-pointed critics would surface five decades later and...rate??? and critique it.

Against what? This one has two wealthy clubmen, Billingsley (Francis Pierlot) and Stanhope (Pierre Watkin), wanting to test a theory that their old school Ivy, can make blue bloods out of Bowery toughs. They didn't come any tougher and unpolished than the Bowery Boys and they are soon enrolled at Old Ivy.

Biff Wallace (John Bromfield), the college football hero wearing a name straight out of the days when only Yale, Harvard and Brown players made the All-American teams named by the Eastern sportswriters, Harold (Bob Nichols), editor of the school paper and determined to keep the hallowed halls pure and no white-trash or Commies allowed, Katie Wayne (Mona Knox), Penny (Gloria Winters), Candy Calin (Veda Ann Borg, evidently doing post-graduate work)and other students, are more than a bit dismayed to find the likes of Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall)---with lines---and Whitey (Gil Stratton Jr.), Chuck (David Gorcey billed as David Condon, because the producer didn't want more than two people named Gorcey in the cast) and Butch (Bennie Bartlett)---all with no lines but marks to stand on---mingling amongst 'em. The times, they were indeed a'changing at Old Ivy.

First rattle out of the box, Sach mixes up some vitamins that make him invincible as an athlete in all sports, and he did this without the aid of Balco Labs. Soon, the football team, thanks to Sach and no thanks to former BMC (Big Man on Campus)Biff, is undefeated and unbeatable. Biff is hacked and he approaches Big Dave (Al Eben) and his sexy girlfriend Candy (aha, she was more than a student)with a proposition. Dolls played by Veda Ann Borg were always open to propositions and sometimes came up with some on their own volition. Anyway, Candy vamps Sach just before THE BIG GAME with STATE, lures him to Big Dave's place, and Dave knocks Sach out with dope, and didn't even tell him it was an arthritis cream to be rubbed on his wrists so he'd be ready for baseball season.

Well, as usually the case when a college named Ivy plays one named State in Football, the odds are high that Ivy (even with handsome Biff in the lineup) will soon be getting their clocks cleaned and furrows plowed and this game is no exception. The questions now are will Biff confess so Sach can be rescued, will Sach be rescued and, if Sach is rescued, can he get to the game on time to win it for Old Ivy.

If you don't already know, far be it from us, to tell you.

But...any film with Mona Knox on the sidelines in a tight sweater, short-shorts two-sizes too small and carrying a megaphone and doing splits is a 10 (TEN)edging toward 11 (ELEVEN)...judged against any movie ever made.

Very funny Bowery Boys movie (twenty-fifth in the Monogram series) has the boys going to college! How can our favorite morons get into an ivy league school, you ask? Well, because two elderly alumni make a bet over whether the boys can succeed at their prestigious university. From there the movie goes a bit sideways and Sach takes a potion that makes him into a football star but, hey, it's still a better plot than most movies in the series. Huntz Hall gets the spotlight in this one, rubberfacing and acting like an idiot throughout. Lots of good slapstick with Huntz. Leo Gorcey is funny as ever, providing many great malapropisms, including a monologue in class that's quite a mouthful even for Leo. Bernard Gorcey is adorable as Louie the Sweet Shop owner (and, in a hilarious bit, as his mustachioed brother Morris). It's interesting to notice as the series wore on how much bigger his role got and how much more he brought to the table than most of the non-Slip or Sach Bowery Boys. David Gorcey and Bennie Bartlett are both around. Future sportscaster Gil Stratton joins the gang in this entry. He would only appear in two Bowery Boys films, including this one. He basically does nothing in the whole film. Veda Ann Borg, Gloria Winters, and Mona Knox provide the pretty. It's not my favorite Bowery Boys flick but it is a fun one. I can't imagine fans of the series not liking it.

Hold That Line (1952)

** (out of 4)

A couple rich snobs make a bet that they can take any group of idiots off the street, send them to Ivy school and make them smart. Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the boys are selected but their dumbness follows them to college but Sach ends up making some "vitamins" that allow him to become a huge football star. As you can tell by the story, this was TRADING PLACES thirty-one years earlier than that classic 1983 film but don't expect the same quality. Yet again we've given a fairly weak story and not too much is done with it. Once again we have a plot where the boys get mixed up with gangsters who eventually kidnap Sach so that they can place bets on a big game. Other stuff in the film includes the boys of course mixing it up with the star football player, dealing with various college exams and we even get to see some football action. The football scenes are all filmed rather poorly and nothing else really works here either. The entire film has a very cheap look to it and it's clear that Beaudine is on auto-pilot as the scenes never really add up to much and the entire thing just feels rushed. There's one saving grace in the film and that's a sequence where the boys get hazed and must go into their old neighborhood in drag. The scene inside Louie's diner is very funny and seeing Louie in drag was well worth sitting through the film. Gorcey once again takes a backseat as his character really doesn't have too much to do. Hull takes over the lead and manages to be OK here and thankfully his character isn't as big a dope as some of the previous films. I'm sure fans of the series will want to check this one out but those new will certainly want to start somewhere else.

Tired and old Ivy Unviersity is struggling to find new blood. One member bets another over recruiting new students. They spot the Bowery Boys. They recruit the boys to attend the school and the bet is on. Football star Biff Wallace is the popular hunk on campus. The boys cause plenty of chaos. Sach mixes a drink in the chemistry lab and comes up with a super strength formula. He shows off on the field and impresses the coaches.

Rich jerks betting on poor people has been done many times over the years. I would like the bet to be clearer. I'm not sure about the parameters. Otherwise, this is basic Bowery Boys. It's Slip and Sach. Everybody does a bit of cross-dressing. It's all rather silly and that's perfect for the boys.

It's the later Bowery Boys at the top of their game in this well-paced and satisfying comedy farce. Two elderly rich men make a bet that the classless Slip, Sach, and the rest of the group can be enrolled in a well-to-do college and still make the grade. While in chemistry class, Sach (Huntz Hall) then develops his own secret formula which transforms him into a powerhouse with super-strength, becoming a new football hero rivaling the All-American Football champ of the campus.

A recommended entry in this everlasting series which stands out a bit from most of the films.

**1/2 (of four)